Loving My Brunette Sun-Kissed Highlights

I recently had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Neil George Salon in Beverly Hills and sitting in the chair of Master Colorist Kazumi Morton who is known throughout Hollywood for her expertise in creating beautifully seamless ombré hair color. Kazumi is an artiste and a seasoned professional with years of experience and hair color is her passion. 

Kazumi’s gift is her ability to transform your hair color while respecting and complementing your skin tone and natural beauty. She has a knack for knowing exactly what colors will flatter your looks, skin tone, face and hair–and for this Allure Magazine (my beauty bible) crowned Kazumi a ‘Brunette Master’ because she creates the most gorgeous sun-kissed highlights for brunettes. Typically, brunette highlights can turn red or too blond, but Kazumi reaches for colors that are more “woody” in tone as opposed to metallic, such as butterscotch and caramel. The challenge is to find a balance between warm tones, which reflects light, and ash tones, which absorb light.

I instantly liked Kazumi’s energy, beauty (she has the most gorgeous hair IRL) and total confidence in knowing exactly what my hair color needed to look fresher, more modern, youthful and most importantly what color combinations would flatter to my face. She felt my current deep brown color was too inky, harsh and unflattering. She suggested lifting my base color a couple of notches and then adding some warm (but not red) carmel highlights to soften my looks, flatter my face and work perfectly for the summer. I totally loved the sound of that!

I also appreciated Kazumi’s sensitivity to the modern woman’s budget concerns as well maximizing the health of the hair. She told me that her highlighting technique allows the lites to grow out really naturally and which meant that I would only need to redo the lites every 3-4 times (typically it’s every other time), and I really appreciated that because regular highlights can get expensive. I also liked that she was respectful of not damaging the hair (I currently have a Brazilian Treatment on my hair too) and did not use bleach to lift the color so as not to further damage my hair.

In a matter of a couple of hours under the skillful hands of Kazumi, I emerged with the most gorgeous shiny, natural sun kissed highlights on my brunette mane. I wasn’t blond, overly light or red, but rather I was a lightened up, refreshed, dare I say sexier version of myself. I typically don’t get highlights because I feel they tend to wash me out, but Kazumi’s lites didn’t do that at all, instead they really brought out my best features. I instantly LOVED this subtle transformation! And over time (with a little help from the summer sun) it looks even better. Natural, warm, flattering and a nice change of pace! Here are a few shots of my finished highlights (none which capture the color as perfectly as I’d like), what do you think?

If you live in or near the LA area or come to visit, I highly recommend going to Kazumi for the most gorgeous and masterful color experience. You will not be disappointed.

Neil George Salon 9320 Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210-3604 (310) 275-2808

Disclosure: I was invited to the Neil George Salon for complimentary highlights with Kazumi, little did I know how much I would love her work nor that would I become an ongoing client.