Nicki Bianco, a colorist out of Huntington, New York, is creating quite the buzz on her @nickiwildflower Instagram page for her seamlessly blended sliced highlights and root smudging. Her video transformations shot at her Wildflower Hair Den showcase the evolution of what appears to be stripey highlights into an on-trend, stretched-root effect.
“Before my root smudge takes place, the in-between product is eye-catching because people wonder, ‘How can she possibly make this look good?’” Bianco says of her Slice & Smudge Technique. “From something stripey and chunky, to the then finished effect, it’s shocking.”
Bianco says her technique is versatile and can be used to create almost any color look, and she says it cuts down on the application time dramatically. [more after the jump]
“My students report shaving down their color appointments almost by half,” she says.
On a recent Instagram post, she asked her followers: “What if you could achieve the same, if not better, results in a fraction of the time without compromising your work? Would you? This is how it all starts, by learning the placement, sectioning and techniques that will simplify your application and increase your value and money you make at the salon. What if you could see more clients in a day without double-booking appointments? Without breaking your back? Learning to get major results in a simplified way has changed by life.”
We had to get the scoop!
She uses a demipermanent color for her root smudging and matches the natural level.
“I make sure to use a product with some opacity to it, to really blend out those lines,” she says. “I also let my demipermanent root smudge process for 25-30 minutes for more coverage and longevity.”
In many cases, she says, she also melts the root color into the toner, creating a seamless transition.
Currently, Bianco is loving Itely Hairfashion’s demipermanent line, Delyton, for its great coverage, consistency and shine.
“I also use Pravana Chromasilk with zero lift, and Matrix ColorSync,” she says. “I like to apply smudges with a Framar Big Daddy Brush, and I use an Olivia Garden iBlend brush to melt.”
Her biggest tip? When she applies lightener for her slicing technique, she makes sure to apply it to each side of the section for through saturation and even lift.
“I also keep my sections very clean with the smudge to avoid getting any darker spots on the lightened pieces,” she says.
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