Working more efficiently behind the chair begins with fully understanding the tools in your color kit. For L’Oréal Professionnel Pro Color Specialist Suzie Bond (@suziebond), L’Oréal Professionnel iNOA Clear offers versatile methods for refining the starting canvas, customizing tonal intensity and creating more controlled transitions.
BTC editors got the full scoop at Celebrate U, Ulta Beauty’s annual weeklong event bringing together their top salon professionals for industry-leading education, awards, product experiences and more. During the event, Suzie demonstrated how to create a seamless color melt using strategic placement, diffusion and iNOA Clear.
1. Soften Banding And Rebalance The Canvas
Suzie uses iNOA Clear as an initial cleansing step to soften banding, loosen dense artificial pigment and create a more even canvas before recoloring. For her model, she applied Clear first, shampooed it out and then continued with the tint-back and final color melt. “We just softened some of the banding,” Suzie says.
Why it works:
- Softens minor inconsistencies in previously colored hair
- Helps shift dull, flat or overly dense color
- Creates a more balanced starting point for the next formula
- Prepares the hair to receive a richer tonal direction
- Offers a controlled alternative to a more aggressive correction
Suzie notes that the technique is best for subtle adjustments rather than very dark artificial color or major corrective work. “It doesn’t like to work on super dark color,” Suzie says. “But a lot of times, we just want to shift our own clients a little bit.”
2. Customize The Intensity Of Existing Shades
Suzie uses iNOA Clear to dilute the intensity of an existing shade without changing the overall tonal direction. By adding Clear to a formula, colorists can create softer, more muted variations of shades already available in the iNOA portfolio.
