Foiling & Gray Coverage: 3 Tips For A Faster Application

3 Ways To Speed Up Gray Coverage & Highlight Services

A traditional foils and gray coverage appointment can take hours, but what if there was a way to speed things up?Joico Celebrity Artist Jill Buck (@jill901) demoed how to quickly highlight and cover grays at once! Get her tips for a faster application below, plus check out the finished looks and grab the formulas! Make sure to watch the full 30-minute tutorial above to get all of her expert advice!

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1. Foil Before Applying Gray Coverage

Before Joico LUMI10™, Jill used to apply the gray coverage formula first, let process for 40 minutes and then highlight. Now, she can foil first and go back in with the root color, since LUMI10™ processes in only 10 minutes!

This saves Jill time since foiling takes longer to process than the base color, plus she doesn’t have to worry about creating unwanted warm spots when highlighting over the darker root color.

A close up of the model’s grays before coverage!

Check Out The Before & After!

2. Work With An Assistant

Since LUMI10™ processes in 10 minutes, it’s important that the timing is just right or your client may end up with a darker root than expected. To speed things up, Jill works with an assistant along a middle part so they both tackle one side of the head.

3. No Assistant? Do This!

If you don’t have an assistant, Jill recommends using a lighter root color in the back and a darker color in the front. This little trick will buy you time if your client has a lot of hair or if you’re a slow colorist, because the root formulas will look the same when rinsed out.

Note: Don’t hesitate to rinse the color off if you feel like it’s getting too dark. It’s better to rinse early than deal with an unexpected color correction.

Tap The Beaker For The Formulas!

• Formula A (Root Color)

  Joico LUMI10™ 5N + LUMI10™ Accelerator 

• Formula B (Hairline Root Color)

  LUMI10™ 6N + LUMI10™ Accelerator

• Formula C (Highlights)

  Joico Blonde Life + 30-volume developer

• Formula D (Tap)

   Joico Lumishine™ Demi-Permanent Cream Color 6SB + 5-volume developer

• Formula E (Toner)

  Joico Lumishine™ Demi-Permanent Liquid Color 6NW + 10NG + Clear + 5-volume developer

4. Use A Simple Highlight Placement

Jill uses a halo-shaped highlight placement, so she’s not adding more time into the service. This allows her to do the face frame foils, gray coverage and toner all at once. 

Pro Tip: If the client didn’t want a face frame, Jill would instead apply 6N through the front and 5N through the back to keep the client light and bright around the face.

Products Used

Gray Coverage

LUMI10™