When Brig Van Osten of p!ay hair lounge in Simi Valley, California, shared this gorgeous technicolor hair design on MODERN's facebook wall, we knew we had to hunt her down for the how-to! Luckily, she was just as thrilled to share it with us.

"I found the inspiration for this color while flipping through my favorite magazines on Friday," says Osten. "It was quickly apparent that the 'artificial' hair color trend is only picking up speed. I realized our YouTube Channel was showing a lot of different haircuts, colors and mini makeover videos, but we were lacking something on the wilder, trendier side." 

Osten enlisted the help of her go-to model for "free-spirited" hair color, Lilah. About a year ago, Osten transformed Lilah's hair into a bright cotton candy pink color for her sixteenth birthday (see here). Never fearful of color, when she arrived at p!ay, Lilah's hair was "blondish" and in desperate need of a trim Osten shares. Prior to Lilah's arrival, Osten created five dreamtones. "Dreamtone is a descriptive word we use at p!ay hair lounge to describe and promote our unique muted shades to our clients," Osten explains.

THE FORMULA: Lilah’s Dreamtones were created using a mix of RUSK Deepshine Direct colors and Wella Magma Pure Shine Sealer: #1- 1½ oz Wella + ¼ oz Pink + 1/8 oz Yellow #2- 1½ oz Wella + ¼ oz Purple + 1 pea size of Red #3- 1½ oz Wella + ¼ oz Teal + 1 pea size Purple #4- 1 oz Wella + 1/2 oz Teal #5- 1½ oz Wella + 1/2 oz Yellow + 1 pea size of Teal

PRO TIP: Osten chose to mute the colors using Wella Magma Pure Shine Sealer because of the longevity it provides for dreamtones. Osten also recommends using disposable containers to mix the formulas and to store the remaining dreamtones for future use.

THE APPLICATION: Osten started by lifting Lilah’s regrowth with a lightener & 20 volume highlight. "We both like a bit of her natural hair color, a warm level 5, shading the color I do for her. Not exactly an outgrowth, but more of a shadow," Osten says. Once the hair lifted to a level 9, it was shampooed out and dried. The hair was then split into two halves, a top and bottom half. Starting at the nape of the neck, taking vertical slices in the bottom section, create two slices of each color. Be sure to leave a tiny slice of blonde out between each color change. Repeat on the second half of the hair until you reach the other side of the head. Divide the front into three sections, two sides and one top section. For the three front remaining sections, horizontally place your slices to create stripes instead of a diffused mix of color. Approximately 20 minutes later rinse the color and seal with Wella's Magma Pure Shine Sealer for five minutes. "This product is brilliant to balance the PH and close the cuticle layers helping lock in the dreamtones," says Osten. "It looked like yarn in the shampoo bowl."