How to Pick the Best New Hair Color for Your Client

Color makeovers are a lot of fun, unless your client doesn’t end up with what they want. Make sure that you’re choosing the best color before you mix the formula, in order to avoid the potential mess and stress of a revision. How do you do that, exactly? We have a couple of tips…

Understand their preferences
Sure, the stylist knows best, but that won’t ever stop a client from having their own preferences and opinions. Ultimately, it’s the client’s opinion that counts when determining the success or failure of your services, so take the time to understand exactly what they want, and why they want it.

Know their allergies
While it’s not necessary (or appropriate) to request an entire medical history from each client, you should at least know if their scalp and hair are healthy enough to undergo the selected treatment, and if they have any allergies to the chemicals you may be using in your formulas or haircare products. It helps to have a product and ingredient list on hand to show them. Be ready to make some adjustments or replacements, if needed!

Match their undertones
As we’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, human hair and skin tends to share the same undertones. So someone with golden hair is more likely to have warm-toned skin, while someone with strawberry blonde hair is more likely to have cool-toned (pinkish) skin. Tailoring your search to the client’s skin tone can quickly reduce the overall number of options.

Complement their other features
Skin undertones aren’t the only thing relevant to your color selection. Your client’s other facial features—like eye color, face width, brow color (and, possibly, shape), etc.—should also be taken into account. You can draw attention to the golden flecks inside your client’s brown eyes by adding some golden highlights to their face-framing layers. You can make your client’s face appear narrower by darkening their hair color, or wider (and even younger) by lightening it. Be observant, and remember to ask your client which features of theirs they like best!

Use a try-on tool
If you find that you still have too many color options, consider using a try-on tool in your salon. This can be anything from a computer or online makeover program to a temporary color or Clip-In trial run. Babe Instant Hair is a great option in this sense, as it allows the client to wear the color (if even on just a section of their hair) for an extended period of time, and in different lighting conditions, providing them with the information they need to make a confident selection.

Once you and your client have settled on a color, the preparation phase is mostly over. Of course, there are a couple of other decisions to be made, and some color-related details to keep in mind...

Know best-practices
No matter what, it’s always important to know how to masterfully wield your tools, and sometimes that means knowing the manufacturer’s recommendations for usage. With Babe hair extensions, we advise stylists to select extensions of varying shades to produce a multi-dimensional, compelling look. That involves selecting a base color, a color up to two steps lighter than the base color, and a color up to two steps darker than the base color—all within the same color family, or tone. We also insist that you avoid lightening the extensions themselves, as bleaches and lightening agents can destroy the integrity of the hair.

Pre-color, if necessary
That being said, it is okay to color the extensions to a darker shade, so long as you are only using semi- or demi-permanent dyes. Extensions should be colored prior to the day of the installation appointment to give the hair enough time to fully dry. Similarly, if the client’s hair needs to be colored to achieve their ideal shade, this should be accomplished before the day of the installation. Color the client’s hair and the extensions separately—otherwise you risk uneven application and compromised bonds. Always make sure that you are not getting color on the hair extension bonds—and, if you do, be sure to clean it off quickly. We recommend that you remove the tape on Tape-In wefts prior to coloring, then apply Replacement Tape once the color has been processed.

Do you have a Babe before & after that you love? Share it with us on our Before & Afters page, and check out other stylists’ work while you’re at it! You just might find some inspiration for your next color job. ;)