@bescene’s 6 Tips For Mastering Metallic Melts + Shadow Roots

@bescene’s 6 Tips For Mastering Metallic Melts + Shadow Roots

As if achieving the perfect cool-toned metallic melt wasn’t tricky enough, clients with darker strands make it that much harder thanks to all the underlying warmth in their hair. Linh Phan (@bescene), a master colorist known for creating stunning blends on typically-resistant Asian hair, shared his best tips and techniques for creating rooty metallic masterpieces on darker bases when he went live from the BTC House. Below, we’ve pulled his top six tips to help you out behind the chair. Check ‘em out!

Want to learn Linh’s formulas and techniques? Click here to purchase the livestream and enjoy lifetime access to the full how-to!

Products Used

Hair Color

BLONDME® Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener 9+

Schwarzkopf Professional®

Glossing/ Toning

BLONDME® Bond Enforcing Blonde Hi-Lighting

Schwarzkopf Professional®

1. Remove Any Warmth First

Darker hair has tons of underlying red, orange and yellow pigments. So when creating metallic melts and ashy shades, Linh removes any warmth first before redepositing. It gives him control of the warm pigments while helping to fight against red casts or reflective tones that are visible when the light hits the hair.

2. Wet Vs. Dry Hair—Is One Better?

Linh paints almost all of his melts on damp hair because it helps him work faster and perfect his blend. He also prefers to work without clips because they just slow him down.

3. How To Handle Double Process Blondes

Here’s what Linh does: 

• For the first round of lightening, apply Schwarzkopf Professional BLONDME Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener 9+ + 30-volume developer from 1 inch off the scalp to the ends with a cotton barrier between each section. 

• Then, wrap the hair in Saran Wrap and let process.

• For the second round of lightening, apply BLONDME Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener 9+ + 20-volume developer from 1 inch off the scalp to the ends without the cotton barrier. 

• Finish by applying BLONDME Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener 9+ + 20-volume developer on the roots and then wrap the hair in Saran Wrap again, letting the natural heat from the body lift the hair.

Here’s a peek at how blonde Linh’s model was before the application:

4. Keep The Base Formula On The Lighter Side

When redepositing the base, Linh likes to keep the formula on a lighter level (Level 6 and up). Doing this will make root touch-ups easier when you have to go back and do a bleach touch-up and then redeposit the base again.

5. The Secret To A Seamless Melt

Linh paints on diagonal-back sections and blends the base formula into the softer secondary shade with a scissoring motion with his index finger and thumb. The diagonal sectioning helps the colors blur more seamlessly! See how it’s done in the gif below:

6. Linh’s Toner Tip

If your client lifted to a Level 8, Linh recommends using a lighter melt color like Schwarzkopf Professional BLONDME Bond Enforcing Blonde Hi-Lighting. It lifts and tones naturally dark or previously colored bases and helps protect the hair fiber thanks to its integrated bonding technology.

Learn the entire step-by-step process from Linh! Click here to purchase the livestream!

Video How-To: Lift & Tone Asian Hair In One Step (Without Lightener!)