Matrix Colour Guide: SoColor vs Super Sync vs SoColor Sync vs Tonal Control vs Cult

A colourist's guide to the five Matrix colour systems ProHair stocks — what each one does, when to reach for it, and what it will not do.

Matrix does not sell one colour line with five names. It sells five different chemistries, and the wrong pick is the difference between a tone that lasts eight weeks and one that has gone in three. This guide walks through each system in the order a colourist actually decides: how much lift do I need, how much commitment does the client want, and is grey the whole brief?

1. SoColor — the permanent workhorse

Matrix SoColor Permanent Cream Hair Color is the line most Canadian colourists learned on, and it is still the default for anything that needs real lift or real deposit that stays. It is an ammonia permanent in a 90 ml tube, mixed with a universal cream developer, and it covers the full level range from 1N to the ultra-lift family.

• Reach for it when the service needs lift, a lasting level change, or reliable grey coverage on hair that takes colour normally.
• Shade families — N (neutral), NA (neutral ash), M (mocha), A (ash), G (gold), W (warm), RB/RV/RR (reds), CG (copper gold), VM/VA (violet), UL (ultra lift), plus the HD and SR ranges.
• It will not deposit vivid fashion tone on pre-lightened hair without going muddy — that is SoColor Cult's job.

2. SoColor Extra Coverage and Dream Age — when grey is the whole brief

The 500-series shades exist because a standard N does not always hold on resistant white hair. SoColor Extra Coverage carries a higher pigment load for 100% grey coverage, and SoColor Dream Age is formulated for mature hair — which is a different problem from grey hair, because the fibre itself has changed in diameter, porosity and cuticle behaviour.

• Extra Coverage — 503N through 510N plus NA, M, W, R, RB, AB and NJ variants. Use where coverage is the deliverable and warmth control matters.
• Dream Age — 504NA, 505M, 506M, 506NA, 506BC, 508M, 508NA, 510NA. Built for resistant, coarse or previously over-processed mature hair.
• Rule of thumb — if you are already mixing extra base into a standard N to make it hold, you should be using a 500-series shade instead.

3. Super Sync — the alkaline demi that still covers grey

Super Sync exists because ammonia-free demis give up grey coverage to stay gentle. Super Sync is alkaline, so it keeps the coverage, but it is still a demi: no lift, deposit only, and it fades on tone rather than leaving a hard regrowth line.

• Reach for it when the client wants coverage without a permanent commitment, or when refreshing mid-lengths and ends between permanent applications.
• Shade range — the widest demi range Matrix makes, including the SP (soft pastel) family, the NN and NNG deep neutrals, and 2026's new VG/GV/NR additions.

4. SoColor Sync — ammonia-free toning

SoColor Sync is the ammonia-free demi. It tones without lifting, which makes it the gentle option for glossing, blending a first grey, and refreshing tone on colour-treated hair that cannot take another alkaline service.

• Choose Sync over Super Sync when the hair is fragile or already over-processed and coverage is a nice-to-have rather than the brief.
• Choose Super Sync over Sync when there is genuine grey to cover.

5. Tonal Control — pre-bonded gel toning for blondes

Tonal Control is the step after lightening. It is a pre-bonded gel toner, so bond protection is built into the formula rather than added as a separate step, and the gel body means it sits where you place it instead of running off a fresh lightening service.

• Use it for precision toning on pre-lightened hair — pearl, beige, gold, violet, rose and clear.
• Clear is worth stocking: it dilutes any shade in the range without shifting the tone direction.

6. SoColor Cult — direct dye vivids

SoColor Cult is a direct dye. No developer, no lift, no processing chemistry — you are placing pigment onto pre-lightened hair and the result is only as good as the canvas underneath. Semi shades wash out faster and are the safer first step; the fuller-strength shades stain harder and last longer.

• Pre-lighten first. Cult on level 6 hair will read as a tint, not a vivid.
• Aftercare matters more than the dye. Pair with Keep Me Vivid — vivid pigment sits on the outside of the fibre and sulfates strip it fast.

Developers, lighteners and the rest of the service

SoColor and Super Sync share the universal cream developer range. For textured hair, Matrix formulates a separate Coil Color Oil-Cream Developer in 10 and 20 volume, because a standard cream developer is harsher than curly and coily fibre needs.

On the lightening side: Light Master is the everyday off-scalp powder at up to eight levels, Light Master With Bonder is the same lift with bond protection already in the tub, High Riser Pre-Bonded is the power-lift end of the range in 450 g and 900 g, Open Air Clay is the free-hand balayage clay that holds its edge without foil, and Curl Lights is the two-step system designed around a curl pattern rather than against it.

Finish the service with the Color Application Bottle for liquid formulas a brush and bowl cannot place.

Quick decision table

Every shade listed here is stocked at ProHair.ca's Matrix collection, with Canadian barcodes and salon-professional pricing.