For hair color trends and celebrity hair, colorists turn to The Colorist. Celebrity hair, hair color ideas, hair color products and more.
Issue link: https://thecoloristmag.epubxp.com/i/158835
point of view live and learn Gerd Hoher of arteasecolors knows a lot about hair color, and he's happy to share what he knows. Hoher grew up in Austria, the fifth generation of hairdressers in his family, and he's always been a big fan of education. "Just because you mastered color at one time, or think you did, there is always more to learn," says Hoher, who was Director of Education for Schwarzkopf from 2002 to 2006. Before that he worked for Carlton Hair International, touring the U.S., South Africa and Europe as a platform artist. Still, he'd always dreamed of creating his own hair color line, drawing on his experience as a master colorist and educator. After he left Schwarzkopf, Hoher spent two years developing arteasecolors, finally fulfilling his goal of being able to give the salon professional the opportunity to become a better colorist through education and training with a superior color line. Recently we asked Hoher to share a few of his trade secrets with us. First and foremost, he stressed the importance of continuing education. "You don't need to be the Lone Ranger," he says. "Tere are so many people out there who are perfectly willing to help you if you don't feel secure about something. All you need to do is ask." He also thinks that too many colorists are focused on formulas. "Everybody's always asking for formulas, but without a basic understanding how hair color works, they're not very helpful. I call it painting by numbers." Hoher also worries that many colorists do not understand the limitations of what a hair color product can do. During the consultation, he says, it's important to understand what you're starting out with and where you want to end up. Let's say you have a client who's a level 4 and she wants to be a beautiful ash blonde. Conventional wisdom says to use a high-lift tint, which most color companies tell you can lift up to four levels. Still, the more you lift, the more you aggravate the underlying pigment, which will either be red, red-orange or orangeyellow, the biggest enemies of a nice, cool ash-blonde shade. Hoher's advice is to be honest with your client and tell her that it could take more than one step to deliver the results she wants. "A controlled two-step process is actually gentler to the hair than an aggressive one-step process," says Hoher, who recommends using two forms of lightening to achieve optimum results. "Instead of doing a bleachand-tone, you'd use two or three shades of blonde with activators in different strengths. Let's say you move the color to a level 9 but it's still too cool or too warm. You merely follow up with a lower-level peroxide and tint because you already did the heavy lifting and are just making minor adjustments at this point." Finally, Hoher stresses the importance of slightly adjusting your formula each time a client comes in for a retouch. "Tis is especially important as we move from summer into fall," he says. "If she's been out in the sun or exposed to chlorine at the pool, her hair will be in a different condition than it was the last time you saw her. Tat's why it's so important to do a consultation before every color service." his soon-to-be Carlton International Hair partners ➺ After meetingmoved to the United States and opened 31 salonsininSouth Africa in 1973, Gerd Hoher California. 46 The Colorist | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 | thecoloristmag.com PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF ARTEASECOLORS. Gerd