New Majirel Cool Cover from Loreal

Ever since the February catalogue came out, I kept flipping to the L'Oreal page and looking at the swatches for the new Majirel Cool Cover series. The ad claims "11 new shades for opaque coverage and perfect neutralization".

 

The flyer that L'Oreal sent to our stores had beautiful imagery on Cool Cover being the "perfect solution" for:

-Deeper cool tones

Warm underlying pigment is neutralized even on resistant bases, for a true-to-tone result with no brassiness.

-Resistance to fading

Tested in extreme conditions of heat, sun, and frequent shampooing to create lasting color results that resist fading. (They had to add this testing was done in Mexico…. Not sure why we needed to know that?)

-Opaque Coverage

Specially formulated for a deeper, denser taste of color and maximum coverage of 70%-100% white hair.

 

The Cool Cover family was broken up into three categories, Blue, Neutral, and Gold, with all colors being between level 7 and 4. Sweet, but what really hooked me was that there were four gold shades. What?!?! How can a gold be part of a "cool" color family. What do you know L'Oreal answered my question on the FAQ page. :) "They are cool gold shades (huh?!?). They create a neutralized and subtle gold result. Because of the cooler tones, the Majirel Cool Cover Golds create an understated gold result without brassiness or overly warm undertones." I still didn’t get it.

 

This "need to know how and why" girl decided to put it to the test, and what better model than my lovely sister! My sis is one to color her hair only twice a year, so it was going to be a challenge, but she is a prime guinea pig because she always loves dark colors that look gold, but HATES "brass" and anything too warm. I ended up mixing a neutral and a gold for her base because mixing guidelines stated that for more opaque coverage with level 6 and 7 to mix with a neutral.

Her formula:

Base: 20g CC 4N+20g CC 5G+60g 20vol MajiCreme

Midshafts and Ends: 45g CC 4G+ 15g CC 5G+ 20g 4N+ 120g 20vol Majicreme (she has a ton of hair)

Before-

 

 

 

After-

 

LOVED IT! The consistency was almost like a hybrid of a gel and a cream color. Now I have never used Majirel before, so I can not really compare it to regular Majirel shades, but the consistency was really nice compared to the bubbly cream that Redken Color Fusion has sometimes. Fragrance was a little much but I may just be too spoiled with my fragrance free Chromatics. I usually have an issue with banding on my sister because she tends to have 4 inches of grow out that makes a global application very tricky not to overlap, but this was not an issue this time! The color blended beautifully. The end result almost looked as if I did an all over 4/5 N and then glazed with say, a 7G. Dark but with subtle golden hues without the nice "brass" in certain light. The color at the roots was to die for! So rich! These pictures do not do it justice. I had someone ask if it pulled extra dark, and I would say it wasn’t darker than the level I picked, but it was definitely more opaque than other color lines.

 

The true test will be in a few weeks after the color starts fading, but post application, I am happy with Majirel Cool Cover. It still a little hard to get my head around a "cool gold" but I am getting there. Next I want to try the Blue series!

 If you have a client that has that hair that lifts warm even when you put and ash or a green on it, this is a must try for you!

Sexy Hair Tools Review

I wanted to do a review today since February is Tool Sale Month at Salon Centric! After going to Vegas and getting my brain fried of information only to come home and get the flu, I am now rested and well enough to get back to blogging!!!!

I have a new found respect for Sexy Hair. I used to think they were cheap and almost (I am sorry) trashy, but after sitting down with the CEO and key members of their marketing team, my eyes have been opened to an amazing product line with a support team that CARES for its stylists and consumers and their wants and needs.

When I heard that Sexy was coming out with a tool line, I was a little confused. Here is a company that is known for its hairspray, what kind of business do they have making flat irons and blow dryers? Then they sent us samples and I fell in love.

The Dryer:

At first glance, the packaging steals my heart. I am a sucker for marketing and packaging!!!!! You flip open the box and BAM, the classic red and black remind you that Sexy made this dryer. Pick it up and you will feel that it is surprisingly light and not top or handle heavy, its perfectly balanced. It also has a very comfortable handle to its classic shape. Being a carpal tunnel surgery survivor (teehee, I like to milk it still) I have come to really care about dryer handles, they have to be comfortable and feel natural. This one passes my test. Turn it on and you will be amazed at how powerful it is. I has a DC motor, which before this dryer came out, only the Sam Villa and Ferrari dryers had. DC motors are smaller yet more powerful than its counterpart AC motor. This type of motor also lasts longer, this is how Sexy was able to attach a 2 year warranty to its dryer! And my final rave about this dryer…… the ionic switch! If the ionic switch is turned on, the dryer sends out negative ions that are ideal for smoothing thick coarse hair. If the switch is turned off, the dryer sends out positive ions that are ideal for creating volume on fine or normal hair. GENIOUS! It is not a Ferrari dryer by any means, but it is a solid piece of equipment at a reasonable price.

 

 

 

The Flat Iron:

Once again, the packaging is beautiful. The consumer is able to open it up to a fancy display of the iron and its super cool thermal travel case. Take it out and feel how narrow and light the iron is. The buttons are easy to access and easy to understand. You have to press and hold the power button so there will be no "accidently turning it off" mid use. The plates are very cushioned so you don’t have to use too much tension. It does go up to 450 degrees, but like I said in my first post, THAT IS NOT FOR DAILY USE!!!!! Hair melts at 400 degrees, so 450 should only be used for Brazilian Blowout type services! It is super smooth and I didn’t get any snagging or pulling when trying to curl with it. The plates were extra long and had beveled edges too so curling with it was a breeze. There is also a "lock" feature so when you are done with it and put it in the super snazzy travel case it comes with, you can lock the plates together while its stored. This might come in handy in situations like when my previous flat iron was cooling down on my bathroom counter and accidently melted my toothbrush AND hairspray…. Lesson learned. The flat iron also has a 2 year warranty.

 

So what it all comes down to is that I am impressed by these new tools from Sexy! Innovative, pretty, and superb performance. They really thought of everything with these tools, even adding a promo of "buy one tool, get one of their new Style Sexy 450 sprays for free" (450 protect just so happens to be my new go to heat protectant spray). I do get incentives and spiffs for selling certain products, but I NEVER EVER put that ahead of what is best for my customer. I do not get any incentive for selling these tools so I am able to put my full recommendation behind them without looking like a car salesman! Come into your local Salon Centric and try them out, each store has a demo of each!