In the 60’s and 70’s, Leland worked as a haircolor developmental consultant for Redken Laboratories, developing their first color line. While in pursuit of haircolor perfection, Leland created a sequential tonality, calibrated leveling system for the U.S. that became a roadmap for making precise haircolor decisions. Leland also pioneered foil highlighting and color specialization techniques and toured the country. At a time when haircolor did not have the priority it does today and within an industry that was using caps for frosting hair, Leland continued to demonstrate his creative vision.

In the 80’s, as a haircolor developmental consultant, he was considered “the eye” in Clairol’s test salon and lab, perfecting half-head, blind-side color testing. He was a liaison between marketing and chemistry, working on the bench with some of the world’s best haircolor chemists, translating chemistry to meet consumer and salon needs.

During this time, Leland perfected an even more common-sense calibrated haircolor leveling system for Clairol’s first tube color, Logics. This mainstreamed the art of haircoloring, beyond only prestigious salons, to many other salons that could now incorporate color into their service offerings. This leveling system is still used today by most manufacturers.