COLOURIST REALITY VS. CLIENT EXPECTATIONS By Kristie Kesic
With so many salons being in lockdown for an extensive amount of time, clients have lived with the reality of not being able to get their hair done. These clients have been left with grey hair, long regrowth, faded out fashion tints and platinum blondes that look more like balayage. It is more evident than ever how much hairdressers are valued, most clients realising they can’t colour their hair at home. Clients have realised it’s not as easy as slapping on a colour to cover the regrowth and there is science and skilled technique that goes into each application. However, with this realisation comes heightened client expectation for us to deliver the results they expect. Even if those result are unachievable. As colourists, we need to remember our fundamentals when dealing with these expectations. We need to stay true to the reality of what colour can do and what can be achieved in each sitting. We then must balance this against client expectations. Consultation and communication are key. This is always the case but it’s even more important than ever when we are dealing with colours 56
Hair Biz Year 15 Issue 6
that are well overdue. Give yourself extra time for a consultation to explain the process to the desired result to your client. Remember that they don’t speak our language, and they shouldn’t have to. It’s up to us to explain our processes in a way the client will understand and appreciate. Unfortunately, we don’t have magic wands; we can’t create the impossible, so always under promise and over deliver. Let’s look at a few scenarios that so many are dealing with.
LONG REGROWTH
Our regrowth clients. The bread-and-butter client of the salon, ever so loyal. They normally visit every 4-6 weeks. When the regrowth is up to 1.5cm the result is predictable each time. But now the client has 3-4 months’ worth of regrowth. The growth has gone beyond what we call the heat band of the scalp.
(NB) Heat band is the name we give to the area of hair that sits from the root to 1.5 cm down the hair shaft. It refers to the zone beyond the surface in which our scalp naturally produces heat. When this happens and the regrowth is extensive, it is harder to get a nice clean result or lift (not impossible) and you may need to do what we call a virgin application
TECHNIQUE 1:
Apply the product to the mids of the hair leaving the heat band zone out. Once this is complete than go back and apply the colour to the heat band zone. Make sure you check with your product company as to how long you would allow the mid colour to process before you go back and apply the heat band zone as this may vary. When using this technique for our
