Brush up on your colour correction skills
Working as a top-end colourist requires an artistic eye, product knowledge, predicting what will suit a client, and being tuned into current trends and techniques. But, all of this know-how can be worthless if you don't know the fundamentals of colour correction.
Clients often experiment with home colours, which can end in a hair disaster. Before any fresh colour work can be tackled, careful consultation and consideration need to take place so that life and lustre can return to a ravaged do, and further damage is prevented.
Lisa Shepherd from Lisa Shepherd Salons, Midlands, believes that the expertise required for such difficult colour work can't be underestimated.
"Colour correction is clear proof as to how good a colourist really is - or not. Anyone can apply perfect highlights after good training, but to remove unwanted colour, create amazing colour, and offer incredible condition is really clever."
But it's not just a quick course that will give you the skills to tackle tricky colour disasters, as Tracey Devine of Angels, Aberdeen, explains: "Colour correction is an extremely specialised area. I recommend on-going investment in specialist training to fine-tune skills, as well as dedicating particular team members to this expert discipline."
Ringing the changes
Billie Crago from The Chapel, Islington, is used to the challenges that colour correction can bring.
She says: "You meet your client for a consultation - the one with the black hair, and you just know that she is going to ask to go blonde!" But with extensive training, the seemingly impossible becomes possible.
Billie explains: "When I first learnt how to cleanse hair properly, a whole new area in colouring hair was revealed to me. Instead of telling clients to come back in six months, I had the confidence and knowledge to say that I could rectify the problem."
And, the nature of colour correction is ever-changing. Says Billie: "As the years roll by, I realise that I am cleansing less than I used to, instead finding softer and more respectful alternatives to change colour."
It used to be the case that many clients had perms; these days almost every client has some form of colour on their hair. Says Billie: "Ask yourself how often a client comes into the salon with virgin hair - not often. A colourist's daily column is full of mini colour changes and corrections as seasons and ideas change."
So, it's essential that a salon can offer these clients the skills and knowledge required for the full spectrum of colour work.
Invest in training
Product knowledge is an important part of colour correction, so that the desired result can be achieved to improve both the colour and condition of the client's hair. AJ Blackadder at Andrew Barton emphasises this point.
"We invest in training the team to be colour experts, and do this by harnessing the education that our chosen manufacturer provides. Understanding our clients' needs is vital to the success of any colour correction service, just as our stylists' advice, knowledge and confidence in the products we use and recommend is essential," he says.
Consultation and knowing how to treat the colour client as an individual is also key to success. Says Tracey: "Never give advice over the phone; always invite a client in for a consultation.
"Always be realistic about the results and give a few options in case it does not work out completely to plan. Some clients don't tell you exactly what is on their hair, and it's not until you start working on them that problems come to light, hence an in-depth consultation is essential."
A transformation may take more than one session, so patience and all-important strand tests are also vital.
No matter how creative you feel you are with colour, you can only realise your full potential if you develop a sound foundation in colour correction.
Not only will this prevent unexpected disasters, but clients will leave the salon with gorgeous results that can only advertise the fact that your salon can deal with any colour conundrum.
