Everyone wants to look and feel his or her best during the holiday season, and this includes hair. Unfortunately, clients’ jam-packed social calendars can make scheduling a salon visit downright daunting. To guide clients through the process, Redken Celebrity Colorist Tracey Cunningham shares her tips for making the most of time spent at the salon during the holidays.
1. Forward thinking: Cunningham typically advises her clients to wait six to eight weeks for gray touch-ups and eight to 12 weeks for highlights. She suggests they get their holiday color appointment on the salon books as early as possible.
2. Show, don’t tell: When confirming upcoming salon visits, Cunningham prefers to enlist the assistance of her front-desk team to determine if patrons are planning to try out a new look.
“Whether bold or subtle, bringing photographs and examples of haircolor are a big help when exploring hue options and will go a long way toward ensuring that both the colorist and the client are on the same page when discussing terms such as honey blonde or scarlet red,” she says. “One technique I’ve been using a lot recently is a Metallic Blur haircolor, a combination of lux bronze and gold tones that are softened together using Redken's new Blur technique. The end result is a natural shimmering finish that is perfect for those holiday pictures and parties!”
3. When in doubt, refresh: If the holidays don’t fall in between clients’ scheduled appointments, or if they don’t have the time for a full hue appointment in December, Cunningham suggests that they opt for a quick gloss treatment (like Redken Shades EQ) to boost shine.
4. Maintenance is key: Between client updos, curling irons and flat-iron run-throughs, the holidays can seriously damage locks.
"That is why at-home maintenance can be just as important as salon treatments,” Cunningham says, who likes to recommend conditioning products such as Blonde Idol Custom-Tone Conditioner Violet for Cool Blondes to balance out the brass in her blonde clients.
About Tracey Cunningham: Tracey is REDKEN's Creative Consultant For Color and the Owner of MèCHE SALON Los Angeles. You can find out more about her salon here: http://www.mechesalonla.com.
Photo: Tracey Cunningham, Redken