How To Get A Great Colour!

 

With new techniques emerging every day, having your hair coloured can be a daunting task.  How can you make sure you get the results you're looking for?  Do you want dimensional colour, highlights, balayage, ombre?  Going blonde?  Which tone - ash, neutral, beige, gold, honey?  A great stylist will be able to guide you through the terms and help you get the beautiful colour you want - whether you were born with it or not - but here are some tips to help.

Honesty is the best policy.

Just like being honest about your routine will help your stylist give you the best cut for your lifestyle, you have to be honest about what you've put on your hair.  If you used box colour, let us know.  Colours are complex chemicals, and although it's rare, there can be a chemical reaction.  You could end up with breakage, or worse.

On a similar note, even if you coloured your hair back to your natural shade, the colour is still there!  Your hair grows about half an inch a month, so if you have 12 inches of hair, that's two years worth of potential chemical reactions.  If we know what we're working with, we can devise a game plan to get you there.

One more thing - if you've ever had a reaction to colour in the past, please, please, please let us know.  There are a lot of product options out there, and if you have a sensitivity, we can likely work with you to get your colour where you want it to be.  However, we want you to be safe. 

Say What?

With all the different types of colour, it can be overwhelming to describe what you want.  This is where the pictures come in handy!  Show us what you mean, for both the overall look and the colour.  Stylists view colour in terms of levels, with a level 1 being the darkest, and a level 10 being the lightest.  You likely see "dark brown" in a different way than we do.  Bring pictures as a starting point to describe the colour you want.

Keep it real.

Sometimes, the look you want isn't achievable in one session.  If you've been colouring your hair black for years and want to go blonde, it's going to take a while.  We're not trying to get more money out of you, we're trying to save your hair.  Drastic changes or colour corrections can take several appointments, especially if the integrity of your hair is in question.   

Roots are for trees.

Are you a regular visitor to the salon, or is one visit every few months more your speed?  Certain colours, like high-lift blonde, require monthly visits to keep them looking great.  If you don't have the time to maintain your colour, consider a low-maintenance option, like ombre or balayage.  

Through the looking glass...

If you happen to glance in the mirror while your colour is processing, don't panic.  Every colour line looks different while it develops - some blondes may look purple or yellow while they process, for example.  The colour reacts with the oxygen in the air, so the way it looks on your head doesn't mean anything when it comes to the final result. 

How To Get A Great Haircut!

Ever left the salon feeling like you hadn't been listened to by your stylist?  Like you didn't get the style you asked for?  Sometimes it seems like stylists speak a different language, and you're right - we often do!  

So now what?  Do you need to learn to "speak stylist" to get the style you want?  Nope - but we'll let you in on some salon secrets to help you make sure you get what you want!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Words are subjective - a bob might mean shoulder-skimming to you, but chin-length to your stylist.  Pictures are a great place to start.  Just keep in mind - we can give you Jennifer Anniston's haircut, but not her face!

It's a comb, not a wand!

Sure, you may love the choppy crops that are popping up everywhere - but your hair might not.  Keep in mind that your hair texture might not work with the style you want.  Even if you have the same hair as the woman in the picture, yours won't look exactly the same.  She's likely been Photoshopped to remove cowlicks and flyaways, and most celebs are wearing extensions for either length or volume.

Honesty is the best policy.

Most stylists will ask you about your morning routine, and how much time you're willing to spend on your hair to get the look you want.  Be honest with us, and with yourself.  If you're not really going to flat-iron your hair every morning, a sleek bob might not be the best choice for your wavy hair.

Show and tell.

"Trim" means different things to different people.  When in doubt, show us your definition of a trim.  It could be half an inch, or it could be 3.  As well, if you want "just the split ends off", that could mean a lot more length than you wanted.  Split ends will keep travelling up the hair shaft, and if you've neglected your hair for a while, the damage could be halfway up the length.

The right tools for the job.

Sometimes your stylist will make suggestions for take-home products.  We're not doing this just to sell you something, honestly.  Those products are like "liquid tools" to help you re-create the style at home.  You won't get the same results without them.  We use them because we know they'll deliver, and we want you to be able to get the style you want.  Ask questions!  We'll gladly show you how to use them, how much to use, and what they add to your style.