Celebrity icon and expert Kim Vo sheds advice on the art of lightening and the best tools for success in the business with Schwarzkopf Professional’s new BlondMe products and services.
There are one million things that can go wrong with a client’s blonde. She can come back using words like brassy, ashy, grey, white, orange, blorange, and even green, but it is quite the challenge to hear the magical word: perfect. Kim Vo has a talent that has brought him fame uncommon to hairstylists. He is the man who has taken his throne by creating flawless tones of blonde that have turned his clients into hair icons with their perfect manes.
It makes sense then, that last year the celebrity hairstylist was titled the Schwarzkopf Professional BlondMe Global Ambassador. He traveled to Hamburg, Germany to visit the Schwarzkopf Professional’s headquarters and help the BlondMe global team improve during their prelaunch and to give the stylist point of view. “I started working with BlondMe when it first launched in the U.S. before the global team approached me a year ago,” says Vo. “I don’t know any other brand that has dedicated itself so utterly to blonde. BlondMe’s colors and products will unmistakably turn any blonde into sheer blonde perfection,” says Vō.
This was a personal struggle for Kim Vo, who says it took him so long to get blonde that he has a special place in his heart for blondes. This personal journey began long before he went into the hair world. So he entered the profession to learn and ultimately find solutions. Since then, he has been in the business for 20 years, and does not sound bored. Vo says he has noticed a change in the golden world. “Quite frankly blondes are getting bored, they’ve had highlights over their natural hair, and now they want to see what’s on trend, what’s next, what’s new,” he says. “So you have to give stylists the palate and the tools to allow them to try something new and to be the artists they want to be.”
Schwarzkopf Professional’s partner stylists can perfect their customers’ blondes with unique BlondMe lighteners that lighten up to five levels as well as striking BlondMe shades that can be used on dark hair in a single-step application. “Color is all about confidence and control, and with the other products I didn’t feel confident,” says Vo.
“With Schwarzkopf Professional I feel confident and in control. The lifts and the lights are amazing because of their incredible versatility. They allow me to be able to service every type of blonde hair client with one single brand.” Schwarzkopf Professional recently launched its new BlondMe Lights Collection, which features two new services for blonde colorists and experts. The first service is called Shimmer Lights, a service that uses the two new shades to transform dark blondes with illuminating highlights of warm gold and cool rose. The second is Pastel Lights, a service that celebrates the current BlondMe novelties for a subtle and sophisticated play of shades with a delicate pastel glow. Both looks ofer incredibly beautiful options for customers to choose from.
“Options are key to our business and survival,” says Vo. “It is important that you give them options because if you don’t give it to them they’ll go somewhere else. I did a beautiful model where you pick your mood on your part, meaning on one part I had a very soft whisper, in the middle I had more of a talk and then over I had more of a shout. So if she is working in a law office downtown she can be a whisper, then she can be a shout when she goes out on the weekend.”
Some customers fear the process when they think of taking a plunge into the blonde world. Now they don’t have to fear, Schwarzkopf Professional’s technology has expanded to work in favor of looking golden while protecting your locks before, during and afer the process. The BlondMe Pre-Lift Kera Protector will prepare the hair for the coloration process and protect the hair structure before and during lightening. The new Hi-Lighting shade formula now contains Moringa Oleifeira, which nourishes and conditions the hair during coloring.
After coloring, the BlondMe Color Correction Spray Conditioner Cool Ice will neutralize unwelcome warm tones and nourish the hair, leaving it looking shiny and healthy. “We are in the business of hair and there is passion behind the business – it’s not just about having fun,” says Vo. “A part of that business is to build that clientele so we can have fun, and part of that is having techniques that work.”
Kim Vo, Master Colorist
The French-educated Vietnamese colorist has dedicated his life to tackling the most dificult hair color and has become the sensei of blondes. His journey has taken him from a reality television judge on Bravo T.V.’s “Shear Genius,” to being a regular in makeover shows, and finally being featured as the stylist of the stars. His clients include the infamous golden goddesses, Kate Hudson, Kirsten Dunst, Teri Hatcher, Goldie Hawn, among others.
