Changing your hair colour can be a really transformative experience, both on the outside and on the inside. We asked our hair colourists to explain us what really is happening at a consultation and how they determine which colour to apply, which way to go. As you would expect, they had a lot to say – but luckily they’re really good at explaining it all in an easy-to-understand way. Here’s a summary of their wealth of knowledge and experience.

Hair dyeing or hair colouring – whatever your preferred choice of phrase, is a process that’s surrounded by mysteries. For a good reason: Hairdressers are really protective of their ‘recipes’ and pride themselves on creating truly special colour combinations.

The main reasons why people decide to colour their hair are usually cosmetic:

  • They want to cover grey hair
  • They want to change to a colour that’s more fashionable – going lighter or darker
  • They want to restore / enhance their original colour

Our clients are mainly ladies, but these three main motivations apply to men equally.

When we see the client for the first time, it’s extremely important to understand their motivation thoroughly. We need to see what they like and dislike, what frustrates them and what they really desire.

  1. If we want to cover a few grey hair strands but keep the whole look more natural, we usually suggest to go with natural looking highlights. It’s pretty easy to maintain and once it starts to fade and another highlight session is due, even more shades are going to be created, making it look even more excitingly natural.
  2. If the goal is to cover grey hair completely (and blend it into the original hair colour), we’ll go with a permanent colour solution.

    Full coverage

    Full coverage

  3. Semi-permanent colour would be the best choice if the desired shade is close to the original one – when the depth is relatively easy to achieve, without too many chemical processes involved.
    Semi-permanent colour applied on natural, never before-coloured brown hair - by René

    Semi-permanent colour applied on natural, never before-coloured brown hair

     

  4. When we want to go lighter, some sort of bleach solution will need to be applied. When bleaching your hair, the natural pigmentation is removed, leaving your hair structure open and the hair shafts empty.
    To re-pigment it, we can use a mix of colours, possibly toner – depending on the clients’ needs, the shade we’re after and the hair’s health really. If applied carefully by expert hands, damage to the hair can be minimised, eg. with the help of Olaplex and a few tricks of the trade.

Once the actual motivation is clear, we can decide on the exact way to go, and these are the main factors that will play an important role to see what suits the client best:

  1. Skin tone
    Choosing the perfect hair colour for your skin tone requires a very good understanding of colour basics – something we’ll cover in another post more in depth, promise. It really is a science – understanding the nuances of tone and shades, depth and saturation is not easy, but essential if you want to pick the right colour. A hairdresser will always show you a colour chart and explain the basics at the consultation so you feel comfortable and relaxed, knowing what’s going to happen.
  2. Eye colour
    The beautiful sea blue eyes were the main deciding factor when this super cool colour was picked for our client.
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  3. Style & clothing
    Hair colour plays a huge part in creating a perfect overall look, and it’s important to know what sort of items you like to wear and which colours you prefer. Ideally, we want to pick a hair colour that would suit your wardrobe too …
  4. Personality
    Are you someone who likes to stand out from the crowd or would you rather blend in, in a nice way? There’s no right or wrong answer here, it all depends on your personality. The right hair colour will enhance it and will make you feel great in your skin …
  5. How often you’re prepared to visit a hairdresser
    If the contrast between the previous and the planned hair colour is bigger, you’ll have to get your roots coloured more often. The difference could be as much as 2-3-4 weeks. An important factor to consider, both budget- and time-wise …

    We hope this short article will help you decide whether hair colouring is for you and if so, which way it’s best for you to go. As always, if you need any help and advice, we’re alway here to help – pop in for a free consultation and let’s discover together what would suit you best.
    Love,

    Figaro London

PS: Make sure to follow us on our social media pages for more helpful advice, inspiration and the occasional bargain offers. Here they are: Figaro London’s Official Facebook page, Figaro London Beauty page – focusing on all things beauty and skincare related, Twitter, Instagram. Looking forward to seeing you there too.

 

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