“Of all colors, this is one of my favorites,” saysMarielle Ecklund @mariellehair, a specialist in color corrections and balayage in Uppsala, Sweden. “I hope I get some more #Nordicblonde colors this summer.” And chances are, seeing as how she’s in the land of the natural blonde, she will. But even with this upfront advantage, Ecklund shares the struggles that colorists confront when a client dreams of rising to a level 10 but their hair history presents some stumbling blocks in their path to platinum.

OBSTACLES:

 “My biggest challenge wasn’t just the fact that she’s a natural level 4,” Ecklund explains. “She had used a dark brown box color and then bleached over it 5 times to remove the box color. My starting point was a brassy yellow/orange with visible banding and damaged lengths.”

But, she continues, “This is reality for us stylists. We don’t know how long it takes to achieve the desired color. It all depends on what your hair history is. This is the reason why I ask for that in my online consultation.”

SCENARIO:

“If Girl 1 and Girl 2 both want this Nordic Blonde, there are two completely different routes to get there.

“Girl 1 has never colored her hair and her natural color is fairly light. This is simple and fast and because her natural color is so light, she’ll get to a cool tone easily. I’ll apply lightener mids-roots-ends, rinse out, and use a cool toner and it’s perfect and even.

“Girl 2 is this (featured in the photos) scenario. She used to be a bleached blonde, dyed it brown and bleached it again to get her blonde back. This leaves lines (banding) and orange tones.

 “I need to custom apply lightener according to the lines and they may not even disappear. Even if she bleached on the brown color, she still has pigments left and they are almost impossible to lift. It might take several sessions to get to a decent color.

“Her natural color is very dark and pulls warm. So here I’m struggling with warmth and ends that might not want to lift so I want to use strong developer. But I can’t because her hair is fragile from being blonde, brunette and bleached again. Can you say dilemma?!

“This is why I ask what chemical services you’ve had the last 6 years, because it makes such a difference, both in time and price. Your hair is my canvas and I work with what I have, which is what you’ve done to your hair.”

PROCESS:

1. I did an Olaplex stand-alone treatment first, and to get her ends even in tone I used Oligo Professionnel  + 6vol + Oligopro on the brassiest areas. 

1. I rinsed, Olaplex-ed her lengths again, and applied her regrowth with Big9 Guy Tang #mydentity+ 15 vol.

1. I let it develop for 40 minutes, and to get the cool tone, I used Robson Peluquero “PLATINUM” after I shampooed her. 

1. Styled with Color WowStyle on Steroids for heat protection and to hold the curl.