Highlights for the new year?

.....and all of a sudden it was 2015!

Had a real weird start to the year, woke up on the 31st of December with a cold and fever! -NOT what you want to have on the last day of the year, especially when you are meant to be hosting a few friends for New Year's night. Packed myself with Day Nurse, Beechhams, and all kind of Boots products imaginable, washed down with Hot Toddies.... though nothing worked.

It was a case of Go Hard or Go Home.... oh hold it - I was home, and guests were arriving in a few hours! - 3 hours later and a couple of glasses of bubbly I was ready for the night ahead.... slightly worried what I would wake up like the next day... though that worry faded with every glass!

Fast forward next day, and I was remarkably better - clearly I found the best and by far most fun remedy ever - Dance your fever away! 

I guess at this point I should be responsible and say - 'Kids do not try this at home!' 

Talking about 'Don't try this at home', I sometimes think there should be some very small print somewhere on the side of Home Hair Dye products - we have been seeing some real major disasters lately!

Rather than saying the product is necessarily the problem, it is more a case of clearly just like body dysmorphia there is a serious colour perception one going. on out there.

Of course number one choice when changing your hair colour is ALWAYS go to a professional! - but it you REALLY must give it a shot yourself, be a bit realistic and choose a colour that is likely to work with your complexion.

Just a few weeks ago had a lovely girl in - Pretty girl with South Asian roots, Gorgeous thick long dark hair, but had been masacred trying to get it blonde - which resulted with just the top section being a canary yellow and the rest a dim orange colour .

Of course she was in to fix it - came with a picture of Ash blonde hair think Cara Delevigne. Now I really do not shy away from a difficult job in fact I love a challenge ,but this was a case of: 'This is just not gonna suit you at all!' - I dished the bad news followed by giving suggestions of other celebrities with light(er) hair but that would work with her complexion.(J-Lo, Ariana Grande)..... clearly though I was not giving her what she wanted to hear and had ruined  her Blonde Ambition Tour, so just like in Frozen - for once, I just had to 'LET IT GO!'

Moral of the story, be realistic with choice of colours - but most importantly when choosing a colour on a celebrity, a model or picture in a  hair magazine, try to choose someone who has a somewhat similar complexion to yours!

While we are on the D-I-Y hair colour topic, do yourself a favour and do not try highlights from a box. We  are having a serious case of Leopard lights rather than highlights lately. To make things clear: highlights should be vertical, and not horizontal or spotty!

But highlights have really evolved in the last few decades. Of course there has been the return of the original Balayage which has become very popular with people wanting to achieve a natural sun-kissed set of highlights. One should however keep in mind that this works best on natural hair rather than to change a hair colour as the results can vary when you need to lift a previous colour.

Thankfully the Cap is pretty much obsolete nowadays - that was one painful procedure!. and quite a sad result  really. You get hair at random, the bottom section of your hair never got highlighted and it was always one colour (most likely bleach) and if you are lucky your  hairline will not have any blotches from colour that has seeped.

But the Holy Grail of Highlights will always be Foils. because no matter how many fad systems and trendy techniques come along, to create a colour with multi tonal effects and natural highlights, Foils will always give you the best result.

If you are a colour newbie and are a bit unsure what you should do with your colour do start with a set of highlights. You do not need to necessarily start with a Full head of highlights, a T-section could be enough, to give you a taste of having colour - and still enough to give you a visible change. Don't go changing your hair colour entirely, unless you are really seriously sick of it!

Recently we had a lovely girl in for her first time colour ever! - we decided for a very natural set of highlights to just enhance her already lovely mid-golden natural brown colour...

Final result - A slightly lighter and brighter colour. But do not be deceived it is not as simple as it looks - there are 4 different shades of browns and blondes in there - finely weaved highlights to create a natural result.

But what if you have a colour that you are ready to change - what system should you choose?

Not one to need natural looking highlights, Wendy here decided it was time for a change! She has had it all: Dark, Red, Purple, Natural - you name it.... went full platinum blonde and for the last 2 years we have been playing with different tones of blonde..... now it was time for a change

opted for a warm tone of Honey and Caramels while keeping a touch of Frost at the end with some Ivory flashes....

The seasoned Colourist will always have a few ideas up his sleeve, trust your locks with a professional, fixing a D-I-Y disaster is likely to cost you more. But if you REALLY MUST - choose a colour that will work for your complexion - it's Hair Dye not a DNA manipulator!

HCC

xx