Larisa Love’s 4 Tips For Creating Contrast With Semi-Permanent Color

4 Tips To Create Contrast From Larisa Love

Colorists usually run to demi- and permanent color for major transformations, but don’t sleep on direct dyes—especially for your clients who switch up their color often. Joico Global Brand Ambassador Larisa Love (@larisadoll) shows us how she creates stunning Insta-worthy looks using lightener and semi-permanent color.

Scroll down to grab her color placement tips, plus check out the finished look and grab the formulas. Don’t forget to watch the full 50-minute tutorial above for all of Larisa’s tips!

CLICK HERE to purchase Joico Color Intensity from CosmoProf!

1. Pre-Tone The Hair

Larisa prefers to pre-tone the hair using Joico Blonde Life Quick Tone Liqui-Crème Toner to neutralize color for an even canvas. Pre-toning also helps ensure the client has a nice fade out.

Check Out The Before & After!

2. Elongate The Money Piece

Not every client has a lot of hair at the front of the face for a traditional money piece, so Larisa prefers to foil around the perimeter to the back of the head to ensure brightness no matter the hair length. Here’s how she does it:

• First, take a diagonal back section about an inch thick at the crown. Continue parting behind the ear to the nape, then clip the rest of the hair away.

   

• Weave a babylight at the hairline and place a foil tight to the hairline. Apply Joico Blonde Life lightener, making sure to go against the grain at the roots to prevent lines of demarcation and secure the foil.

   

• Next, take a slice right behind the babylight and tease once. Apply lightener under the teased hair and secure.

   

• Continue this step around the head, adding slices and increasing the tease as you move farther back.

Pro Tip: If you have difficulty teasing the hair, you might not be using the right tail comb. Use a comb with the closer teeth for fine or hard to tease hair, and use a more spaced out comb for thicker hair.

3. Apply Color From The Bottom Up

When blending Joico Color Intensity shades between the roots and the midlengths, sometimes the the root shade is dragged down lower than expected during the blend. To avoid that, apply haircolor to the midlengths and ends first, then place the root color over the top to ensure it stays in place.

Tap The Beaker For The Formulas!

• Formula A

  Joico Blonde Life + 10 Volume LumiShine Developer working up to 20 Volume

• Formula B (Toner)

  Joico Color Intensity ½ Hot Kiss + ½ Passion Berry

• Formula C (Front Toner)

  Color Intensity Mauve Amor + Soft Pink + Yellow

4. Over Blend To Ensure Even Saturation

Color Intensity is usually applied to dry hair, so it’s essential that section sizes aren’t too thick to ensure even saturation, and aren’t too thin so the application won’t take hours. Here’s how Larisa makes sure her sections are fully saturated:

• First, apply the color to the section and comb through.

   

• Then go back and squeeze the hair to further spread the color.

   

• Reapply color to the section if necessary, following the same steps to blend.

   

• Continue following this pattern until the entire head is finished.

   

• Let Color Intensity process for 20 minutes and rinse.

New to Joico? Find more formulas and get a free sample of LUMI10™ here!

Products Used

Hair Color

Color Intensity

Joico

Lightener

Blonde Life

Joico

Glossing/ Toning

Blonde Life Quick Tone Liqui-Crème Toner

Joico