MAD ABOUT HUE
KIM VO
ON THE GO
How to deal with the
first signs of gray.
The first appearance
of silver can be a
demoralizing and
frustrating experience,
initially sending some
of your female clients
running for the tweezers
and a magnifying mirror. KIM VO
The good news is that
you can be a save-the-day wizard of gray
coverage by incorporating one of the following
three solutions.
The Halo Effect. Most people start
graying in the front, requiring additional
coverage around the face. I keep the color
change to a minimum in the back, doing
nothing more than neutralizing the warmth.
In the front, I color the hair in ¼-inch sections,
creating a halo effect. Since clients tend to
see their new gray as lighter hair, using their
natural color to cover it might cause them to
view it as darker. It’s therefore a smart idea
to color the front one shade lighter than the
back for a softer appearance.
Treasure Hunting for Silver. Let’s take
the example of a 30-something woman with
naturally dark hair and 5 to 10 percent of springy
gray strands sprinkled throughout. Adding all-over color is overkill. Even more critical is the fact
that it risks compromising the shine of virgin hair.
Instead, I use a 50-percent coverage formula
that matches her natural color, going through
her hair with a rat-tail comb in search of silver
and coloring whatever I find. As an extra step, I
might add subtle highlights to camouflage any
grays I may have missed.
For Men Only. As you well know,
darkening gray hair results in an obvious line of
demarcation as hair begins to grow out. Since
men are less likely to get color as regularly as
women, dealing with their graying sideburns and
temples should be done by blending. Use a blue-or green-based color, since most ash tones such
as these will provide 30-percent gray coverage.
Cover just enough of the gray to make it less
obvious against his natural color. —E-mail Kim
Vo at
b2vsalon@sbcglobal.net.
Taking on Texture
Coloring very layered or textured hair can be a challenge, but Sue Pemberton,
Joico’s international haircolor artistic director, offers an effective technique, seen in
this look from Joico’s new J-Color DVD, which features 12 different techniques plus
customization options. To avoid
creating “lines” on layered
and textured hair, Pemberton
takes weave partings and
places the foils in a brick-lay
pattern, leaving a slice parting
unfoiled in between foils. On
this model’s natural level nine
blonde hair, Pemberton did
weave partings using VeroLight
Powder Lightener with 10
volume ( 3 percent), lifted to
the desired level of blonde
and toned the hair all over
with Vero K-PAK Toner TPB
with 10 volume ( 3 percent)
for 20 minutes. For cutting
techniques from International
Artistic Director Damien
Carney, check out the new
J-Cutting DVD, which features
12 haircut demonstrations on
a wide range of hair lengths.
joico.com —L.A.
Smooth as Silk
The SilkLift lightening system from GOLDWELL
helps provide luminous blonde shades and smooth
and shiny hair with the SilkproteinComplex. The
system includes two High Performance Lighteners,
three Conditioning Cream Developers (shown
here) and an Intensive Conditioning Serum.
goldwell-northamerica.com —N. P.
Back to School
Boost your haircoloring skills with Product Club’s new
iFoil in Color Volume One with Adrienne Rogers, who
co-owns Bang Salon in Philadelphia with her husband,
Carlos, and is a senior colorist at New York City’s
Cutler Salon in SoHo. The DVD features two advanced
techniques that can be customized for each client:
Scoop, which is a great option for a partial highlight,
producing beautiful sweeps of color throughout the top of the head and around the
face, and Petal Spray, which is perfect for hair that needs added dimension, creating
petals of brightness that shift throughout the hair.
productclub.com —L.A.
