Color melting is one of my favorite ways to do corrective color and creates stunning contrast on washed-out hair. Like everything in the hair world, there are many different ways to achieve similar blended results.
Here, I am going to walk you through some simple placement choices and formula assessments for a guest of mine that came in for a regular bleach and tone.
This particular guest had been coming in for a bleach end tone for many years. Each time she requested platinum blonde. She is a natural level 5, and during her services she would complain about her scalp being sensitive. After a long consultation, I convinced her to allow her natural to grow out and embrace a more rooty look.
Before her first session, we allowed her roots to grow out for 6 weeks. I then went in with babylights and highlights to defuse the line of demarcation. After processing, I applied a root melt and toned her ends.
Before her second session, she really emphasized that she wanted to pull her root down and push for a more melted transition. By this time, her platinum had faded in become a bit dull. So, in order to save time on tedious work with bleach and a low developer, and in order to protect the integrity of the hair, I decided to use high-lift color to intensify her blonde and at the same time blended down her rooted melt.
FORMULAS:
Formula A: LÁNZA Healing Color 30gr 6N, 10gr 7N, 80gr Translucent, 40gr Demi
Formula B: LÁNZA High Lift 100 Series 80gr 100B, 1gr Silver Mix, 80gr 30 vol
Formula C: LÁNZA Trauma Treatment (Protective treatment used to blend melt between formulas)
To clarify my formula choices, formula A was a bit more diluted—I cancelled out all ammonia by using a double translucent. This way, I knew that I would not be lifting her new growth and that her porous highlights would not fully be covered to create more contrast.
Formula B is part of LÁNZA's high-lift series that allows artist to lift levels and tone simultaneously. I chose to use 30-volume developer to lift her cuticle and cut through the yellow dulness of her existing blonde.
Formula C, or the Trauma Treatment, was used for easy blending, but also to allow for some of the natural warmth in her mid-section to remain so that the mid-shaft section looked natural. This kept some of her porous hair from becoming too muddy or ashy from formula A.
Placement was relatively easy. I was mindful to keep formula A a bit lower down the hair shaft around of the hairline and below the round of the head. After reaching around of the head, I alternated how low I was taking formula a in the rest of my melt.