High and Mighty
Jason Backe, celebrity colorist for L’Oréal Professionnel, and partner Ted Gibson have reimagined Hitchcock blondes for our cover story this month. Backe wanted to test-drive two new products from L’Oréal Professionnel: Blond Studio and Majirel High Lift. “I am obsessed with Blond Studio,” he says. “Sunkissed Lightening Oil has changed the way I think about corrective haircolor. With it, I have an ammonia-free product I can color-cleanse with, do a base break with and even use to work on extensions and wigs.” To lighten up our cover girl, he used Majirel High Lift Ash+ with 30-volume Developer. Key ingredients include Iclum+, a violet colorant used for the first time in L’Oréal Professionnel color, and increased levels of blue and green tones. “It took 50 minutes to lift her hair to the desired shade,” says Backe, who toned with Dia Light 10.21, adding a pearl-size drop of 4.20 to give her hair the strong violet tone that’s so on trend. Gibson had Tippi Hedren (The Birds) in mind when he created the exaggerated French twist on our cover. “I think if Hitchcock were still alive, his blondes would be almost futuristic,” says Gibson, who took ¼-inch sections and backcombed the hair from the scalp all the way out to create a cushion to support the sky-high shape. —Marianne Dougherty, editor in chief