So what's the 50/50 hair trend all about? dua lipa leads the latest colour craze

Every now and again a new hair colour trend comes and shakes up the hairdressing world. As we are seeing consumers embrace bolder colour placement (and perhaps stepping further away from balayage) this head-turning trend of 50/50 colour it's the natural step back towards the more demanding services that colourists saw in prior decades.

50/50 colour trend – What is it?

The anthesis of balayage. This trend is about working with high contrast colours, like a dark brunette and white blonde or fashion colours like blues, green and pink. The team from Nicola Clarke were the colourists who took popstar Dua Lipa from her striking black bob to her 50/50 colour which was no mean feat considering the lift they would have had to achieve to give the blonde on top a clean, non-brassy finish and maintain it's health. https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ZbZpcBFhr/

How to maintain hair health with 50/50 colour trend

Nicola Clarke and team used Virtue Labs to keep Dua's hair healthy when pre-lightening. "Virtue ColorKick helps maintain hair health as it keeps the integrity of the hair intact, allowing the hair colour to last longer and be more vibrant. It literally colours the hair healthy," Nicola told HJ. https://www.instagram.com/p/B3sR4VlHZCT/

Advice for Clients at-home routine

When opting for such a high maintenance look, at home care is just as important as the service that you're providing in salon so recommending products and a regimented routine shouldn't be an after thought or thought of as up-selling but should be an absolute necessity. Vicky Panting, consultant at Salon Success says, "One of the biggest things I talk to my clients about is ensuring they maintain and improve their hair's condition in between salon visits especially if they are wanting to keep lightening their hair more each time. Ultimately healthy hair is much easier to colour and allows us the professional to achieve what the client is looking for." She recommends the Olaplex system to her colour clients, stating that Olaplex no.3 Hair Perfector is the most important to ensure optimum hair hair between visits. "It's to continue what we started in salon," says Vicky. "I will show them exactly how much to use and also how to use it."

What's the financial benefits of 50/50 colour trend?

"This is a huge trend for a tribe of client we see at HOB Salons called 'right here, right now'," says Warren Boodaghian, head of technical at HOB Salons. The trend for this bold colour could mean excellent news for high frequency appointments. Warren continues, "This is definitely a more high maintenance trend and placement colour always requires more salon visits which is great for client commitment. When you upsell colour to a client, you need to create the need and want for the customer. And techniques like this do just that."