We are heading into summer and the biggest request colorists get this time of year is BLOND. While we all know how to decolorize the hair. Have you ever wondered what celebrity colorists do that set them apart from us? I have had the opportunity to work with and to speak to several top celebrity colorists throughout my career and I have learned many things.
Rule #1: Diagnose
Properly diagnose the hair’s structural strength before performing any chemical services. Many of us think we do this correctly. When I travel to salons, I ask colorists to show me how they diagnose the hair’s strength. Most stylists unfortunately do not perform this test. Of the ones that do, around 9 out of 10 grab a strand of hair and stretch it. While the thought process is correct, this is an incorrect method.
First, we must clarify the hair. Grab Exure shampoo and shampoo the hair twice. The reason for this is because, there are a huge amount of shampoo and conditioners in the market place (both professional and non-professional) that heavily coat the hair for that shine and smoothness effect. This gives us a false hair strength reading when performed on dry hair.
Now that our hair has been clarified, take approximately 8 hairs, while holding the hair firmly between both hands gently pull the hair between hands (don’t pull from scalp, unless you enjoy being slapped). Healthy hair should stretch around 30% of its length and then return, like an elastic band, showing no signs of damage.
Hair which stretches but doesn’t return to its previous length is weak in protein. Hair which doesn’t stretch is low in moisture. Hair which stretches and breaks is low in moisture and protein. If the hair is healthy then we can move onto the fun part. If not, you will need to do a conditioning treatment. If you are unsure as to whether the hair is lacking in protein, moisture, amino acids, etc. You can cover all your bases by using Exure Condition for 20 minutes with a plastic cap. Then retest the hair. If the hair is still not showing ideal condition. Then the client needs to condition the hair at home for 20 minutes 3 times weekly. With Exure Condition the hair should be ready within 2 weeks or less. With some other Conditioning products you may have to wait up to 8 weeks. Your regular testing of the hair’s strength will be the answer.
Rule #2: Consult
Now that your client is ready to go blond we want to do a thorough consultation . While TV teaches us that celebrity colorists just say, “I’m going to make you a beautiful rich blond, I’ll go mix and be right back.” There is much more to a consultation. First lighting is very important to properly diagnose the color work we are about to perform. If your lighting is not ideal then do yourself a favor and take your client outside in a lightly shaded spot. Then look at the client’s skin tone color, eye color and the tiny color chips within the eye color. Then look at the makeup color your client wears (This will greatly impact your final result) ex: if the client wears a lot of pink blush and you give her copper blond tones…she will look very clown like when you are done and you will most likely never see that client again. Next ask her how she sees herself. Does she see herself as an all over, toe head blond? Or does she see herself as a brunette with subtle blond accents. Once you have discussed this with your client. It is now your responsibility to inform her of the upkeep of her choice selected. If she selects a blond that requires high maintenance upkeep (more frequent visits), yet she is unwilling to come in often for the upkeep. Then we must provide her with options that will get her close to her goal but be more realistic for time and cost.
Rule #3: Peroxides
We all want to hammer out a blond as fast as we can, so we can get more clients to fit into a day. Many non-celebrity colorists I have interviewed admit they use high volume peroxide and then use some form of heat to quickly lighten the hair as fast as possible. Surprisingly, so many colorists do not care about the damage they create by using such high volume peroxides (these are the same colorists that wonder why they have so many openings in their schedule). If this sounds a bit tough, then ask yourself; why am I a colorist? Only for financial gain? Or do I want to make a difference, too?
Celebrity colorists know that such high volume peroxide formulas will destroy the hair in no time. There are a lot of colorists that can make someone blond, but how many can do it with little to no breakage and have shiny hair in the end. I guarantee if you take the healthy, shiny hair route for your client they will be devoted to you for years to come.
Ex: If I am making a client blonde from a natural level 5 or lighter, I use 10 volume peroxide. This technique allows us to get the client to a platinum blond, yet keep the integrity of the hair. This technique does take more time and you need to charge accordingly.
In the end Celebrity colorist’s goals are to do everything they can to not only win over the celebrity client as a regular, but to also make that hair shine and look fantastic for all the paparazzi and fashion photo’s. For those of us that do not have celebrity clients if we look at every client as if they are a celebrity and we want to win them over. Our book will be overflowing in no time.
