Crimson Tide

The perfectly cool red with a hint of warmth is paired with convertible-color placement. Hair by Bryan Beaver, Hair: A Tony Anders Concept Salon, Columbus, Ohio; photography by Tom Carson; production by Global Hair & Fashion Group.

Younger women are apt to try home color and have their friends help with highlights. Once they see the results, especially with reds, you get to show them the power of professional color.

Any time you get the chance to make a salon-color convert, you have to step up your game. All-over color and a few highlights just won't do. Here, a natural Level 4 ended up with muddied home color and a few highlights. Her intense green eyes and pale skin tones make a cool, vibrant violet the perfect choice. Next to shade selection, little matters more than placement.

Says Bryan Beaver, who created the color design, "I planned the cut and color to work together, so she could part her hair to show off the violet, or to get fierce with neon red. Primarily, the new red is very cool."

A semipermanent end refresher avoids too much lifting, while both the regrowth formula and the toner are double pigmented for extra punch. Also key to hair health: Highlights were lifted only to the Level-7 gold stage to leave as much pigment as possible in the hair.

"It takes a certain attitude to pull off a red like this," notes Beaver. "Choosing the right shades for skin tones and making the color last are key to client satisfaction."

The Right Red

1. Begin the highlights on the right side, about one inch behind the hairline, at the temple area. Using diagonal partings, create two back-to-back sliced foils. Skip as much hair as is foiled and repeat. Then move across the top, repeating the application pattern until you reach the opposite side, at the left temple.

2. Skip about an inch-and-a half to two inches of hair behind the foils. Then repeat the application pattern across the crown.

3. Drop down to the right side of the nape. Leaving out the hairline, repeat the application pattern, working from behind the right ear to behind the left ear. 

4. Apply the retouch formula to the regrowth of the unfoiled hair.

5. Apply the end refresher from midshaft to ends of the unfoiled hair.

6. Once the application is complete (about 10 minutes), process for 20 minutes, shampoo and condition.

7. Apply the toner all over, process for 20 minutes, rinse and condition with a cuticle sealer and color protectant.

Formulas Used:

Highlights: 1 scoop Wella Blondor powder bleach with 2-oz 20-volume Wella Koleston Perfect developer

Retouch: 2-oz Koleston Perfect 3.66 (Level-3 double violet) with 2-oz 20-volume developer

End refresher: 1½-oz Wella Color Touch 3.66 with 3-oz Color Touch Gentle Emulsion developer (7 volume)

Toner: 2-oz Wella Color Touch 66/45 (a Level-6 double pigmented red) and ½-oz 55/54 (double pigmented red/violet/red) with 3-oz Color Touch Intense Emulsion developer (13 volume)