High Lift colour?

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Alan Andersen

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Hello all,
I have a client who i normally do a T bar of bleach foils highlights and colour with a cool Wella shade in between. I've been doing this for years and as she has gotten older she has gotten a bit more grey, although she is still pretty dark, considering her age (74)
She does like her hair to look blonde. I used to do an all over bleach and tone, but it was too damaging as she wasn't looking after it well enough, so we switched to the T bar around 2010.
I'm just wondering, with her hair being a bit greyer now, if I could perhaps do an all over high lift tint? When I tried this years ago it went too brassy, but her hair was darker then.
I'll attached some pics to show her current colour.
Any advice would be appreciated and any colour formula suggestions.
Thanks in advance.
 

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Stick to highlights, her hair will still be very warm with a Highlift and the root Regrowth will be insane!
I'd be more inclined to keep her base no lighter than a 7 and I'd consider doing half Head of weaved highlights (bleach) and close together.
 
Stick to highlights, her hair will still be very warm with a Highlift and the root Regrowth will be insane!
I'd be more inclined to keep her base no lighter than a 7 and I'd consider doing half Head of weaved highlights (bleach) and close together.
What shade are you applying for her base at the moment?
 
What shade are you applying for her base at the moment?
Thanks Ron,
I small bleach foils close together at the moment and in between and on the bottom I usually use Illumina 7/81 and add in a bit of 7 and 8/69. I was thinking more from a cost perspective for her, as I could do the full head a lot quicker and charge less, then she could probably get it done more often to combat regrowth
 
Thanks Ron,
I small bleach foils close together at the moment and in between and on the bottom I usually use Illumina 7/81 and add in a bit of 7 and 8/69. I was thinking more from a cost perspective for her, as I could do the full head a lot quicker and charge less, then she could probably get it done more often to combat regrowth
I see what you're saying. My only concern would be that Highlift won't leave you with a nice clean blonde, so you'll have to tone the hair anyway. Also Highlift won't lift through tint so your first appointment would be a colour correction not just a full head of Highlift tint.

Have you considered using koleston instead you get more saturation from the colour and better neutralisation from the tone.
No need to add bas as she hasn't got 70% + white hair.
Illumina is designed to give a L more shear coverage so using it to lift the hair is limiting what you can achieve.
 
I see what you're saying. My only concern would be that Highlift won't leave you with a nice clean blonde, so you'll have to tone the hair anyway. Also Highlift won't lift through tint so your first appointment would be a colour correction not just a full head of Highlift tint.

Have you considered using koleston instead you get more saturation from the colour and better neutralisation from the tone.
No need to add bas as she hasn't got 70% + white hair.
Illumina is designed to give a L more shear coverage so using it to lift the hair is limiting what you can achieve.
Yeah, I understand about the tint not lifting tint.
What would you recommend using from the Koleston range?
 
Yeah, I understand about the tint not lifting tint.
What would you recommend using from the Koleston range?
I might possibly try a couple of test strands around the head. What would be the best Kolston high lift formula.....a mix of 12/81 and 12/96?
 
I think @ronray means using normal KP tint instead of Illumina.

I generally wouldn’t use a highlift tint on hair darker than an 8, because it only has enough lifting power to lighten about 2-3 levels (despite what the advertising says!), and the colour pigment within it, to tone something that’s already lifted to a 10.

So if you’re applying it to a darker base, say a 6, then it lifts to an 8/9 but there’s not enough colour pigment to neutralise the exposed yellow undertones. I can’t tell properly from the photo, but she looks around a 5/6 to me?
 
I think @ronray means using normal KP tint instead of Illumina.

I generally wouldn’t use a highlift tint on hair darker than an 8, because it only has enough lifting power to lighten about 2-3 levels (despite what the advertising says!), and the colour pigment within it, to tone something that’s already lifted to a 10.

So if you’re applying it to a darker base, say a 6, then it lifts to an 8/9 but there’s not enough colour pigment to neutralise the exposed yellow undertones. I can’t tell properly from the photo, but she looks around a 5/6 to me?
Thanks AcidPerm,
I did understand what he was saying. I was asking what Koleston shade formula he would recommend for the base. Sorry, my reply is a bit confusing. Really, only 2 to 3 shades?? I've not really used them much before, so wasn't sure.
 
Some people love highlift tints because of the time saved in completing a single process instead of lightening then toning, but I’m not a huge fan unless the hair is already fairly light or the client wants a warm golden tone, rather than say, a cool ash tone.

If you imagine a tube of level 10KP and a tube of a 12 Highlift, there’s less quantity of colour pigment in the highlift.
 
However, that’s another reason why we tend to recommend doing a strand test first, because you might be pleasantly surprised by the highlift and it could provide enough coverage for your client, but any hair that has a hint of red in it is a no-go, in my experience.

Living in Ireland, I have a lot of clients with variations of strawberry blonde in their natural hair colour.
 
However, that’s another reason why we tend to recommend doing a strand test first, because you might be pleasantly surprised by the highlift and it could provide enough coverage for your client, but any hair that has a hint of red in it is a no-go, in my experience.

Living in Ireland, I have a lot of clients with variations of strawberry blonde in their natural hair colour.
Thanks.
As I said earlier in the post, I did try high lift tint a long time ago on her (maybe 10 years ago) and it did come out rather brassy. I was just wondering with her having more grey through it now and maybe the tint being better after 10 years it might be worth a shot? I was trying to keep the costs down for her, as I would charge much less for an ongoing root retouch and not having to use foils
 
I see your issue, strand testing is definitely the best thing to do because generally I follow the same rules as @AcidPerm when itz comes to Highlift. But my mum is a solid base 5 and I use 12/89 + 12% on her and it does lift to a really nice beige blonde so you never know :)
But your other fool proof option would be to bleach and use a low developer so you'd have less damage then tone back down to a level 8 this will appear much lighter than what you're achieving now :)
The thing is doing lots of highlights or using Highlift or even doing a full head bleach will cause roughly the same level of damage. So if she's not committed enough to take on the care that's she needs to give bleached hair, then I wouldn't recommend using the Highlift either because this doesn't save damage.
 
I see your issue, strand testing is definitely the best thing to do because generally I follow the same rules as @AcidPerm when itz comes to Highlift. But my mum is a solid base 5 and I use 12/89 + 12% on her and it does lift to a really nice beige blonde so you never know :)
But your other fool proof option would be to bleach and use a low developer so you'd have less damage then tone back down to a level 8 this will appear much lighter than what you're achieving now :)
The thing is doing lots of highlights or using Highlift or even doing a full head bleach will cause roughly the same level of damage. So if she's not committed enough to take on the care that's she needs to give bleached hair, then I wouldn't recommend using the Highlift either because this doesn't save damage.
Ok, appreciate the advice. I've started using Olaplex 1 in her colour and bleach and get her on Olaplex 3, 4 and 5 at home too to try and keep her hair in as good condition as possible.
Thanks
 
Lots of good advice above. I'd try the strand test too....it'll allow you to gauge better, once you see the result. It's partly stylists choice....some stylists love high lift, others avoid it at all costs. I have one stylist who uses lots of high lifts and another who hates it, as she finds the results far too warm.
 
Lots of good advice above. I'd try the strand test too....it'll allow you to gauge better, once you see the result. It's partly stylists choice....some stylists love high lift, others avoid it at all costs. I have one stylist who uses lots of high lifts and another who hates it, as she finds the results far too warm.
Thanks.
I think i will give the stand test a go. I'll go through the options with the client.
 

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