Everything You Need to Know About Your Colour Appointment
Your prepaid, multi-visit Salon Invitation includes a colour visit. Great! Everyone loves colour, especially the expert colour technician you’re about to meet! They know, once you trust them with your colour, you’ll usually be back as a regular client. However, the process of achieving beautifully coloured, healthy hair can sometimes be complex for the consumer to understand. To help simplify it all, we have prepared this page for you.
What's Included
Your prepaid colour visit is a 120 minute appointment. The time is broken down as follows:
- 45 minutes for the colour application
- 45 minutes of development time
- 30 minutes for the blow-dry
Pre-Visit Planning
Before attending your colour visit, you’ll meet your colour technician to plan & agree your desired colour outcome.
A colour consultation based on your skin tone, eye colour, and the evaluation of other features, all help to determine the optimal shades & application best suited to you.
For the application, your base colour, colour history and the amount of hair you have, are only a few of the factors considered in the process of achieving your desired outcome. On occasions, a “strand-test” may also be needed to establish how your hair lifts when lightening. A sensitivity test will also be performed. Honesty & clarity throughout this colour consultation process is key.
After all is considered, if your desired outcome can be achieved within the 45-minute colour application, great! It’s been prepaid.
If your desired outcome requires more than the 45-minute colour application, your stylist will explain exactly how much time is needed and what the cost will be for the extra time. If you choose to move forward with this outcome, the supplement will only be paid on the day of your colour appointment; no surprises or unexpected bill on the day. We believe honesty and clarity are essential.
That said, you’re never obligated to add extra time. If, after understanding the process needed to achieve your desired outcome, you choose not to extend your appointment, your technician will happily discuss the results that can be achieved within the time included in your prepaid colour visit.
Keep in mind, the 120 minute colour visit has an in-salon value greater than the price you paid for your multiple visit Salon Invitation. The time spent with your technician can be a great opportunity to get your colour exactly as you want it. Making use of the exclusive incentives to personalise your colour visit allows you to unlock even more value from your purchase.
The purpose of this consultation is to build rapport, ensure transparency, and provide clarity. Your technician’s ultimate goal is to earn your trust, not to make a quick buck.
Highlights, Babylights & Lowlights
Should a toner be required to achieve your desired outcome, the toner uses up 15-minutes of the 45-minute application time. The remaining 30-minutes is used to foil your hair. All highlighting services are bespoke.
- Generic terms such as "half-head" or "parting foils" or "t-section" are exactly that, generic. During your pre-visit planning, your stylist will clearly define the best foil placement to achieve optimal results from your 45-minute colour application.
- A "full head" of highlights cannot be achieved within a 45-minute colour application. Depending on your personal factors, detailed in the pre-visit planning section above, your technician will clarify how much extra time is needed. This will be fully costed & explained during your consultation allowing you plenty of time to make the right decision for your hair.
What are highlights?
Hair highlighting is a technique where your stylist lightens strategic strands of hair to create brightness and dimension. The key differences between lowlight, highlights & babylights are:
Lowlights darken strands for contrast & depth
Highlights are brighter & more noticeable
Babylights are subtle & delicate
Balayage
Should a toner be required to achieve your desired outcome, the toner uses up 15-minutes of the 45-minute application time. The remaining 30-minutes will be used to balayage your hair. All balayage services are bespoke.
- An existing balayage can often, but not always, be lifted or refreshed within a 45-minute colour application. Factors detailed in the pre-visit planning section above will determine what balayage results can be achieved when raising an existing balayage. If extra time is required, your technician will clarify how much extra time is needed. This will be fully costed & explained during your consultation allowing you plenty of time to make the right decision for your hair.
- Achieving a balayage when starting from scratch cannot be achieved within the 45-minute colour application. An additional 45 to 120 minutes is usually required to achieve a beautiful result when having your first balayage.
What is balayage?
Balayage (taken from the French word for ‘sweeping’) is a subtle freehand colouring technique. Colour is painted directly onto designated sections of the hair without using foil. The result is a more natural, sun-kissed effect, without any harsh contrast between colours.
Full Head Colour
- Going from a light to a darker colour, can be achieved within 45 minutes.
- Going from a dark to a lighter colour, cannot be achieved within 45 minutes. This process is often referred to as a colour correction and must be carried out by a skilled colour expert. A colour consultation must be performed to establish the process and the amount of extra time needed.
Full Head Bleach Root Lift
A full-head beach, or lifting the roots of a grown-out full-head of bleach, is a service only provided by the most experienced colour technicians. The general guidelines for this service are as follows:
- A root lift of 1 inch (2.5 cm) or less can usually be achieved in 45-minutes. If you measure from the knuckle of your thumb to the tip of your thumb, that is approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm). In terms of regrowth time since the application, it usually represents a maximum of 4-6 weeks of regrowth.
- A root lift of more than 1 inch (2.5 cm) cannot be achieved in 45-minutes. This service is usually referred to as a colour correction.
- A full-head beach cannot be achieved in 45-minutes.
Creative Colours
If your hair is already pre-lightened and supports the end result, it can be possible to achieve this within the 45-minute application using creative colours & toners. Pinks, pastels and uniquely individualised colour applications cannot be achieved in 45 minutes.