Keep Blonde Clients from Going Orange

David Stanko

A. David Stanko, Redken hair color consultant answers, "Blondes may have more fun, but "blorange" can put the brakes on the beach party. I define "blorange" as the inability of a single-process color to fight the hair's natural undertones. Blorange delineates the line between bottle blonde and salon blonde.

"The defining moments of slipping over to the blorange side occur when hairdressers try to meet the demands of every woman in their chair.

These demands include: client pressure, the 40-volume mistake and using single-process color instead of professional lightener.

"All permanent hair color is designed to lift up to two levels with 20-volume developer, while high-lift blondes lift three and a half to four levels when mixed with 40-volume developer. The key to that lift is your starting point. My rule-of-thumb is anyone born blonde who remained blonde through her teens is likely to be able to get an acceptable blonde with permanent color. When the natural base is darker than light brown, the blorange monster can appear.

"The easiest solution is to break up blorange with highlights, toned with an ashy or violet demipermanent color. My favorite blorange-battling toner is Redken Shades EQ 09V. Home care always counts when you want to prevent the sun from revealing hair's sister undertones. To hinder the two from reuniting, the Redken Blonde Glam Collection offers Perfect Platinum and Pure Vanilla.

"These color-enhancing conditioners help control the tonal shifts that occur with blonde hair color."