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Hair color: let there be light!
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After highlights
While you wait for the true arrival of summer you can give yourself a lift by making your hair a bit lighter and brighter. Jim Clinton, colorist at the Vartali Salon, on East 57th Street in Manhattan, highlights in a way to give you a burst of color without busting your wallet. “I see a lot of woman with highlights just on the top layers of the hair.”
According to Clinton this is a mistake, and you tend to look as if you just paid for the top layer. Since so many woman have modern, layered cuts, Clinton said, “It’s critical to highlight the underneath layers so that when the hair moves highlights are still visible.”
Since I have medium, length-layered hair I was an ideal candidate. I had been holding off getting my usual half-head of highlights, or a full head of highlights closer to the spring. But my hair color was starting to look increasingly solid and dull. When I talked to him, he assured me I could have a burst of color, or what Clinton calls “modified highlights” for just $100.00. This seemed not only reasonable and affordable, but his philosophy of where the highlights should be placed made dollars and sense.
Jim Clinton has been working as a colorist in high-end salons along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan for the past 21 years. He has been at Vartali for the past two years, and he said, “This is the happiest I’ve been at any salon.” As a client I could certainly see why. The salon is a charming refuge on the second floor between Park and Madison Avenues. There is no blaring music, no factory or frenzied activity, I felt like I would be cared for and not lost in the crowd. The day I was there Brooke Shields was there having her hair colored. She was without an entourage, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed, but I came inches away from her as I was entering the changing room. Vartali has a celebrity client list that includes the soprano Renee Fleming and many others. But the atmosphere, like all the stylists and management is laid back and even a bit humble, which is so refreshing anywhere on 57th Street.
One of the secrets to doing modified highlights, according to Clinton, is to take more generous sections of hair spaced further apart. In addition to creating this technique for clients with layered hair, it’s time efficient for clients who do not have hours to spend in the salon. In total Clinton used 19 foils in my hair: 3 on each side, five on top and 8 in the back. The foiling took approximately 10 minutes and they stayed on for about 20 minutes.
In half an hour I was lighter, but most importantly my hair color was more dimensional. This technique works best when you are going just a shade or two lighter than the base color of your hair. And it’s not just for blondes. You can give any hair color more dimension by using this method.
I was treated to a blow-dry by Antonio Carollo one of the senior stylists, and my hair looked shiny and healthy; the difference was noticeable, but subtle and I couldn’t resist the urge to shake my head as if I were in a hair commercial. The best part is that I would not need to return for three months.
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