High lift shades are a type of permanent hair color specifically designed to lighten natural hair and tone it in a single application.
Put simply, according to the reference, high lift is a permanent color that lifts and tones natural hair in a single application. This means that instead of using separate products like a lightener (bleach) followed by a toner, you can achieve lighter, often blonde, results with just one product.
Understanding High Lift Hair Color
Traditional methods for achieving significant lift on darker hair often involve a multi-step process:
- Lightening: Applying a bleach or lightener to lift the natural pigment.
- Toning: Applying a toner to neutralize unwanted warm or brassy tones (like yellow or orange) that appear after lightening.
High lift shades streamline this process. They contain a higher concentration of ammonia and developer compared to standard permanent colors, which allows them to lift natural hair multiple levels. Simultaneously, they contain pigments that deposit tone, correcting the underlying warm tones exposed during the lifting process.
Key Features of High Lift Shades
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Function | Lifts natural hair color and deposits tone simultaneously. |
| Type | Permanent hair color. |
| Application | Single application (combines lifting and toning steps). |
| Target Hair | Primarily for natural hair (usually not effective on previously colored hair). |
| Result | Achieves lighter, often blonde or very light brown results. |
Who Uses High Lift Shades?
High lift shades are typically used by hair professionals to lighten a client's natural hair color by several levels, often aiming for various shades of blonde. They are particularly useful when the desired result is a clear, cool, or neutral blonde on virgin hair that is not excessively dark (e.g., typically works best on levels 5-7 natural hair).
Using a single product, as mentioned in the reference ("you can achieve your client's blonde shade with just one hard-working formula"), can offer benefits in terms of processing time and potentially less stress on the hair compared to a two-step bleach-and-tone process for moderate lift.
However, it's important to note that high lift colors only work effectively on natural (virgin) hair. They cannot lift artificial color. For hair that has been previously colored darker, a traditional lightener will be necessary to remove the artificial pigment before toning.
