Schwarzkopf Professional’s Signature Series landed in Los Angeles this past Monday, August 31st, bringing master hairstylist and global educator Ashlee Norman — a member of the Schwarzkopf Professional Digital Artistic Team with more than 21 years of experience in blonding, balayage, precision cutting (razor and dry scissor work is her speciality) and color theory — to Sholé Beverly Hills Salon for a full-day masterclass on her “AirTouched ColorMelt: Advanced Reverse Balayage” technique.
The session went well beyond a standard AirTouch demo, with Norman walking salon professionals through how she layers AirTouch, reverse balayage, open-air lowlighting, strategic tip-outs and ColorMelt to build depth back into the hair while keeping brightness exactly where she wants it.
Norman’s core message: stop applying one technique across the whole head. Instead, she encouraged attendees to start with the finished result in mind, then choose techniques based on each client’s existing color, density, haircut and desired placement.
Norman’s Exact Steps
- Preserve: Use AirTouch to create or maintain fine, detailed brightness in strategic areas, particularly around the hairline.
- Melt: Apply a customized base and seamlessly transition it into the existing canvas rather than creating a defined shadow.
- Dimension: Use open-air lowlights strategically to bring depth and contrast back into the hair while allowing brightness to remain visible.
- Think depth first, not blonde first. Norman identifies the hair that stays blonde, then builds the depth in around it — getting finer toward the face and crown to keep brightness intact at the hairline.
Norman says, “For me, the philosophy is simple: don’t add depth everywhere —add it where it creates the most impact.”
For the dimensional blonde result, Norman used IGORA VIBRANCE 7-4 Beige at the base and IGORA VIBRANCE 8-46 Beige Chocolate through the lowlights, both mixed with the lotion activator for extra control. The finished look kept brightness through the longest lengths while adding strategic depth through the shorter interior layers.
No formula fits every head, and that’s the point. Norman’s masterclass gave LA stylists a new way to think about depth, brightness and placement — one client, one section, one decision at a time. Visit ashleenormanhair.com for more info on her in-person and online education classes shop Schwarzkopf Professional products online and in store at Cosmo Prof.
