8 Ways to Take Ombre to the Next Level

Many people think Ombre haircolor is on its way out, but in the opinion of Gina Bianca, owner of Gina Bianca Hair in Southington, CT, ombre is the base for many of today’s trends.

"The dark natural roots and lightness at the ends gives each client the best of both worlds," says Bianca. "With hundreds of variations and the easy maintenance, ombre is an amazing solution for women of all ages, textures and lengths."

Here are a few formulas that Bianca uses each day in her salon. If you're looking for ideas on how to enhance your client's ombre, here are some color options offered by Bianca. Here, she provides eight Ombre case studies:                                                     

From top left to right:

White: "This is one of my long time clients who wanted the most high contrast ombre possible. We used Paul Mitchell the color 2nn w/ 20 volume and lightened her ends with Olaplex 40 volume until her hair was WHITE! We then toned with 1 Part 9A PM Shines 1 Part Clear shines with 2 parts processing liquid and toned for 25 minutes in the sink. When I use ash toners I always put them on the hair when it is wet to avoid the blue tinge the ash tones often leave. We then rinsed, used olaplaex #2 for 20 minutes and washed everything - she was in love! This look actually took 3 or 4 lightening services to achieve." (Cost $250)

Honey: "This client traveled three hours in a blizzard to get to her hair appointment. She was in the chair for seven hours and did two ombre sessions in one sitting. We did a half head of baby lights and balayaged everything in between, then we rinsed, toned with ash tones to cancel out warmth, then did another ombre session. Her hair was light but wicked warm, so we used my favorite toner 6BV Pm Shines on very wet hair to dilute it to about a 7.5 and left it on for 35 minutes at the sink. This cancelled out the brassy tones and left it a a beautiful soft honey color. She loved it." (Cost; $550)

Pearl: "This ombre took four hours to achieve. Her hair started off very very YELLOW and she wanted a cooler tone. We used Paul Mitchell 6PN and 7PN equal parts with 10 volume on her roots and used a wide tooth comb to bring down the root color about 3 inches. I then did my sombre technique which entails a combination of foils, balayage and ombre slices. We then used 9PN Shines XG (Paul Mitchell) with 10 volume at the sink to tone out any yellow. The model in this photo is jewelry designer @TiffanyJazelle." (Cost: $250)

Rose: https://www.modernsalon.com/how-to/hair-color/formula-rose-ombre (Cost $350)

Beige: "This guest wanted to match her natural root so we darkened her previously highlighted hair to a close match to her natural base - we combed down with a wide tooth comb.I then did my sombre technique which entails a combination of foils, balayage and ombre slices. Her formula for her root was 7PN Paul Mitchell permanent color w/ 10 volume to cancel out the natural warmth she had and create a neutral base. We then used PM Shines 9BV and 9NB w/ processing liquid for 25 minutes on damp hair in the sink." (Cost: $225)

Silver: "This clients base color was very warm and brassy so we used Paul Mitchell Permanent color 6NN, 6PN and 6A = Parts with 10 volume. I then balayaged every hair in the back using Product Club’s Balayage board using Paul Mitchell DPL 40 Volume w/ Olaplex. For the top mohawk section, we did ombre slices gradually moving further away from the roots but weaves framing her face. For her glaze, we used PM Shines 2 ounces of 9A and 1/8th oz of 1B to create a smokey ash tone." (Cost $350)

Caramel: "This client was a huge project. She had a full head of weaved hair extensions and was convinced we could turn them ash blonde in one sitting. 7 hours later after a very labor intensive double process we could only get the hair to a caramel color. We had to tone out the orange three times with 6BV and 9BV PM Shines after re-bleaching in the sink. She was happy with the result. We did two ombre sessions and broke up her natural base. The fact that she had so many hair extensions made this job extremely labor intensive." (Cost $650)

Sandy: "This client was very realistic and wanted to do whatever it took to achieve her goals in one sitting. We did two ombre sessions. First, we did a very fine baby light application throughout her whole head while balayaging in between to break up her color and lighten the whole base. Then we went in and glazed/melted her hair in the sink with 6BV Pm Shines to keep her base an overall cool tone. Then we washed, dried and re-ombred her bringing bright pieces up around her face. Every hair was in a foil to bring the lightness up as bright as we could. We then toned with 9BV PM Shines for 30 minutes and her amazing ombre was complete." (Cost: $550)

For more info on these techniques you can request an in-salon class by emailing GBHMETHODS@Gmail.com.