MODERN's good friend Marcus Byerly, based in Knoxville, Tennesse, is a blonding expert. Here he shares his thoughts on the "Rules Of Blonding":

Ice blonde is trending all over the beauty industry right now, but how do you know if it's right for your client?  Here are some tips that stylists can utilize during a blonde consultation. Keep in mind these are general rules in theory, and may not always apply.  

Complexion

Ice blonde is categorized as a "cool" blonde. If your client has a cool complexion (undertones of pink or peach, fair to medium skin), then a cool blonde will work. Olive skin or even fair skin with yellow undertones should look towards deeper shades of gold or gold beige blonde. If the client's skin is neutral, he or she can pull off both. 

The Stages of Getting There

It can't happen overnight. Unless the client has a natural level 7 (medium blonde) or higher, it will take multiple salon visits to achieve an icy shade. Attached is a collage of one of my ice blonde clients. She is a natural level 5 (lightest brown). I don't recommend anyone darker than a level 5 to go ice blonde due to the maintenance and integrity of the hair.  She started off with caramel blonde highlights, and progressively over the course of my time in beauty school, became platinum (about 9 months). The slower a stylist takes to get there, the better it is for the hair.  Stylists need to allow the hair time to regain it's elasticity. Deep conditioning regularly with a keratin based treatment will strengthen the hair for it's next process.   Redken Diamond Oil, Redken Extreme Strength Builder Plus and Aveda Damage Remedy Reconstructive Treatment are my go to deep conditioners for multi-processed blondes. 

Maintenance 

Now that the client is successfully an ice blonde, he or she will need to treat it with a lot of care. They should shampoo 3 times or less a week and use a dry shampoo in between. Stylists should book these clients for a trim every 6-8 weeks to prevent split ends. Make sure they also use a violet shampoo and conditioner to help neutralize any yellow undertones that may surface in the hair due to hard water and the environment.   Joico , Matrix , Redken and Pravana have great purple shampoos and conditioners. 

If the client decides he or she wants to add lowlights down the road, stylists must think hard and carefully before doing this. The client can't go back to ice blonde.  I've seen stylists lowlight platinum blondes, only to go back and attempt to remove it with lightener. Not a good idea!  That's merely overlapping already processed hair and will result in severe breakage.  

Ice blonde is an advanced form of hair coloring, and needs practice and education before actual application on a client.  With the help of social media platforms like Modern Salon on Instagram and Facebook, we are able to learn and get inspired by other stylist's ice blonde techniques.