The price you pay!

Why is hair color so expensive? I am curious, how about you? Inquiring minds really want to know.

You've just seen this amazing balayage of purple, blue and teal (or whatever floats your boat). You call your favorite stylist in excitement wanting this amazing transformation. She is just as excited as you are. Then you guys start to talk about the process, how long it will take and the cost of such a service. You then realize that you are in sticker shock. It cost what? Did you just say $300+? But why? Let’s talk about it.

The price of hair color and maintenance can be quite expensive. But since money is relative, maybe it is not expensive. Either way hair color is an investment. We all like to look our absolute best and that comes with a price tag. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO HAVE BORING HAIR!

It takes time, energy (I'm talking a venti white mocha with an extra shot) and loads of product to create those beautiful colors all over social media and Pinterest. Let’s start with the plan. What would you like it to look like? Which color would you like blended as the transition color? What would you like as the base? Here is the typical process to get those mermaid and unicorn colors. First off, please be prepared to be at the salon for a minimum of at least four hours. Your hair has to be pre-lightened, or bleached. Then you have to shampoo and blow dry but only after you do a salon treatment because let’s face it, since you’ve just had your hair lifted from its natural state, you have to treat it so that it remains healthy. After the shampoo and blow dry your stylist will then take the time to place and blend those colors so beautifully. You have to let that process for 30 plus minutes... Here comes the not so fun part, shampooing your hair with cold, yes I did just say cold, water. The cold water closes the cuticle and locks in the color. After that shampoo you may get another salon treatment, maybe a deep conditioning treatment this time. The deep conditioner must be rinsed out of your and then blown dry. At this point your stylist may want to get a few photos. Then more than likely they will take the time to curl your hair because the colors look amazing when curled and you know it, that is what drew you to that photo anyway, the style.

So here is what we have, what the process would typically look like.

1. Consultation

2. Pre- Lighten

3. In salon treatment (more than likely a bond multiplier)

4. Shampoo and blow dry

5. Color placement

6. Shampoo and deep conditioning treatment

7. Rinse

8. Blow dry

9. Photos

10. Style

11. Photos

12. Possibly another style ( perhaps a braid?)

13. More photos

14. Oh, I love it. “I’m feeling myself” lol.

15. See you next time. 6 weeks for a touch-up of the faded color

Hair color is a timely and potentially costly process but lets be real, your hair IS your best accessory. I do not know about you but when my hair is goooooood I take the extra time to put on that third or fourth coat of mascara and I make the lips pop with my favorite (at the time) lipstick. Color is fun and expressive so enjoy.