Another Studio Three Re-Branding Shoot

 

I am so excited about doing these photoshoots to re-brand Studio Three.

Shown here is my latest Muse, Jeanie. I have been doing her hair since 2005 - I can't believe it's been 17 years! Where does the time go??

I did a reverse partial highlight -$120 plus toner $10 for a total of $130 for this look. It was a fairly straightforward process because Jeannie had completely virgin hair so it was easy to lift evenly while keeping the integrity of the hair. It's pretty amazing I got 6 levels of lift just using Keune Magic Blonde and toning with Keune semi in Silver to cut the left over warmth in just one session.

I have more in store for Jeanie as far as hair transformations so stay tuned!!

Thank you to Jean Kercheval Photography for the photos and the MUA Studio Facade they both did amazing work and I love working with them!!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

 ...and a smile is worth a thousand more!

Formula:

Full Foil, Keune Creme Bleach w/ 20v

Shadow Root, Keune Semi 7.2 

Midshaft to ends, Keune Semi Silver

Price:

Full Foil, $160

Shadow Root, $10

Toner, $10

K18 ad-on, $10

Total: $190

Another Branding Photo Shoot!

 Color is on-point for another branding photo shoot tomorrow with the very talented photographer, Jean Kercheval. For this shoot we gave my wonderful model (Kate) a bright streak in the front (we call them her "Gloria Steinem" pieces) and toned the rest of her hair with three shades of blonde to enhance her existing hair color with a light, natural touch. I will share her formula with you all in a later post with the finished pictures.

I can't wait for Kate to meet the make-up artist tomorrow, it's probably the most fun and exciting part of the process! Here is a link to her Instagram: StudioFacade  Kate has agreed to be my muse and let me do whatever I like. Can't wait to show you her finished photos!

COLOR BLOCKING TECHNIQUE CERTIFICATION

AIRTOUCH BLONDING TECHNIQUE CERTIFICATE

SHADOW FOILIAGE AND MONEY PIECE CERTIFICATION

DIMENSONAL REDS AND BLONDES CERTIFICATE

This class was informative on both placement and color theory for delivering a big impact. I definitely think it helped me think about light reflection and placement of color in a new way.

Here is a vibrant red I did after this class and I am really happy with it. I would definitely call it a 'Dimensional Red!'

PRAVANA VIVIDS EVERLASTING E-CERTIFICATION

DIFFUSE GLOW TECHNIQUE

Well, we are all in the midst of the COVID19 crisis and since I have to close the salon until (as of right now) May 4th, I thought it would be a good idea to a) post all of my online class certifications to date and b) take more on-line classes.

Often times, I sabotage myself with overthinking and making things more complicated than I have to. In this case, I had these plans to do models and post photos w/ each certification but I realize now, I can do all that at a later date and not let it hold me back from getting the certifications up online.

This first one is for a quick technique certification for a foil technique using Joico lightner and Joico products. The foil placement was the reason I was interested in it and I've already used the key placement of bright pieces in the front and sides, working it into my usual repertoire to ad some pop   so it was definitely worth the time.


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What Is "Dimension" in Blonde Hair?

Blonde hair using an all-over bleach and tone process is going to get you the lightest over-all blonde you can be. But typically, this kind of blonde is what I call "Flat Blonde." (There is an example at the bottom of this post.)

On the other hand, the blonde below has a simple (darker blonde) lowlight foiled in at about 2 inches apart. The hair is still very blonde but is has what is referred to as "dimension." The darker parts make the lighter parts pop.

The result is a very natural blonde that's flattering to almost everyone and doesn't leave you looking washed out and over processed.

In this particular case I do an all over base color of almost the lightest blonde (not bleach). Afterwards I went thru and added foils, about 2 inches apart, of the lowlight- adjusting the formula in the foils closest to the scalp to account for the base color and then a medium blonde on the midshaft and ends. If you are interested in this kind of look, just book a partial foil (full foil if you have lots of hair or think it may take extra time).

Here is an example of "Flat Blonde"

I am not saying one blonde is better than the other, but I know a lot of people are confused about the different words we use to describe different colors so I wanted to shed some light. Other terms used for (my term) 'Flat Blonde' are 'single process blonde,' 'bleach and tone,' 'platinum' and 'superblonde.'

I'm happy to do any of these as well but as I've said before, I'm a softie for gorgeous, healthy-looking hair and I tend to think the more natural look of a dimensional blonde achieves this the best.

Hope to see you soon!
Cheers!
-Lynn

Book online at my website: www.studiothreehairsalon.com

Babylights, Balayage and Cool Beige Blondness

After this hair party of hand painted high lift blondes leaving the roots natural for a "shadow blonde" effect we went for a bite at Chiangs and I snapped this because I was and am so in love with it. 

Full disclosure it took over three hours to achieve this level of ash (no yellow or warmth leftover) and we started with hair that had had at least one all over color with a high lift base and highlights that had some gold left in (peanut butter blonde I would call it. Oh - here is a before from when we were snap chatting the cut part lol

So.. The moral of the story is: this kind of blonde is a journey and it takes time and patience. 

I don't believe in pushing the hair beyond what it can do but I am willing to figure out just where those limits are and moseying right up to them. Oh! That reminds me - I've been meaning to write a post about olaplex .. Still going to do that.. But what I will say is I tried out the brazillian bond reconstructor ampules and it worked like a charm - but I wouldn't say it worked any better than the kitoka protein reconstructor I've been using for more than a year now. It's really amazing the advances we've made in the last ten years in the science of hair color. It's a really exciting time to be a colorist!

In any case, she left with silky, lovely white blonde and beige blonde highlights. She is armed with the products to help her keep the tone and integrity of her hair intact and I am thrilled with the stunning results - as is she!

Win!!!

Foil-ayage ... It's kinda my "Thing"

My work. In the wild ;-)

This is a combination of foil and balayage which evolves over time. If you'd like to get to this level of low-maintenance/high impact blonde start with a full or partial foil and we will alternate every other or every third time with different balayage techniques. This has traditional "color sweep" or "hand painted highlight" balayage as well as a variation on the 'dipped' perimeter that ends up with a softer line. Because of the dark crown and root area the effect is a sophisticated beachy ombre. 

Love your hair!

xoxo

Balayage Bonanza!

So.. have I mentioned I am loving balayage highlights?
I can't get enough.. Here is a client who I have always done foil highlights (and lowlights) on. Today I just painted in very natural balayage highlights in an ombre pattern ( similar to the way that I do her foils) with the highlights very close to the scalp in the front but on the crown of the head much lighter in the regrowth and farther from the scalp. The end result was stunning

High Contrast Ombre

Here is a fun Ombre from some time around July. This client wanted a high contrast Ombre so I did some hand painting on the perimeter and then for the framing in the front I wanted precision so I mixed foils and balayage. The finished product was just what the summer ordered!

Adding a Little Fire

This was a fun little red adventure.. For a long long time we had been highlighting and then low lighting with red (she's a natural level 5-6 brunette). As happens over time she was getting a little bored with the color and feeling kind of same-ole same-ole so we came up with a plan to ad lots of chunky red low lights (using the Keune Semi so it's super gentle and conditioning, and while there will be some fade-age I used the Red Intense series so I'm pretty confident she'll stay pretty true between services)

I think next time I will use a different hue from the Red Intense series and maybe just a few peek-a-boo highlights through the front and bangs but I can't wait to see over time how all the awesome red low lights come together for shimmering red calico!

I also like that because she's growing her hair long the Keune Semi will keep her hair as shiny as healthy as possible. I think the heavy/chunky red highlight is much more interesting choice for red because going all-over is such a commitment to upkeep, even in Semi. But since it's got her own natural color all intermingled in there, she can go longer between services.. and seeing as she's got a busy life with family, too much upkeep is just not manageable.

Yaaay for fun solutions and yaaay for smoking hot Red Hair!!

Enjoy the day everyone!
-Lynn

Strawberry Dream Hair

Grown out all-over color (grown out about 4 months, so a little tricky) transformed last Thursday night with highlights, lowlights and a hint of gold for a touch of strawberry blonde for this natural red-head gone a little grey. 

Because of her schedule I went with a foil vs. touching up the all over color because the grow out between visits will be much softer for her than a harsh line that's difficult as far as upkeep. So part of it was a lifestyle decision factoring in but I couldn't have been more happy with the result!

Peace and Love all...

Gray hair is a a sign of age, not wisdom. -Greek Proverb

Good bye failed experiment. I gave it a good four month try of growing out a grey streak and I finally caved and colored it. I really want to be an awesome grey haired lady, but the truth is my grey hair doesn't make me look awesome, it just makes me look old.

I stand by the statement that I think grey hair is awesome, but it's just not awesome on me, unfortunately. It's ok, I happen to be a hairdresser so these are easy things to fix. Do I wish I didn't have to touch up my roots every month? Yes. But the fact of the matter is, it's just one of those things I have to live with.

I want to say for the record though, I love grey hair and if you want to grow out your grey I will use all my skills and expertise as a professional to help you do that -and I will be supportive of you with my full heart in the process... but it's over for me.

I am not a grey haired lady.
I color.

The beauty of the color gloss!

I am really loving this Seattle autumn weather.. and I think people are really gearing up for the coming fall. I've been doing a lot of dark hues these last few weeks. Lot's of people wanting richer colors and a hint of warm.

The color gloss is my number one choice for a rich, natural color that leaves the hair feeling silkier and looking shiny. What makes it different from a regular all-over color is that it does no lifting of the hair cuticle or the hairs natural pigment, it only deposits color. Regular oxidative color does both (lifting and depositing).

A while ago I had a client come in for a gloss. She was a natural dark blonde but prefers dark hair so she'd been coloring her long hair with box color on her own for a long time. Her hair was starting to look damaged and feel brittle and dry on the ends. I freshened up her dark hair with an all-over color gloss and it looked great! It did all the things I hoped it would and left her shiny and no-longer dry looking. Win!!

Unfortunately, the next time I saw her about 6 weeks later for another gloss she told me the first one faded and she went over it again with a box color. There must have been a miscommunication. I thought I explained to her that if it fades in a week or two (which would not be unusual with the porosity of her hair) I would be happy to go over it with a second gloss at no charge. I think maybe she thought I was going to charge her. Sadly, by putting box color over it again it just put us 2 steps back. It's completely normal for really porous hair that has had repeated box dye on it to not hold onto color. By using box dye again she was only making the porosity worse, her hair more brittle and doing needless damage. It's to be expected it would probably take a few times to fill properly.  I felt really bad for not making it clearer when I did the first gloss.

So anyway, today I did another (beautiful rich brown) gloss and then I heat sealed deep conditioner and she left looking like a model.. I told her to call me if it fades too fast, and this time she promised she would!

Catch Up!

The last time Cynara had her hair colored or cut was 8 months ago when I brought it from medium/dark brown to dark blonde. She had about 4 inches of grow-out (though admitedly it blended pretty well). So, We had our work cut out for us, but I think it turned out beautifully! What do you think?

Because she wants to keep growing her hair out I suggested she start using a weekly deep conditioner. Keune makes a good one (care Line, Hair Mask) but if you want to purchase it, call the salon since it's not in stock very often -we can special order it for you. Here's a link Keune Hair Mask.

A drugstore alternative would be Neutrogena's Triple Moisture Hair Mask Read about it here.

When you are growing your hair long, deep conditioning is a must. Additionally, a drop of olive oil to the ends of your hair will keep your ends from splitting (a TINY amount, so little no one will notice you are putting it in! Just a drop in your palms, rub them together so your hands are shiny and then run your hands through the end of your pony tail). The pH of the olive oil causes your hair shaft to close down tighter and makes it compact. Also, jojoba oil can be used, but olive oil works fine and most everyone has it at home - extra virgin. The pH of jojoba oil is closest to the oil your scalp produces, but olive oil is next in line and as I said, typically everyone has it on hand. Hope that's helpful!

Curly Correction...

I have a fun one yesterday! Curley hair, which I LOVE and I got to make it beautiful again. Amy had gone to a salon in South Seattle and had a guy bleach the hell out of her hair using some sort of balayage method that left her hair quite damaged and also very yellow. When it was first done it was red and bleach applied straight to the hair in big sections with no foil or cotton or anything (sounds weird to me). The red faded out entirely and left her with an all over yellow color that was a stark contrast from her natural color and showed extreme grow-out. Overall it just looked sort of harsh and damaged.

I foiled in back to back highlights of two shades of high-lift blonde (ash and violet). I did this because we needed to lift through whatever color was left in there and also needed to lift the grow-out. I also added in a regular blonde (8/9 natural). In between all the foils I used a color gloss to add shine and to cover the bleached out yellow with a nice medium blonde tone. This left the hair much more shiny overall and it felt better after coloring rather than more damaged.

I like the neutral tones with her skin tone. I only wish I had taken more close ups of the color, but it's still a fun "before and after"



Notes about curly hair:
Curly hair is much drier and more fragile than straight hair and because of that, shampooing every day can be very drying/damaging. Signs of over-shampooing are dry, frizzy, unmanageable hair. On top of the damage from the bleach used on her hair, Amy was using shampoo every time she washed her hair (about every other day). I suggested she ween off of using shampoo all together and start only washing her hair with conditioner. This is an excellent suggestion for anyone with moderate to very curly hair as the extra moisture keeps the hair weighted down and prevents frizz. Conditioner will clean your scalp when used like a shampoo, simply apply it to the scalp and work it in like you are lathering up shampoo - of course the conditioner won't lather, but it's working just the same. The hard part is really just mentally adjusting to not using shampoo any more. Some people freak out that their hair is not getting "clean enough." I know it won't help if I just tell you that it is so if this is a concern for you, I suggest you start slowly. Transition gradually into washing with conditioner only: shampoo with shampoo the first day, condiditoner the second - continue like this every other day for a few cycles and then start going every two days (shampoo, conditioner, conditioner, shampoo, conditioner, conditioner etc.) and so on and so on. Trust me. Your hair will be clean and MUCH more manageable with less breakage and feel softer to the touch.

A great resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the special needs and other tips and tricks for curly hair check out THIS BOOK you can buy it used for under $5 and it's an invaluable resource!