One of my favorite looks from the fall runways was at Libertine’s New York show. Catwalk by TIGI US Creative Director Thomas Osborn created a lived-in texture with a pink pigment in the part. But let’s face it, these types of runway looks aren’t always fitting IRL. So I spent the day with master colorist Richy Kandasamy, TIGI USA Technical Director, at the TIGI Hair Academy in NYC’s SoHo district to see how I can interpret the look without looking like a crazy person on the street. Turns out, you can rock a similar look without actually putting pigment powder in your hair. The results were pretty damn cool if I do say so myself. Click through the slideshow to see how Kandasamy did it. 

 

I loved the Libertine look so much, I was going to rock it somewhere, somehow. So I was shocked to find out that we were going to do it with permanent dye (gasp!). It’s not about copying the look to the T, though. It’s the general idea of a bold hue at the root that fades into a street-friendly color. “The idea, of course, when you have a client that doesn’t want a strong line on the head, is about creating a deep regrowth,” says Kandasamy. “It’s about creating the strong parting, but instead of creating that line of pink, making the roots deeper and fading it. So the depth of your roots creates an illusion of a line, but makes it more [wearable].” 

Kandasamy is so good at what he does. He can look at your skin tone and eye color and know how to mix colors to enhance what you’ve got. “I started with something really light – a kind of pastel color, but clear,” he said. “Then from there, I added a little bit of an intense dark brown and an intense violet. Just a drop to dirty the blonde and to get that kind of pastel, vintage violet tone on the roots. For the ends, I started with the same color, but instead of adding violet, I put a dark plum with a hint of red to create a rosy-purple tone.” 

 

Kandasamy painted on the color using a technique called “color stretching,” which allows the hair dye to blend together without having any hard lines in the hair. After applying the first mix of color about an inch or two off the root, he applied the second color to the mid-lengths and combed it through to the ends. While sliding the comb down each piece of hair, he rotated the it back and forth to disperse the color and blend it down. “The technique is really about creating kind of a tie dye effect - making your roots a little darker, then stretching the color to the ends, making them softer,” he said. 

 

The root color had to stay on for the longest amount of time to really get that bold hue at the top. Kandasamy even added more of that color at the end to make sure it would pop. Normally, we want to touch up roots as soon as they start becoming noticeable. This look is all about embracing regrowth by giving depth to the roots and then diluting the color at the ends.  

 

Since my hair was already light, Kandasamy left the dye on for about 20 minutes before washing it out with TIGI Bed Head Dumb Blonde Shampoo. 

 

 

You may not see the depth of the fade while the hair is wet, but wait until you see the difference when it’s dry! Next up, Christopher Catanese, US Education Director for TIGI New York, styled my hair like the models at Libertine. 

 

“The inspiration as more of a lived-in texture,” said Catanese of the Libertine look. “We utilized the Catwalk by TIGI Bodifying Spray, which allowed me to create a second/third day texture, basically creating a grit to the hair so it doesn’t look too polished.” After prepping my hair with the spray, he rough dried it, then finished by using a brush to add body. 

 

The Bodifying Spray also allowed Catanese to give my stick-straight hair some bend. He actually just used his finger to pinch pieces of hair.

 

 

“Once we were finished with blow drying, we came in with some Catwalk by TIGI Work It Hairspray. It’s a light hold, so the more you layer it, the more hold you’ll get from it. We gave the hair a fine mist to add more texture and smooth away flyaways we were not necessarily feeling.” 

 

Finally, Catanese tucked most of the hair behind my ears, added a little height to the crown and gave it a final spritz of hairspray. Eat your heart out, Libertine models! 

 

While the interpretation is super subtle, it’s also very wearable. Especially since pastel hair is so trendy now. The transformation was a huge success. Shout out to Richy, Christopher and the entire TIGI team for hooking my hair up!