In the 1960s, when little old ladies sported blue hair courtesy of a rinse, no one would have described them as fashion-forward. What it took to make primary colors cool was celebrities like Kelly Osbourne and Katy Perry, who thumbed their noses at convention by dying their hair the most outrageous shades of blue and green. Now what began as a rebel yell has become a full-blown trend, and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Brand new from Aloxxi, Ultra Hot Intense Semi-Permanent Fashion Colour offers endless color possibilities. Positively charged cationic dyes create a magnetic attraction to negatively charged hair, resulting in color that fades on tone, while the light, creamy consistency ensures even color distribution. Choose from six intermixable shades, including Blue (Midnight in Milan), Red (Rossini Red) and Green (Verde Paradiso).
Alfaparf Milano rEvolution of the Color, formulated with unique micro-pigments and an exclusive botanically derived essential oil cream base, allows you to personalize every client’s look with exciting placement of direct color in shades like Red, Purple, Magenta and Pink.
Color Outside the Lines
Malibu C Professional has just launched Concentr8 Colour, a revolutionary new concept that gives colorists total control of their art. This new category of hybrid color blurs the lines between direct dyes and permanent color, and allows you to create custom color enhancers cocktailed for every client. Missy Peterson, Global Creative Director, Malibu C Professional and an American Board Certified Haircolorist, calls the three primary pigment powders “building blocks of color” that can be combined to create virtually any color in the rainbow. “These multifunctional color pigments start in dry form and are activated with water to create a primary-colored liquid solution that’s highly concentrated and can be used to create a Concentr8 Colour unique to every client,” she says. “The custom color is then added to the desired delivery system, such as the Concentr8 Colour Masque or Illumin8 Shine Concentr8 Mixer, both of which act as a deep conditioning carrier base.” The game-changing primary pigment powders offer unlimited creative potential. Cocktailed, they can be used as a stand-alone service, but they work best when used as a supplemental line to enhance color services. Use them as a glaze or overlay, or as a color kicker for permanent, semi- and demi-permanent color. Or add them to a nonionic shampoo to create a customized product for at-home color maintenance. The possibilities are endless.
Three enhancing hybrid pigment powders—yellow, red and blue—deliver limitless creative potential and unrestrained color range. Think of them as a new tool that gives you the freedom to create your own color, control the ratios and customize the color you’re applying.
Are We Having Fun Yet?
ColorDesign’s new line of direct dyes called Fun & Glam comes in 10 fashion colors, like Atomic Green, Caribbean Turquoise, Mystic Blue and Rebel Purple, plus Clear Gloss (due to its pH level, it
helps pastel colors to last longer). There’s a lot to love, like the generous tube size (100 ml) and the fact that the dye loads are richer and deeper that some other products on the market. Shades can be combined and mixed with Clear to make thousands of fashion colors.
Pro Tip: American Board of Certified Haircolorists (ABCH) educator and evaluator Bridget Davis adds multicolored direct dyes to her ombré balayage techniques to create a rainbow effect. On your less adventurous clients, Davis suggests adding a pastel violet or pink shade to the ends to create
a bit of interest.
Look & Learn: SalonCentric is committed to education, which is why they facilitate classes conducted by their brands in SalonCentric store classrooms, in salons and at trade shows. Want to learn more about working with direct dyes? Pravana offers Vivids Hair Art: The Essentials and Advanced Techniques. Or check out Matrix Dreaming in Color: Bold to Pastel Hues. Visit saloncentric.com to search for classes and shows in your area.
Final Fantasy: So let’s say you have a client who’d love to spice things up a bit by trading in her mousy brown hair for a vibrant shade of turquoise, lilac or even hot pink, but she’s got this day job that requires her to look a bit more buttoned-up. Hairtalk Extensions make it possible for her to live the dream, only temporarily, so there’s no buyer’s remorse down the road. The company offers Fantasy and Pastel extensions in nine gorgeous shades, including three pastels. You can create edgy, grungy, dreamy or vibrant color effects without the chemical damage. Clients can pop in Soft Peach for spring and switch to Ocean Blue for summer. Fantasy Colors are made of Hairtalk’s proprietary blend of human hair and temperature-safe synthetic fibers. What’s more, they can be heat-styled up to 250°F.
From the April issue, click here for the digital edition.