Expert colouring tips

You might well be experienced at colouring hair, but any expert will always admit there's room for improvement. So make the most of these key pieces of advice on successful colouring techniques from some of the best in the business: "Always correct the base colour first. It is no good working with old or patchy colour. Get rid of all the old colour so you have an even, neutral base. Colour placement is much easier this way and will be more accurate." Lisa Shepherd. Lisa Shepherd Salons, Kidderminster "Perfect hair colour results come from precision colouring. Start with clean sectioning, making sure all the hair you don't want to colour is pinned up neatly out of the way, and apply the colour only where you want to see it. Nothing ruins a colour more quickly than careless overlapping." Ian Black, Aveda, London "Block colour is a big story for the season ahead. Colour should be intense, strong and high shine with one perfect colour choice taking precedent over multi-colour placement. It's a great service to offer busy clients. It takes a quarter of the time that highlighting takes." Jo O'Neill, Toni & Guy, London "I always begin with a pre-colour treatment. It's especially good for damaged hair as it fills in the cracks and breakages of the hair shaft and creates the perfect base to work on. This treatment really does optimise the colour result and leaves hair feeling shiny and healthy." Robert Eaton Russell Eaton, Barnsley "To ensure maximum movement through the hair, you should only ever take it two or three levels lighter than the natural shade. This will ensure colour is bold, natural and multi-tonal, but full of movement. Use only tinted lights to accentuate this natural movement and give a deeply sun-kissed look." Daniel Galvin, Daniel Galvin Salon, London "We advise our colour rubbing technique. It creates soft, beautiful colour that adds depth and enhances tone. When more than two shades are applied throughout the hair with a highlighting or slicing technique, remove the foils and take two minutes massaging the colours into each other. This blends the colour so there is a softness between them." Gary Hooker and Michael Young, Hooker & Young, Newcastle-upon-Tyne "Look at the client's natural hair, eye and skin colour, then put them in the categories of light, medium and dark. Next check whether they have a cool or a warm skin tone. If an orange tone suits them then their skin tone is warm, and if it's pink their skin tone is cool. You can then choose the correct depth and tone of colour for your client." Carolyn Newman, Charles Worthington, London "The colour has to be unique, tailored to the individual and be an expression of the client's personality. Assessing the hair type, shape of the haircut, skin tone, eye colour as well as lifestyle will determine the success of your colour creation." Francesco Fontana, Essensuals, London "Hair colour should enhance the face and, in particular, the eyes. Techniques, tone and depth choices should reflect the eye contrast. The key to great colouring is all about a good consultation, which includes not only the eyes, but personality, skin and eye tones and face and body shapes." Karen Dodds, Cutting Room Creative, Leeds