Unleashing Your Inner Rainbow: A Guide to Vibrant Hair Color in Austin, TX

Rainbow hair, Unicorn hair, and Prism hair trends have gotten even more popular in 2022 and into this new year! I don't know about you, but I LOVE the vivid hair trend! This trend has reached its highest popularity over the past year couple of years and we are seeing more and more creativity with these vibrant rainbows! People everywhere of all ages want their hair to look like a mermaid, a rainbow, a prism, a box of crayons, or a galaxy…the requests are endless. All these beautiful colors are the desire and want of many guests in our salon in the greater Austin area but also in salons across the country now… are these the hair trends for you?? As always, I am here to help guide you with my professional advice and the information you need to know before making the leap into rainbow hair! I am known in my area of Austin for my vivid rainbow colors. These are some of my absolute favorite transformations and favorite looks to create! But I will also begin by saying these colors aren't for everyone, so let's dive into what you need to know before you ask your stylist for the whole box of crayon colors on your head!

First, what are you starting with? Do you have color on your hair now? Do you get your hair professionally colored every few weeks? If you have never colored your hair then you are definitely a unicorn already.  Since you have virgin hair (never previously colored), these colors will be so much easier for you to achieve, or have you box colored and overlapped that color for years and years on the ends of your hair? These simple questions about your starting color actually make a huge difference in your service’s time, price, process, and ability to do these vivid colors all in one appointment. 

The first step in any vivid process is to lighten your hair. You have to lift your hair no matter what vivid color you and your stylist decide on, or you won't get the hold/longevity or the vibrancy and true tones that you should. If your color has ever not been the “correct tone” you wanted you may have not been light enough or you had some tones still left in your hair that when a pigment was added on top of your blonde shade it took on the leftover tones and that created a whole different color than desired. An example would be… say you wanted a beautiful blue. But there are still yellow tones in your blonde. If your stylist pops a blue vivid on a still yellowy-blonde you will end up with some areas where this turns green or as it fades your hair may turn a funky greenish-blue color because you were not lifted and toned properly before your rainbow colors were applied. So depending on your color choices, this will depend on how light you will need to be and the process your stylist will use. The brighter neon colors and the pastels require the highest lift; most of these colors require you to be the palest blonde your stylist can get your hair to be while keeping the integrity of your hair intact. In the biz, we call this a "blank canvas" … kind of speaks for itself, right? 

The second thing to consider is, how long is your hair?? This is something our guests sometimes don't realize or don't think about. But the longer your hair, the more products it will take to get you to your desired color; and the longer amount of time your stylist will have to book out for you as it would be totally different timing for someone that has chin-length hair versus a guest that has waist-length hair. So please ( I am begging for every stylist out there…), please make sure when making your vivid appointment, you let your stylist know the length and thickness of your hair, so you get a correct estimate for time and price! For my rainbow guests, if they are brand new, I like to offer a free in-person consultation. This allows me to see the hair in person, touch it and really get the best game plan for my guest possible. I have also offered this over video chat and zoom too if my guest is too busy during the week or schedules don’t allow it! At the very least your stylist may ask for you to send photos in natural lighting to see the colors in your hair as well as being able to see the health and texture of your hair prior to your appointment.

Third, how much time do you have? These colors are not a quick in and out in hour process. Many guests are unaware of the amount of time these colors can actually take and the time you are going to spend in your stylist's chair. These are considered double or triple processes, meaning it's more than one step to get you there. For most guests that come in asking for an all-over rainbow look. We would start by lightening the hair. Of course, this could change or look different for each guest; based on the inspiration look, the length of hair, and what is already on your hair. Your stylist will need to lighten your rootage and ends to the desired blonde level for the vivid colors chosen. They will then rinse, shampoo, and sometimes towel dry or completely dry the hair. For the best results, I highly suggest completely dry or as close to 100% dry. Depending on your desired look, some stylists will even out the blonde by glazing or toning it, which requires them to shampoo and dry you all over again. Or if you haven't lifted up far enough(you're not blonde enough) and your hair is still healthy enough your stylist may opt to lighten sections again to make sure their "canvas,” aka your hair, is as blonde and even tones as possible. This affects your colors such as brightness, tone, and longevity. Another scenario might be that your stylist decides your hair can't take another lifting process the same day. You would then need to glaze it to a color you can "live with" for a few weeks, the stylist would then send you home with treatments, and good products to strengthen your hair for your next appointment that they will book for you to continue your rainbow journey. Your other option if your hair doesn’t cooperate would be to alter your choice of colors or tones. Let your stylist get creative using tones that will work on how your hair did lift! But, if your hair has lifted to the needed blonde color, at this point, with the hair dry, they will start applying all of the colors!! This is the most fun part for us as stylists (in my opinion)! We love the creativity that these colors allow us! There are so many colors and techniques out there; the rainbow sky’s the limit(literally)!! This step can take quite a while depending on how many shades you've chosen, the technique being used, the length of the hair, etc. After processing these vivid colors, most stylists will opt to rinse you with cool or cold water as you can stand! This helps keep the colors from bleeding together; i.e. your bright yellow turning green or your pink fading onto your silver. It also shuts down the cuticle layer (the top layer of your hair shaft). Think of your hair as shingles. When we lighten or use permanent colors it lifts up that top shingle, your cuticle layer, to allow colors into the deeper parts of your hair strand(the depth the color goes and what part of the hair strand it affects, depends on the type of color and the technology used…but that’s a whole different conversation). The cold water closes that “shingle” or cuticle layer of hair so the color can’t get out as easily! A closed cuticle also means a smoother look to the hair and less frizz. Warm or hot water can actually open up that cuticle layer and allow hair color to slide out when shampooing and some textures can cause more frizz or unruly hair…  So grit your teeth and bring on the cold water! Plan on spending anywhere from 3-8 hours in the salon...what is that you say? It takes that long? Yep, this entire process is NOT a quick process. Even if your stylist is amazing at their job, efficient, and quick, this will take time... especially if you want it done correctly and desire a beautiful result! So grab a book, earbuds, a snack, and some water, and get ready to be in the salon with your stylist for most of the day. Remember, you can't rush beauty or color and expect unicorn rainbow dreams.