Are you looking to get ash blonde hair from brown? In Just One Session?
Believe it or not, it can be done.
Don't believe it when they say that going blonde is a process.
That you have to keep lightening and coloring your hair for the next 4 months.
At Ugly Duckling, we teach hairdressers how to get ash blonde from brown in Just One Session.
And today, we are going to show you too.
First Step: Lift hair using Brilliant Blondexx Lightener
The right products are important when you want to take brown hair ash blonde.
And that starts off with the correct choice of bleach.
Most bleaches don't lift very well. As a result, stylists end up applying ultra strong developer - 40 Vol, for example.
Which just ends up blowing up the hair cuticle.
We would suggest you use Brilliant Blondexx with Bond Protect.
It has a very powerful lift and in most cases, brown hair will lift up to the desired level using just 10 or 20 Vol developer.
In addition to the lifting capability, Brilliant Blondexx is built with Bond Protect.
Meaning that the hair gets reinforced during bleaching process.
So you don't need to put in additives which slow the lightening process.
How to Use Brilliant Blondexx
Choose the right strength of developer.
If you or you client has brown hair, and is trying to get to ash blonde, this means a lift of between 2-4 levels.
For 2-3 levels, 20 Vol is great.
For any lift above that (say 4 levels), then 30 Vol is better.
Make a mix of 1 part bleach and 2 parts developer.
This gives you a nice wet mix - like gravy.
Which is what you need, because you need to totally saturate the hair when you bleach.
Start from the back for full head applications
If it's a full head application, start from the back.
This is where the hair is the thickest.
Make sections and apply, saturating the hair very very well.
Leave the root part until the end because that part will lift the fastest due to the heat coming off the scalp.
Start from the darkest parts for partial applications
If, on the other hand, you have already bleached your client's hair in the past, and only parts need bleaching, then simply start where it is the darkest.
Or the most orange if it has been partially lifted in the past.
Your aim is to get the hair up to a consistent level 9 Blonde
Your aim when you apply bleach is to take all the brown hair up to a consistent level 9 blonde.
So yellow-orange or brassy orange will not do.
You need to take it all the way up to very pale yellow level 9.
See the picture below to see what level 9 looks like.
Compare it against your client's hair as you lift.
I bleached but it's still orange!
If you have been using Brilliant Blondexx as we recommended it will work.
Trust the process.
Keep checking the hair and re-applying after 10 or 15 minutes.
If parts of the hair are still bright yellow or yellow-orange after 15 minutes, re-apply fresh (wet) mixture on those parts.
Rinse when it is all at level 9.
Treat with Brilliant Blondexx Shampoo or Mask
At this stage it is a great idea to treat the hair with Bond Protect ingredients and give it a shampoo or mask or both.
Doing so will take the hair back to its natural acid level and also help close the cuticle.
Plus make it thicker, fuller and healthier.
Which you need to do, because you have lifted the level of the hair quite substantially.
Now, time to tone
Now, towel dry the hair and get ready to tone.
There is a big range of toners you can choose from:
Toners with Extra Lift, Toners with Regular Lift, and Ammonia-Free No-Lift Toners.
Which one you choose will depend on how well you have lightened the hair and how light you want it to be.
Toners with Extra Lift
Ugly Duckling has 2 toners with a special Boost ingredient.
These are very helpful for hair that is still very very yellow after bleaching.
Intense Pearl Blonde Toner 100V has a pearl-blonde tone.
And Intense Silver Blonde Toner 100B has a more natural silver-white tone.
Mix these toners with 10 or 20 Vol developer and apply for 10-15 minutes.
Toners with Regular Lift
Ugly Duckling has a couple of toners with regular lift.
They still do have lift, but not as much as the Intense Toners mentioned above.
However, they are very intensely pigmented, more so than the intense toners, and will help you achieve ultra-cold blonde results.
We would suggest you make your choice from one of the following:
10.2 - a purple based ultra cold blonde color
10.1b - a blue based cold blonde color.
Pearl Blonde toner 10V
Silver Blonde toner 10B
Non Lifting No-Ammonia Toners
Ugly Duckling also has a range of non lifting, ammonia-free toners: Blondify.
These are liquid toners, which can be mixed in a ratio of 1+1 with either 10 or 20 Vol developer.
As they are gel or liquid based, you can mix them in an applicator bottle and pour them straight over the hair.
Then rub, and process 10 minutes.
Then rinse.
You will be amazed at the difference and at the toning results they produce.
Maintenance of Ash Blonde Hair
Now that you have got your client ash blonde from brown, how should you recommend that she maintain it?
We would suggest that she alternates between 2 hair care ranges:
Brilliant Blondexx Shampoo and Mask.
This is a range with Bond Protect built in, that will make the hair thicker and stronger and less prone to breakage.
Brilliant Blonde Purple Shampoo and Mask.
This is a purple toning range, and should be used whenever the hair looks like it may turn brassy over time (all hair does this).
Both ranges are acid based and sulfate-free.
