best for BEAUTY
Perfect your technique and get luxe-look ing colour at a fraction of the salon price
1 GET AN EXPERT EYE ON YOUR DIY
Even with experience, it’s well worth taking professional advice to ensure you’re using the right colour in the right way. Joshwoodcolour.com recently introduced free one-to-one video consultations where an expert will walk you through shade choices. ‘I think lockdown created a hybrid customer who invests in salon expertise for something like balayage, but feels able to maintain their hair at home,’ says Josh. Or try online service esalon.co.uk, whose specialists will profile your hair colour goals, then you mix a custom dye, from £10.
Dyeing do’s and dont’s:
□ DO: the patch test Even if you’ve used the product before. It’s possible to become allergic to a hair dye at any time, so always patch test 48 hours before application.
□ DON’T: apply a whole head of permanent each time ‘People think it’s a great way to mach roots and lengths, but you just end up with one big block of overly dark colour,’ says Michael. ‘It’s the hair colour equivalent of layering up coat after coat of paint on a wall; it looks thick and heavy.’
□ DO: skip the bathroom ‘Try it with a mirror at the kitchen table,’ says Josh. ‘The lighting ’s better, you have more flat surfaces and you can put down newspaper for protection.’
2 DYE ANOTHER DAY
Day-three hair is the optimum for colouring, says celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas, founder of hair tools brand mdlondon. ‘Not shampooing for a few days restores the scalp’s acid mantle, protecting against irritation from colouring. Permanent dye has no problem penetrating through dry shampoo, serums, hairspray or even oils. When you do your final pre-colour shampoo, follow it with an intensive moisture mask,’ advises Josh.
3 GET TO THE ROOT OF THE MAT TER
Applying dye all over is easy, but precise root application is the key to flawless colour. ‘Personally, I think a bowl and brus
