Golden rules of getting your  hair coloured 

My colourist had a neat colour chart with a range of vibrant strands. I flipped it open some eight years ago and pointed at Fiery Red and said, “That. That’s the one I want.”

 I got a side eye. He hemmed. He hawed. He said, specifically I remember, that “black people don’t have that kind of hair colour.” Ginger or strawberry blonde as a hair colour can be anything from copper to a touch of orange.

It took three months of shades of brown, backfired burgundy, sulks, fits and muted fights to finally get what has now become a dominant part of my identity. It wasn’t until I stood in the sun watching the expression of absolute shock on Kelvin’s face that I realised what I, what we, had done. It was Saturday.

I had a 9 to 5 job as a magazine journalist. I experienced a small degree of panic. Monday morning I walked into the office.

My boss at the time took one look and said “What have you done to your hair? I love it!” Good. I still had a job.

I could still earn. I had bottled my oomph. I have kept my hair since. Everyone else be damned.

I find myself on the receiving end of colour queries and conversations in real life and social media. How? Where? Who? How much? Which brand? Which products? Why? They always want to know why, and expecta profound, life-altering reason.

That has often been presumed to be tied to a man. The only man involved is my colourist. It’s a great question though.

Research says women want to enhance their look, express themselves, transition and yes, to wash a man out of their hair. I went red because I was bored with my life. Now when I look at myself I am reminded to step outside the norm, other people’s definition of who I am and live up to my own ideal.

SEE A PROFESSIONAL

So if you want to colour your hair, see a professional. As a colour virgin you want to schedule a consultation and a colour job. Boxed colours are great if you have a healthy, experimental relationship with your hair and already know what to do post colour.

A professional tells you how to care for your hair. Because you will need to change your hair products to the kind that preserve colour, deep condition and moisturise it and keep the colour vibrant. If you go blonde, platinum or red, you will need products with a UV filter. Sun changes the colour making it duller.

Colour by itself does not break or cut your hair. Hair care does. Technology has made colour gentle to the hair. A professional will also be in a position to tell if something isn’t working for you.

The thing about coloured hair is that the more alive the colour, the more high maintenance it is. Treatments, protein or moisture based, have very specific targets. Overlooking post colour care compromises the health of your hair and by extension, the integrity of the colour. I can’t speak to the quality of any specific products mainly because I am not allowed to, and also, I am not being paid to. Professionals will give you options.  

You don’t have to be clear about what you want. Sometimes knowing what you don’t want is important too. See your colourist with images  and discuss it during your consultation. That determines styling, length, procedure, products and product availability down to cost.

There is no one size fits all colour package. Presently dip-dyed rainbow colours and silver/grey hair is trending. As an example it will cost me more to go silver – which I have in the past – than it would someone walking in with their natural hair colour. The latter as a process is much shorter and therefore less expensive.

Colouring your hair could spark or may be part of a makeover. Depending on what you opt for and how permanent it is, you may need to revamp and revisit your colour scheme to see what complements your new look. Wardrobe, makeup, accessories and even nail polish could be due for a shake up. Now you begin to understand the significance of ‘why.’ For tamer colour the family or reds and browns ranging from copper, chestnut to maroon is particularly good on women of colour. It can amp your beauty and flatter your skin tone.

Put a little thought into finding your colourist and colour. It will be worth every shilling.