The Truth About Dyeing Your Hair Rainbow Colours

This is one instance where it’s totally acceptable to Internet stalk before your first date. Visit the salon website to read your colourist’s biography, which should highlight his/her specialties and training history. Instagram is a good resource to see previous clients your colourist has done.

Don’t make a drastic hair colour change without meeting your stylist at least once beforehand. During the consultation, you can show your Pinterest board full of hair colour inspiration. “[Bring] images of what you possibly want and images of something you really don’t want,” Javier recommended. Take this time to “interview” your colourist. Ask tough questions like: What technique are you best at? What is your favourite style to do? What is your weakness? Asking the right questions can help you avoid a hair colour disaster.

During the consultation, your stylist should ask questions, too. It’s important that you’re 100 percent honest. Have you coloured your hair at home using a box treatment? What products do you use currently? What is your styling routine? How often do you want to visit the salon for touch-ups? All of these factors can affect how your hair will react to the bleach. Based on your responses, your colourist might make a different plan of action when it comes to creating your custom colour.

Your natural oils help protect your scalp and strands against the bleach. So, it’s best to come into the salon with second-day (or even third-day) hair. But you don’t want to add any extra product to achieve the greasy effect.

Javier decided on a balayage, hair-painting technique to give the blonde model natural highlights. “It’s more natural on the root and white blonde on the ends, but the colour will be throughout,” she said. “It will be a little bit more of an ombré effect.” This technique looks subtler as the regrowth comes in. It also gives the purple hair color a more vibrant tone at the ends and a deeper shade near the roots.

In a hair-painting technique, the colourist uses cellophane instead of foil. “Cellophane contains the bleach and prevents it from oxidising and drying out.”

Once the hair colour has lifted, you’ll get a good shampoo and conditioning treatment. Some sections might have to be rinsed before others in order to keep the bleaching consistent throughout.

“Semipermanent gloss is like a watercolour before you apply pure-pigment dyes, and the colour lasts longer,” Javier explained.

To get this vibrant purple shade, Javier used a custom blend of blue and purple pure-pigment shades from Manic Panic.

Over the course of about six weeks, the bright hair colour will begin to fade, but there are a few things you can do to keep it as vibrant as possible. The less you wash your hair, the more vibrant your colour will stay. When you do wash, make sure to use a product line that is colour safe like Shu Uemura Color Lustre Shampoo (US$48) and Conditioner (US$58). If you really must wet your hair every day, try using a co-wash instead of shampoo like Purely Perfect Foundation Creme (US$40).