Secrets of creating high-quality blonde

Alexey Baluev , art director of Long & Short beauty salon, co-founder of Long & Short hair academy, winner of the International Stella Award (Colorist category)

Creating a high-quality blonde is the highest aerobatics in color. With the help of modern technologies, it is not a problem to create any shade on your hair. But the main task of a professional colorist is to preserve the quality of the hair as much as possible. Let's talk about the nuances of creating that desired blonde.

Not everyone is destined to be born blonde and, as my clients say: “Blondes are not born, but made!” Modern products and techniques allow you to create blonde on any hair.

There are several ways to change the shade of hair: lightening (this is the partial destruction of the natural pigment in the hair and replacing it with an artificial one) and bleaching (the complete destruction of the natural/artificial pigment in the hair structure). These two types of coloring result in a change in hair color to a lighter color, but are significantly different in the process and are performed with different products.

For lightening, use cream dyes from the main range or special blonds (dyes with a high ammonia content). The maximum lightening that can be achieved using cream paint is 4-5 tones (with a residual appearance of the lightening background). These products are used only for lightening natural hair, because they are ineffective on a cosmetic basis. There is a rule in color science: paint does not lighten paint. But theory and practice in some cases diverge: with the help of cream paint you can sometimes dilute the cosmetic base - this technique is called peroxidation . Thanks to the large release of active oxygen, the pigment of colored hair can become lighter (from 0.5 to 1.5 tones). Special blondes (SOS dyes or special range dyes) work with high percentages of cream oxide.

This is necessary to extinguish high levels of ammonia. If you work with special blondes at low percentages of oxide, there is a risk of damaging the hair structure, and the scalp may get a chemical burn. The optimal percentages for working with special blondes are 9 and 12%. After using a special blonde, tinting can be done, but is not necessary, because the pigment in the hair (also known as the polymer, which is responsible for strength) remains. Toning performs the function of color correction.

Bleaching is the process of completely removing the natural/cosmetic pigment in the hair. It uses deco-preparations (powder, cream, etc.) that work on any percentage of cream oxide. The higher the percentage of oxide, the less time the product should remain on the hair, otherwise the process of destruction of the hair structure begins. The maximum percentage of cream oxide used in the root zone is 6%. If you use large percentages, there is a high probability of getting a chemical burn. Since bleaching completely destroys the pigment, the hair remains hollow. Toning is mandatory after this procedure.

There is a misconception that the higher the percentage of cream oxide used in bleaching, the lighter the fabric will be. Practice shows that at low percentages the base is cleaner and the maximum quality of the hair structure is preserved.

Always think about the health of your clients' hair. Believe me, this is the key to success in your work!

The material was first published in the Fashion Mirror magazine.