Becca Ortiz, @balaybecca, upgraded these blonde highlights with a root smudge using the new Schwarzkopf Professional BLONDME Bond Enforcing Deep Toners for a sophisticated, powdery effect. 

A “second appointment” for a highlight client is the perfect time to refine the color, believes Becca Ortiz, @balaybecca. So she often gets creative with toners to upgrade the tonality and finish. One of her current favorite toner collections is the Schwarzkopf Professional BLONDME Deep Toning range. “It’s a versatile range of shades that lets me create everything from root smudges, toning and lowlights or add dimension,” she says.  “They are super creative to work with on levels 5-8. They enrich pre-lightened darker bases or naturally blonde hair.”  

The client above was originally highlighted with Schwarzkopf Professional IGORA VARIO BLOND Plus. When she returned eight weeks later, Ortiz created a powdery root smudge using 20g Deep Toning Nougat + 10g Deep Toning Milk Chocolate with equal parts BLONDME Premium Developer 7-volume. She melted the root smudge into a midlengths-and-ends toning formula of 25g BLONDME Pastel Toner Ice + 3g BLONDME Pastel Toner Lilac. 

“Everyone needs Nougat and Milk Chocolate in their lives!” says Ortiz. These are my Deep Toning go-tos.  I love using them as root taps for my platinum blondes. The shades give me a beautiful, powdery finish and melt perfectly into BLONDME toners and IGORA VIBRANCE shades.”

Brondes can also be refined with Deep Toning. Here, Ortiz shifted the tone from warm to a cool, yet still rich result. The hair was prelightened with Schwarzkopf Professional IGORA VARIO BLOND Plus + IGORA ROYAL Oil Developer 10-volume (1:2) using Ortiz’s wet global balayage technique. She then did a root smudge with BLONDME Deep Toning Deep Chestnut, melting it into 25g Deep Toning Milk Chocolate + 5 g Deep Chestnut + 5g Deep Toning Brown Mahogany + BLONDME Premium Oil Developer 7 Volume (1:1). 

The BLONDME Bond Enforcing Deep Toning formulas are “more than just another demi,” Ortiz believes  “They are pH neutral and formulated with integrated Bond Enforcing Hydrolock Technology for improved moisturizing and minimized hair damage,” she says. “As colorists, we are always looking for that added protection after a highlight service.”

BLONDME Bond Enforcing Deep Toning also allows you to customize results for your clients. “They are intermixable,” says Ortiz, “and I’m really enjoying mixing two or even three shades together to come up with custom tones.”

When working with Deep Toning, Ortiz recommends a light hand. “When mixing, a little goes a long way,” she notes. “Don't underestimate the depth of each shade. And the gel-crème consistency is ideal for both brush and bottle applications.”

To learn more and to add Deep Tones to your dispensary, visit salonory.com.