It may have started as a dream, but it ended with the reality of a first-place win for James Gartner in the inaugural Pravana 2014 Show Us Your Vivids contest for educators.

Gartner, 30, is co-owner and chief creative officer with Bii Hair Salon in West Dundee, Illinois. He also serves as a guest artist for Pravana. Bii artist team members, under the guidance of Gartner's vision, brainstormed the final winning look. Gartner and his team produced a polished, well-paced video documenting conception, process and finished product (see below).

"The idea was to illustrate Vivids Color Vision. When we discussed the overall look, our goal was to create a color melting technique, the melding of three colors giving a very modern and eye-catching result," said Gartner. "While the salon has won numerous contests and awards, the Vivids contest being my first individual win is amazing."

The ambitious look required a team of Bii artists to bring to fruition. "I owe it to a team of wonderfully talented artists who showed me their talent, love and support along the entire process," Gartner said. "I owe a special thanks to Jacquelyn Marie Hastings, Katie Loos and George Portillo - an amazing hair team - and Marcin Tomaszczyk for photo documenting the process."

GET THE WINNING FORMULA:

STEP 1: The winning formula began with pre-lightening the base. Gartner applied Pure Light power lightener 30 volume 1/4 inch away from the scalp, to previously lightened hair. Then, he applied Pure Light power lightener 20 volume to the scalp.

STEP 2:  Gartner rinsed and shampooed with Pravana clarifying shampoo.

STEP 3: To even out the palette, he applied 10.03 plus 10.04 plus 20 volume from mid-strand to ends to brighten and warm the cool ends.

STEP 4: The application of Vivids came next, beginning with custom pink:  2 ounces pink plus 1 ounce magenta plus 1 ounce ribbon red. Gartner's technique with Vivids stresses saturation, achieved by rubbing the color into the hair. Just below the pink is orange, a combination of 1 ounce orange and 1 ounce neon orange, being careful to melt the colors to avoid a decided line of demarcation. A yellow mix of 1 ounce yellow plus 1 ounce neon yellow was added just below the orange. Again, taking care to melt the colors to get her to diffuse harsh lines.

STEP 5: Gartner blow-dried and styled with Nevo Intense Therapy leave-in treatment. He used a 3-inch round brush to smooth ends. Additional shine to the hair was created by use of Nevo Hydra Pearls, then set with Nevo Super Shape Hair Spray.

STEP 6: Thecurl-iron set was prepped with Intense Therapy Leave-In Treatment. Hair was set with a 1.5-inch barrel iron. Added shine was created using Vivids Color Protect Sealing Spray.