3 HOT Color Techniques from Redken

Redken has always been known for their amazing education, and at 2017’s #thebtcshow, Sean Godard, Veronica Ridge and Kelly Scott (who were making their BTC stage debut!) proved why. The trio shared techniques for pretty much every current salon trend—blonding, balayage, pastels and smoky grays. Here are three takeaways from their presentation.  

See all the photos from Redken’s presentation!

1. Ponytail Balayage: Never Under-Saturate Again
One of Kelly’s favorite balayage techniques involves applying lightener to a ponytail, which naturally creates overdirection. While great for a quick ombré and a seamless root blend, this application technique can make it more difficult to get complete saturation, she notes. Her solution?

Do this: apply color to the foil, pop another foil on top, then elevate, twist and peel back the first foil to check the saturation. If it’s not fully saturated, you can then re-apply, and place the foil back. Watch Kelly explain below.

2. Cheat A New Brush
A good face-framing balayage starts with the right brush. Sean always begins with a small detailing brush—and he says it absolutely MUST be clean and sharp. Don’t want to throw away your brush after each use?

Try this: Soak your brush in hot water. Then, as it dries, place a clip on the top to hold the bristles together. This will keep your brushes sharper, longer!

3. Veronica’s Go-To Shadow Root Formula

For truly natural fall blondes that look like they were kissed by the sun and then grew out since the summer months, a subtle shadow root is a must.

Do this: Section the hair into quadrants and apply:

Highlights: Redken Flash Lift + 10-volume developer + pH Bonder

Formula A: Shades EQ Clear Cream + 10-volume Pro-Oxide developer

Formula B: Equal parts Shades EQ Cream + 07WN/09NA + 10-volume Pro-Oxide developer  

Use Creative Meches to help keep your work clean, and make sure to saturate fully. For a perfect blend, use Redken’s new Edging Brush to blur the root.

Pro Tip: the Shades EQ Clear Cream acts as a lubricant for the shadow root color, which will give you a better blend and help to eliminate any lines of demarcation.

Products Used

Demi-Permanent Color

Shades EQ

Redken