HOW-TO: Cheshire Cat Color

“Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality,” said the Cheshire Cat, the inspiration behind this purple balayage with touches of pink by Yesenia Solis (@yeessiie), a stylist at Bello Salon in southern California.

“Actually, my Cheshire cat look has an interesting story,” said Solis. “My guest, Pam, was getting her ombre done by another stylist, but when she noticed it was looking blotchy and unblended she immediately contacted me asking me if I could fix it. On the first session we blended the line of demarcations and even out any blotchy colors and finished it with Pravana purple. On the second session, we did the Cheshire-Cat-inspired look. Pam wanted a purple balayaged color melt. I suggested we spice it up and added some pink to it as well.”

Here Solis offers her steps to creating Cheshire Cat color:

STEP 1: Balayage the hair with Redken flashlight with 30v and Olaplex. (I like to do brick sections when balaying the hair.) Make sure to feather the lightener gently towards her existing ombre as well when balaying towards the roots. Let it process for 45 minutes .

STEP 2: Rinse out the hair and blow dry it completely so it can absorb the direct dye.

STEP 3: Apply the violet color (3 parts Pravana violet, 1 part Pravana clear) from the roots through midshaft (make sure it's fully saturated to avoid blotchiness).

STEP 4: Apply Kenra creative color in pink on to the ends and blend into the violet color. Process for 20 minutes.

STEP 5: Rinse with cold water, shampoo, towel dry hair, apply Olaplex no. 2, leave in for 15 minutes, blow dry and style.