Colouring hair at home – I travelled down the motorway to help my great friend and mastermind colleague colouring her hair at home for the first time. Geraldine is Warm – she has Spring eyes with Autumn hair and skin, and I would describe her natural hair colour as a bit stronger than strawberry blonde; it’s got a definite copper red tone to it.
Top London Hair Image Consultant Scott Cornwall personally analysed Geraldine’s hair and gave her a list of instructions to take to her hair salon colourist. At the salon, the colourist was clearly unable (or unwilling?) to follow Scott’s instructions and as a result, Geraldine’s normally bright coppery-red hair was becoming ever deeper and darker.
DEEP thought – When you load darkness onto a Bright young thing, doom and gloom are sure to follow!
Geraldine’s hair looked deep, dark and gloomy and she was feeling deep, dark and gloomy. Something had to change, and fast. So I suggested Geraldine talk to Scott and ask him if he would consider personally sorting out the mess and he travelled up from London to do just that. When I saw her in the flesh in Belfast a few weeks later, the lighter, brighter colour had totally transformed her face. She looked fabulous, and clearly she was feelling fabulous too.
Those pesky roots
But, as they are prone to do, those pesky dark roots had, by this time, started to show through. Reluctantly, Geraldine had booked a colour appointment in a different salon and was pretty fed up at the thought of having to explain to someone new how to follow Scott’s instructions to maintain her light, bright look. So I madly suggested that I help her colour it herself.
A few years ago, Scott took me ‘from Dark to Blonde’ and I have been colouring my own hair ever since, using nothing more than his written instructions and the relevant colouring implements. And if I can colour my own hair every 5 weeks, then anyone can!
So we got full instructions from Scott, acquired all the products and tools he suggested, and booked a date in the diary, giggling like a pair of schoolgirls at the very thought! Isn’t it amazing what two totally untrained hair colourists can achieve with the right products and specific instructions from a master hair colourist? With me doing little more than offering the occasional, ‘You’ve missed a teensy bit here…’, Geraldine mixed the potion, applied it to her roots, let it ‘take’ and rinsed it off – all by herself.
And the results?
Truly wonderful.
Geraldine has now got exactly the colour she wants with a lighter, brighter, fresher look that makes her Spring eyes sparkle.
My hair colour tip for you
The point of this is to pass on to you a huge tip that Scott gave us – there’s nothing like a good insider secret like this to increase your expert standing with your clients!
- Colourants come out one shade darker than the description
- Therefore if your client needs an end result of a medium blonde base shade, then advise her to buy a ‘light blonde’ colourant
Want to learn more about hair colour analysis?
Check out the Hair Colour Analysis course – it’s a self-paced training program which will teach you how to diagnose your client’s hair colour direction to complement her colour analysis. Included are loads of tips directly from Scott Cornwall and also from my work with the Master Colour Expert Trainers at Wella UK. They will change your perspective on your own hair colour, and you will impress your clients with all these insider secrets.
Once you’ve studied hair colour analysis, you’ll be able to offer added value to your existing colour consultations with informed information about the correct colours for each individual client to consider. And / or you’ll be able to earn more money by offering separate hair colour analysis classes for your 1-1 clients or in small group sessions too.
Set yourself apart from other image consultants
…Especially as studying Hair Colour Analysis will scotch once and for all the utter nonsense that all Summers need ash tones in their hair! And don’t forget, you should be passing all these amazing hints and tips onto your own clients. They’re dying to know what you know!