Cirrus Blaafjell (@CirrusBlaafjell), owner of Salon Alta in the heart of San Francisco, specializes in low-maintenance, lived-in haircolor and says, "I was born with shears and a color brush in my hand. I take credit for my family growing up letting me practice on them at the age of 13 and helping me decide to do this as a career."         

For this client, who has been doing bleach and tone for 10-plus years, Blaafjell had a challenge.

"She is constantly fighting brass," Blaafjell says. "She just had a baby and needs in a little bit more of the lived in low maintenance hair color that she's does have not to touch up every five weeks. We opted for more a rooted, lived-in blonde that would grow out every 3-5 months. The key with blonde is to know when to take if off, otherwise you are always fighting brass. I keep things simple with blondes and try to avoid too many lowlights as I find they fade to brass. I never mess with natural base color it will always lift warm."

How-to

PROCESS FOR HIGHLIGHTS:

-Section from ear to ear over the crown, working from back nape up. Zone 1: Base - full head combo foliage and soft panel babylights with Davines Mask Bleach and 40 volume developer. ("This took about 1000 foils!"). Color was re-mixed every 30 minutes to keep it fresh. No heat used. "I like to have it lift slow and reapply if needed," Blaafjell says.

-Zone 2: From the line of demarcation, in between foils, apply 7-11 (double ash) Davines, blended with Olaplex. Process for 10 minutes.  

-Rinse back and then sides and top when processed.  Shampoo with Unite Purple Shampoo for five minutes.    

PROCESS FOR ROOT SHADOW AND TONING (on damp hair):

-Zone 1: Nape to crown, from base outgrowth to 2 " down,  apply Davines 5-11 double ash. 

-Zone 2-3: From sides to crown, apply same formulation but 1" off root. Process for 10 minutes. 

-Zone 4: Mid shaft to ends apply Davines 10-01, 9-01 and 2 drops of Violet concentrate.  Process roughly 3-10 minutes, watching to desired color reached.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.