How-To Video: Seamless Color Melting

At this year’s Premiere Orlando, our Facebook Live lounge in partnership with SalonCentric brought the most talented artists and influencers in the industry live to our audience. Constance Robbins (@constancerobbins), Matrix Professional Haircare and Color Artist, demonstrates her color melting technique, gives a sneak peek at some soon-to-be-released Color Sync shades and offers her top tips on using Bondultim8.

Color melting doesn’t have to be laborious or perfect, says Robbins. “Color melting is really about getting your hands into the hair, really pushing the products together to get that beautiful, seamless melt and to get that saturation.”

Robbins’ friend and model Ambrosia sports two of the five forthcoming Color Sync Vinyls shades, launching this August. The new fashion colors are Cobalt Blue, Midnight Violet, Crimson Red, Rose Copper and Gilded Gold. Robbins loves that the shades are semi-permanent. “It goes deeper into the hair and is long-lasting,” she explains, adding that you need to mix with 10-volume developer. Plus, she adds that you can use Vinyls on darker bases without having to lift the hair to a level 10.

On a mannequin, Robbins applies Color Sync Vinyls Midnight Blue at the base, which she physically melts into Color Sync Vinyls Crimson Red with her hands in a downward motion. The most important part, she says, is manually mixing the area downward where the two colors meet so they melt in the middle. “Why this is so important is because this is usually the area where there could be light spots or not blend properly.”  

Robbins also shares how she uses Matrix Bondultim8 Step Two as a pre-toner, which she did for model Ambrosia’s blue locks. She explains that Bondultim8 acts like a foundational filler in the hair. “A lot of semi-permanent blues can go teal or shift,” she says. “If there’s a little bit of yellow left in the hair, it can make it look a little bit teal.” So she mixes the semi-permanent color right into Step 2 and works it in, then applies the blue over the top for true tone and color longevity.