HOW-TO: Going From an Intense/Vibrant Haircolor to a Neutral Tone

When Nicoletta Whitaker of Aureilo Salon had a guest request to change her haircolor from red to blonde, she knew she was in for a challenge. She informed the client that it would not happen overnight and would take multiple visits, but both were up for the challenge.

When any guest goes from an intense, vibrant, unnatural color to a more neutral tone, Whitaker suggests two things:

1. Do it the RIGHT way, over a span of 3-4 visits, depending on the integrity of the hair. For this guest, it took four appointments.
2. Use haircolor removers like Return from the Goldwell Elumen line instead of running straight to a lightener, the more color you can remove without using lightener, the better quality the hair will be in.

Existing Hair: The top left picture is the guest with her brightest red, her formula was Goldwell Elumen RR@ALL 40ml with 10ml PK@ALL. 

First Visit: The bottom left picture was after a silk bath (equal parts of Goldwell Silk Lift Strong with 6% and KMS California Clarify Shampoo), after Goldwell Elumen was applied with heat for 20 minutes. 

Second Visit: The bottom right picture was after a full head of back-to-back foils using Goldwell Silk Lift Strong and 6% then 9%. This lifted most of the red out. Goldwell Topchic 6MB with 3% was then applied on the root to midshaft to neutralize any red left, and then ends were faded to a cleaner blonde with Goldwell Blonding Cream with 9%. 

Third Visit: Guest was given highlights.

Fourth Visit: Roots were touched up with Goldwell Topchic 12bm with 9% and a full head of highlights using Goldwell Silk Lift Strong with 6%. In between highlights, Blonding Cream was pulled through with 9% throughout the hair to lift everything to a blonde. Then, a glaze of Goldwell Colorance 10V was applied to add shine and neutralize unwanted yellow tones (pictured on right, the sun kissed blonde).