Dramatic Results? Dramatic Effort!

I've felt the need for several months now to write a post on the process of dramatically changing your hair color.  When a guest sits down with the darkest brown hair and says she wants the lightest blonde, most hairstylists will say "um... not on your life!"  I say, "you betchya!"  I am all about drastic changes to hair.... blonde to brown, anything to red, dark to platinum... with one very important disclaimer:  Drastic change takes lots of time and multiple visits to get perfect.  We all see celebrities changing their hair all the time!  One minute you see dark brown tresses, and the next pic you see of them, they're blazing through with white blonde hair!  What you don't see?  The hours of time spent at the salon, sometimes daily or weekly, in order to get the desired results gradually, safely, and in the most natural way possible.  You also don't see the hundreds and hundreds of dollars they spend to make such a drastic change.

Why am I writing about this?  Because, it is the number one request that even the most detailed of consultations just doesn't prepare you for.  I have been in the business for just under a decade now, and this is the number one thing that is so hard to get across to my guests.  Highlights are ALWAYS a more natural way to go, especially when done with more than one color.  Of course, there will always be people who are dead set on one color and expect you to get it perfect in one process.  Don't get me wrong, for most services, it should look perfect the first time and every time... but I'm specifically talking about dramatic change.  These times almost always call for multiple processes over the course of several visits and the in between often doesn't look desireable.  ESPECIALLY if you have any kind of color or highlights already in your hair.  Your best bet is to trust your hairstylist.  I have a very hard time saying "no" to a client, but I have learned over the years that unless the client is 100% sure of something, I will do everything I can to talk them into the best solution.  However, when a guest comes in with her mind made up and she knows exactly what she wants, it is very hard to talk her out of anything.  I can't speak for all stylists, but for me, I prefer someone to show me a picture of what their end goal is and then trust me to do it my way as long as it takes, even if that means a gradual change.

Hair color is a science and an art and we pay thousands and thousands of dollars in education and continuing education in order to know exactly how color works and what is best for your color requests.  The formula, processing time, and technique applied varies greatly depending on your hair type, shape, health, and previous color treatments.  The moral of the story?  Trust your hairdresser!  She knows how color works and what will work for your hair.  When going for a drastic change, pay the money to get it done the right way.  If you want it done in one process, even the greatest hair stylist will leave you disappointed.  Change is fun!  Change is a process.

Bethany loved her red ombre, but decided to go back to blonde.  She has been very patient as we have broken through her deep red tones to bring her to a very high platinum blonde.  It didn't happen in one process, but she will tell you that it was definitely worth the time and effort!