How to Create Soft Dimension in Brunettes

With 20 years of experience as a hairstylist and educator based out of Maryland, Debbe Salvino prides herself on creating a luxury hair experience for her clients. Her work as a colorist includes a variety of natural tones with soft waves and brushed-out finishes. But whether it's a bright blonde or a deep coca, Salivno's color work remains consistent in one area: dimension!

Salvino recently took to Instagram to demo how she achieved the perfect bronde result on a brunette client. In her post, Salvino described the successful result based on two things: technique and product. The key was thin sections for high lift and Schwarzkopf Professional's new line, tbh—true, beautiful, honest.

The line was inspired by the natural beauty, no-makeup “makeup” trend. The 26 shades are designed to illuminate hair’s natural highlights and lowlights and create shimmering powdery tones. The formula contains naturally derived grapeseed oil and has up to 50% less ammonia versus the Igora Royal line. 

"I’m loving the results of this shiny powdery tone formulated with macadamia, argan, and grapeseed oils," Salvino says. "We all know how difficult it can be to achieve a super cool tone on a natural level 2, but also be able to maintain the integrity is key!⁣"

Watch Salvino's tutorial here and get the details on her formula:

 

Formula:

Highlights using Blonde Me 20vol lifted to a level 8-9 yellow

Colormelt:

Base 5.06,6 volume, equal parts, process 20 minutes 

Mids/end 9.16, 8.51,6 volume with tone softener,⁣⁣⁣ equal parts, process 15 minutes ⁣⁣⁣

Each shade works with Schwarzkopf’s Igora developer and can be used with the line-specific tone softener to refresh mid-lengths and ends without any perceivable color shift. The resultis color with the longevity of a permanent and the lived-in look of a demi.

“Being able to take my formulations from a permanent to a demi is a gamechanger,” Salvino says. “This is especially true for my clients who require gray coverage but want a soft, dimensional result. The hair is left feeling better conditioned than before.”