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.
