Most women nowadays who care about their appearance have a colour in their hair, either all the time to hide grey or a dull natural shade or now and again to give themselves a little boost. With modern methods and technology, you can say goodbye to worrying about root regrowth and this has made a lot of difference to how people see colouring these days. Where once upon a time anyone embarking on a colouring session had to factor in regular visits to the salon for constant root touch-ups, now it is possible to choose a colouring method that more or less does away with that need.
Permanent or not?
Most stylists faced with someone considering colour for the first time will recommend a semi-permanent colour which will wash out in about 20 shampoos. This gives the client a chance to decide whether they like having coloured hair (most do!) with no commitment. If the main worry is that there will be no time for maintaining the colour, a demi-permanent is a new way to deal with time problems because it gradually fades so there is no obvious regrowth line. This is a good halfway house between temporary and permanent colour as it lasts longer but has none of the drawbacks regarding retouching.
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Banishing the root problem
Root regrowth is the problem that most women give as the reason for not having a colour on their hair and it is true that dark roots can look horrible. However, there are a number of ways of avoiding that and the most recent on to emerge from the top stylists is Balayage, also sometimes called dip dye or ombre (shadow). In this style, the hair nearest the roots is left almost the natural colour, getting lighter towards the ends. This must be done by a real expert as it can look awful if badly done, but in the hands of a real hair artiste the look is spectacular, living up to its name of ‘shadow' with its subtle changing shade down the length of the hair. Using highlights is the other way to make roots less obvious, and a half head which is designed not to include the roots in the first place is the simplest way to achieve this.
Boys - you're not forgotten!
Forget Grecian 2000 - there are some great colourist styles on the market now just for the men. Whole heads are very popular and again the same applies as to the ladies; use a semi- or demi-permanent colour in the first place if you're not too sure and move on to permanent if, like most clients, you love your new look. Shoe-shine colour is a very modern take on colour for men, with the colour being painted on with a fine brush to give very subtle highlights which enhance the shape of a good cut and bring some sun into the hair. So what are you all waiting for? Get with the program and see what your local salon can do for you.
Information shared by Rebecca Fearn who writes for RM-UK.
