According to Katherine Maddox, it’s not easy to be a hair color specialist in her town of Kokomo, IN. It’s not because she can’t attract clients or create beautiful color for the clients she has. It’s about what’s in the water.“Where I live in Indiana, the water is some of the hardest in the country,” explains Maddox, who also serves as a Malibu C(malibuc.com) Educator and Artistic Team Member. “It’s filled with calcium, magnesium and iron. So most of the time, a blonde will return after three or four weeks and her color will be really dull or maybe even orange because of all the minerals in our water.”

And Maddox isn’t alone. “In reality,” she explains, “80% of the households in the U.S. contain hard water.” And the consequences for color isn’t pretty. Think disappearing highlights, hard-to-lift hair, iron buildup that leads to brassiness, copper that leads to ashy muddiness and oxidized copper that turns hair color green. Needless to say, the next time you’re wringing your hands over a hair color that’s gone off, remember—it very well may be the water.

THE DETOX SOLUTION

Problematic water is everywhere but Maddox doesn’t take her situation lying down. She has discovered a way to detox her clients’ hair, so the color turns out as beautifully as she plans it to, and won't go off between salon visits. Her secret? “Every client gets a Malibu C Crystal Gel treatment,”  Maddox says. “It’s not an option. It’s required. Because everyone washes their hair with water.”

A Crystal Gel treatment removes mineral and medication buildup from the hair. Maddox first shampoos the hair with Malibu C Undo Goo, a resin clarifying shampoo. Then she combines a packet of Crystal Gel with two ounces of water and applies it to the hair with a bowl and brush or an applicator bottle. She processes with heat for 20 to 35 minutes, shampoos with Undo Goo and then proceeds with the color service. She finds the treatment makes all her color more predictable and long-lasting.

“When there’s buildup on the hair you never know what kind of chemical reaction may occur," Maddox explains. "That’s why it’s so important to remove minerals and other elements deposited by hard water. It clears the canvas and improves the performance of the hair color.”

Learn more about how the “Malibu Makeover” can transform even the worst hair situations.

“I offer the Crystal Gel treatment as a stand-alone service and as an add-on,” Maddox notes. “Other stylists build it into the price of their chemical services. I also do it for clients who don’t receive hair color services. I find it makes the hair easier to style, speeds up the blow dry and overall makes the hair look and feel so much better.”

Maddox make sure each client goes home with a Malibu C system kit specific to her hair situation. But the professional treatment is the foundation. “I explain it like this,” she says. “You brush and floss your teeth at home every day, but you still have to go to the dentist for a  deep cleaning.”

Explore the full range of Malibu C formulas for hair and skin wellness at malibuc.com.