When Pulp Riot artist Sabrina Vellender (@beautyby_sabs) creates gorgeous fantasy hair colors for her clients, she often turns to one of her favorite techniques: the love bomb. “This technique is essentially just a really fun color block placement,” says Sabrina. It’s perfect for creating vivid, rainbow-inspired looks that are bold and funky, but still wearable.
Ahead, Sabrina explains how to recreate her signature love bomb color technique using Pulp Riot’s new Sin City collection.
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Your Step-By-Step Guide To the Love Bomb Look
Step 1: Start with a small, heart-shaped section at the top of the head
Beginning at the top of the head, create a small, heart-shaped section. Ensure that the bottom of the “heart” points toward your client’s face.
Step 2: Apply the shade Eloped to the first section
Carefully apply Pulp Riot Sin City Semi-Permanent Haircolor in the shade Eloped, a peachy yet vibrant pink-rose hue, to your first heart-shaped section.
Step 3: Create a second heart-shaped section
Next, create another heart-shaped section directly behind the first, about 1.5-inches wide. This “double heart” placement is an excellent way to make your color blocks really pop with depth and dimension.
Apply the shade Vintage Vegas to the second section. Once you’ve sectioned off the second “heart” of hair, reach for the Sin City shade Vintage Vegas—a saturated brick red color with hints of warm, rich chocolate—and apply to the entire section.
Step 5: Section the remaining hair into diagonal back sections
Gather the remaining hair and section it into diagonal back sections. You want each section to be about 1-inch wide.
Step 6: Alternate the remaining shades on each section
For this last color blocking step, you’ll need the shades Desert Canyon (a bright marigold), Blue Tux (a light blue), and Snake Eyes (an intense Kelly green). Alternate between these three colors for the remaining sections of hair to add a striking, vibrant contrast.
Step 7: Allow the color blocks to process
After all of your color blocks have been applied, it’s time to wait. Allow the color to process for approximately 30 to 40 minutes without any heat.
Step 8: Rinse using cold water
Be sure to rinse out the color using cold water and no shampoo. This step is especially important, as it can help seal in the color’s vibrancy.
Step 9: Finish the look
Show off your client’s gorgeous love bomb hair color with a straight, curly, or wavy style. This colorful creation pairs well with any hairstyle, but curly hair with lots of volume can really add a striking effect.
Why You’ll Love Pulp Riot’s Sin City Collection
Pulp Riot paint is now better than ever with the release of the Sin City collection. This semi-permanent hair color collection is inspired by Las Vegas (a.k.a. “Sin City”) and the unconventional weddings that take place there. The collection will feature five new highly pigmented shades—Eloped, Desert Canyon, Snake Eyes, Blue Tux, and Vintage Vegas—that were co-created with Pulp Riot Educator and NAHA winner SaraJane Maples (@blushandmane).
The Sin City collection is the first to feature Pulp Riot’s reinvented semi-permanent formula, which delivers vibrancy and longevity for up to 50 washes. This formula offers improved saturation and spreadability, and features anti-overworking technology—meaning no more splotchy, uneven results. With Pulp Riot’s Sin City collection, stylists can enjoy longer-lasting color*, two times more conditioning**, and three times less breakage.
*vs. previous formula
**vs. non-conditioning shampoo
