Nearly 10,000 stylists at Redken Symposium 2017 in Las Vegas had the unique opportunity to learn from some of the industry’s most sought-after educators in a range of classes, from watch-and-learn to hands-on. Creative Color Trends, an inspiring class for those looking to up their color game for clients, was led by Redken artists Justin Isaac (@worldofjustinisaac), Catherine Allard (@cat2clikclik) and Kelly Scott (@kel_scott), whose models rocked bright hair colors, with shades like bold blue blending into galactic green. “People want stories in their hair,” says Isaac. “It’s all about multiple colors. One color just isn’t enough anymore.” Inspiration for the bold hues came from the punk era, fashion and the unicorn hair trend, and Isaac predicts even more space galaxy or “alien hair” color trends thanks to movies like Star Wars—not to mention the ongoing popularity of space-themed leggings.
Isaac also demonstrated two special color techniques: hair painting with bright colors and sectioning hair into ponytails in a star shape on top of the head. “The hair-painting technique requires thinking like an artist and layering colors to increase reflection or dimension,” says Isaac. “Also using fingers to blend or blur colors together, either vertically or horizontally. My ponytail technique involves placing small star shapes on top of the head into ponytails. Decolorize and then place personalized color as you wish—I chose to place multiple colors in small vertical lines. This look creates a baby-lights feel in the colored ponytail pieces, meaning that all lines are skinny. Color can also be placed solid or chunky, if desired.”
And if learning about intergalactic hair color wasn’t enough, Isaac used the Redken City Beats collection to create canvas paintings of the outline of New York City and the Redken logo,—which were gifted to one lucky attendee in each session based on their level of participation. “The idea for the canvas came from how I prep and test my City Beats formulas on my jeans,” said Isaac. “I wear them around now and they have become somewhat famous.” We’ve heard of hair as a canvas, but using hair color to paint on an actual canvas (and a pair of jeans) is a new one!