a transformation 7 years in the making

The relationships we build with our clients is pretty amazing, isn’t it? Not only can we become great friends with our clients, we get to see their hair and their life transform around us!

One of those clients, for me, is Ainsley. We first met in 2014, Ainsley had come in to get her hair done with me for the first time. 

Unfortunately, for both of us, Ainsley had been addicted to box dyeing her hair (any guesses what color she was using? Yup… you guessed it…) black

You and I both know what kind of headache black box dye can cause…

Especially when the client who has been consistently box dyeing their hair black tells you that they want to go lighter…

Talk about the nervous sweats!

I’m all about honesty, so I told her it was going to be a process, and not an easy one. She said that she understood and was committed to going lighter and was ready to endure the ‘painful’ in between brassiness stage to get there…

Until she wasn’t…

Ainsley relapsed and returned to her black box dyeing ways. Shortly after, she realized she made a mistake and regretted it, she came crawling back to me, proverbial tail between her legs, saying she was re-committed to going lighter. 

And now, in 2021, nearly 7 years after our first hair appointment, I think we’ve finally made it. 

Finally, a simple way to color correct that brassy hair. And I’m breaking it all down for you…

The Stress-Free Color Correction Technique

Step 1: Mix up your clay lightener and your lowlight shade

Make sure to not go more than 2 shades darker than your client’s natural color for the lowlight tone. 

Step 2: Apply lightener and lowlights one after the other throughout the hair

Using triangle-inspired sections, switch between your lightener and your lowlight as you move through the sections of the hair. You want to have about a 50/50 ratio of highlights to lowlights.

PRO TIP: Use a wide end of a toothed comb to distribute the lowlight shade throughout the strand. 

Step 3: When applying around the hairline apply at an angle

This will help you create internal depth while mimicking the way sun would lighten their hair naturally

Step 4: Scratch test to ensure your lightener has lifted fully

Step 5: Rinse and tone at the sink

This technique does not require any shadow root, because you created the blend right on the strand of hair. 

Step 6: Blow dry, style and get those pics!

That’s it! 6 easy steps to a beautiful color correction. Your clients are going to LOVE their hair and you’re going to love saving time and money. 

I wanna know, will you be trying this technique?

Go on, binge the latest posts (you know you wanna)…