Full color formula

Full color formula: level 5 to 8

What a high-lift is, the one-visit bowl on 30 or 40 vol written out, and who should take the two-visit road.

Published 2026-09-14, updated 2026-09-23. Written by the Easy Hair Edit team and checked against the rules the rest of the site follows.

Before and after: light brown hair at level 5, then colored to level 8, light blonde — Left: light brown hair at level 5, before. Right: a yellow light blonde, an 8, that wants a violet-blue toner the same day to read as blonde, after high-lift ash blonde from the brand's high-lift range (a 12.1 on 40 vol, 45 minutes. Illustration, not a photograph.

The formula

In the chair: 60 to 75 min, plus the toner Hard Lasts Permanent; regrowth shows at 3 to 4 weeks, the toner 4 to 6

Product: High-lift ash blonde from the brand's high-lift range (a 12.1, 100.1 or 12A style code, blue-based); a standard 8.1 will not do this
Developer: 40 vol (12%) on most high-lift ranges; 30 vol (9%) where the line says so, and at home
Ratio: 1:2
Amount: 60 g color + 120 g developer (2 oz to 4 oz) for shoulder-length hair, mixed by weight, applied heavy
Processing: 45 minutes, hard stop, on one timer from the last section; look at the nape from 20, every 5 to 10 minutes
Result: A yellow light blonde, an 8, that wants a violet-blue toner the same day to read as blonde

Steps

Ask the hair history before the level: box, henna, a demi for a wedding, a color-depositing conditioner. Then read the level dry at a window. This formula lifts virgin hair only, and old dye on the lengths goes to a remover or bleach first.
Patch test 48 hours before, and strand test a nape piece for the full 45 minutes, dried before you read it. If the strand stops at a 7, the head will too, and the plan becomes two visits.
Mix the high-lift ash with 40 vol at 1:2 by weight, or 30 vol if the tube says 30 or this is at home, in a plastic bowl with a bond builder at its own dose. Mix more than you think you need. A high-lift only lifts where the hair is saturated.
Dry hair, mid-lengths and ends first, roots last, thin consistent sections, whole head inside 15 minutes. Start one timer when the last section goes on and put a cap or a bag over it.
From minute 20, lift the cap and look at the first section you applied every 5 to 10 minutes. Expect gold at the mids and yellow at the roots by 30. Rinse at 45 whatever it reads.
Rinse well, shampoo, condition, towel-dry, then tone with a demi 8.1 or 8.13 (an 8A or 8NB type) on 10 vol, roots first, 10 to 20 minutes, and dry it fully before anyone judges it.

From the chair

Clip every section out before you mix. The bowl should only be open while the brush is moving, because a high-lift is working from the moment the developer goes in.
A cap holds the warmth off the scalp, and a cold salon slows a high-lift down. No dryer over it and no heat pad under it. The developer makes its own heat.
Keep 20 g of mix back for the hairline and the crown, which drink the first coat. A second pass at 20 minutes on those two spots evens the head.

If you only read one thing

Five to eight is four levels of lift, and a standard permanent shade stops at three. On virgin hair the one-visit route is a high-lift ash blonde (a 12.1 or 100.1 style code, a 12A on lines that use letters) mixed 1:2 with 40 vol, or 30 vol where the line says so, mids first, roots last, capped, 45 minutes and no longer. It rinses yellow and wants a toner. On hair with any old color in it, it is two visits: a lift to 7, then bleach.

What a high-lift is

A high-lift is tint in a tube. It lifts and deposits at the same time, and it comes from the brand’s high-lift range, coded 12.x or 100.x, or a 12A on US lines, with more alkaline than a standard shade and a thin, mostly blue load of pigment. Mixed 1:2 with the 40 vol a high-lift asks for, or 30 where the line calls for it, it lifts a natural 5 four levels on virgin hair, to a level 8. A standard 8.1 on the same developer stops at three levels and rinses a warm, dense 7. The directions say virgin hair for a reason.

Sixty grams of color to 120 of developer for shoulder length, 2 oz to 4 oz, applied heavy (an $11 kitchen scale, tared with the bowl on it, is the whole measuring kit).

Virgin means virgin

A high-lift breaks down natural melanin. The pigment from an old permanent is a different molecule and the developer barely touches it, so with box color through the lengths the roots go to an 8 and the lengths hold at a warm 6. Henna stays put or goes green. Virgin means uncolored root to tip, and people forget the demi they had for a wedding and never count a color-depositing conditioner from the shampoo aisle as color. Eight months of one of those stalled a full head at a 6 through the mids last winter while the nape strand had gone to a clean 8. Old dye anywhere means a remover or bleach on those inches before the high-lift, since tint will not lift tint. Color does not lift color, as the rule of thumb goes.

The bowl, the cap, the clock

Plastic bowl, by weight, a bond builder at its own dose, and use it now. A high-lift is processing from the second the developer goes in, and a second bowl mixed at minute 20 is weaker than the first, so mix enough the first time. Dry hair. Mid-lengths and ends first in thin, consistent sections, roots last, saturated, the whole head covered inside 15 minutes. One timer starts when the last section is on. A cap or a plastic bag goes over it to hold the scalp’s warmth, since cold air slows the lift, and nothing external goes near it. From minute 20, lift the cap and look at the first section applied, every 5 to 10 minutes, at the level under the product, since the tone at that point is gold on every head.

Forty-five minutes, then yellow

Yellow. Lemon at the roots, gold-yellow through the mids. That is a level 8 out of a lift, and the blue that covered the orange on the way up has nothing to say to yellow. The level 8 to 8 toner formula goes on the same day, a demi 8.1 or 8.13 on 10 vol on towel-dried hair, and then it reads as the blonde in the photo. Forty-five is the stop. After 40 the lift flattens and only the scalp keeps feeling the developer. A purple shampoo once a week keeps the toner going between visits, and it will not tone a yellow 8 on its own.

Forty vol on a scalp Forty vol usually stays off the scalp altogether, and at home the 30 is the one to use with the high-lift. If it stings under the cap, rinse the roots, finish the lengths, and plan the second visit.

The two-visit road

Colored hair, coarse resistant hair, a reactive scalp, or gray, which a high-lift does not cover whatever the gray coverage calculator says about an 8: these go the long way. Visit one is a permanent 7.1 on 20 or 30 vol, the level 5 to 7 formula, a warm 7 in 40 minutes. Then bleach on the lengths with 20 vol on the regrowth, and the 8 toner. The hair arrives in better condition, and past the collarbone it is the route worth offering first even on virgin hair, which is a preference rather than a rule.

Your hair, your route

Your hair	Route	Sessions	Expected result
Natural 5, fine to medium, never colored	High-lift, 40 vol (30 at home), capped, 45 min, toner	1	Cool light blonde 8 after the toner
Natural 5, coarse and resistant	High-lift, and it may stall at a 7	1 to 2	Warm 7 to yellow 8, bleach the lengths if it stalls
Virgin roots, colored lengths	20 vol to 7 at the roots, bleach the lengths, tone	2	Even 8, lengths a touch more porous
A 5 with over 30 percent gray	7.1 plus a third 7N on 20 vol, then highlights	2	Covered 7 with lighter pieces. An 8 does not cover gray
Henna anywhere	Remover, bleach, tone	3 or more	Unpredictable. Strand test each stage

After

Regrowth shows at three weeks. The retouch is the high-lift on the root inch only, never overlapped onto the 8, with the toner refreshed through the lengths. A bond treatment after the rinse, ten minutes and no longer, then protein and hydration through the weeks after, because the hair is drier than it went in. The processing time calculator has the minutes by texture, and the toner selector has the shade for the yellow that comes out.

Straight answers

Can I do this with a regular 8.1 on 40 vol?

No. A standard 8.1 is built to deposit at level 8, with a pigment load that stops the lift at three levels, and on a 5 with 40 vol it rinses a dense, warm 7 with the scalp paying for developer that did nothing. The high-lift series has less pigment and more alkaline, which is the whole difference.

Why does it come out yellow?

Yellow is what sits under a level 8. The blue in the high-lift covers the orange as the hair passes through 6 and 7, and by the time the hair reaches 8 the blue is spent. A demi 8.1 or 8.13 on 10 vol finishes it. Some colorists skip that step on fine hair, where the yellow can be faint enough to live with, and on most heads it wants the toner.

My hair was colored two years ago and has grown out. Is that virgin?

Only if every inch of the colored hair has been cut off. If any of it is still on the ends, those ends hold at their old level while the rest lifts, and you get a two-tone result. Strand test the ends separately and dry the strand before reading it.

Is a high-lift gentler than bleach?

On the hair, somewhat. The cuticle takes less than it does under powder lightener for 45 minutes. On the scalp it is not gentle at all. Forty vol at 1:2 for 45 minutes is the strongest thing permanent color asks of skin, which is why most colorists keep 40 off the scalp and why a sensitive scalp gets the two-visit road with 20 vol at the root.

Could I get a 9 this way?

A high-lift on a virgin 5 tops out at an 8, and on coarse hair at a warm 7. A level 9 from a 5 is bleach, usually two rounds with a rest between, and a violet toner after.