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Click a question to read the answer
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It’s the easiest way to change your appearance, and because we’re never happy with what we have. We’d like to have lighter eyes, a prettier complexion, to look younger, and fortunately, with a personalized color, you can obtain these much desired effects.
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When we have a fair complexion, we don’t use a dark foundation or powder. This same principle is just as valid for your hair. You should stay as close to your natural color as possible. Look at your eyebrows : their color is very close to your natural hair color. Keep in mind that an artificial color will always seem to appear to you a bit darker than your natural color.
Natural hair color is rarely uniform or unvarying, from the roots to the ends. When you apply make-up, you create a “look”, by accentuating your cheeks and lips, or your eyes ; for hair, this principle of contrast should also be respected. It makes upkeep more flexible : as your hair grows, you obtain subtle effects that are chic and natural - looking.
I am not for in favour of radical hair color changes (except in fashion, film or some other specific context). To me, the success of a beautiful color depends upon bringing out the best in a woman’s personal sense of style, setting off her skin to its best advantage, and enhancing her hair texture, all the while preserving the quality of her hair with intensive hair-care treatments.
You cannot have beautiful color without healthy hair.
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A warm reflection : golden, copper-colored, mahogany, or chestnut lightens up your natural hair color. On the contrary, a cool reflection, like ash or dark purple will seem to darken it. In order for your eyes to appear lighter and more limpid, your hair should always be a bit darker.
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The right color is the one which brings out the best in a woman’s personal style and her complexion. I like it when I hear it said about a woman that she is beautiful, not that her color is beautiful.
I do not recommend uniformly lightening your hair too much if your eyes and skin are dark.
A showy color will not necessarily make a woman more beautiful, in fact, it often make’s one forget her face.
In general, you should stay as close to your natural color as possible, and think of hair color as make-up. It is not about changing yourself - it is about making yourself look your best.
Strong contrasts are old-fashioned. Everday colors like chestnut brown, a dark golden blond or lightly iridescent caramal are trendy. Also, the big comeback being made by irish red is more red than copper. Black and platinum blond are out except for rock stars.
The right color choice is made according to
1 - your base color
2 - the quality of your hair
3 - your skin color
4 - your eye color
Olive-colored skin does not work with light hair. A reddish complexion does not work with reddish highlights. And black eyes do not work with light colors.
I do not recommend uniformly lightening your hair too much if your eyes and skin are dark.
If your skin is reddish I also do not recommend a color with too warm a tint, as it will only serve to accentuate your skin’s reddish tone.
It would be better to choose a cool tint to counterbalance your skin’s redness. In general you should stay as close as possible to your natural color and consider hair color as make-up. It is not about changing yourself it is about making yourself look your best. Of course there are always some colors that are trendier than others, but I think that at some point, it is more interesting for a woman to find her color. She must find the color that enhances her look and style. The right idea is to stay more or less 1 or 2 tones lighter or darker than your natural hair color.
Dark hair : when lightened it often turns reddish. In general, golden or caramel highlights go well with dark hair. While black, if you are not young, can harden your features.
Blond : is blond really for you ? It is the first question you should ask yourself. If your eyes are very dark as well as your skin and hair, it is better to lighten your overall color by 1 or 2 tones maximum and then apply golden or honey highlights. I find light blond hair very inelegant with olive skin and dark eyes.
1st example : if the eyes are chestnust brown : make a base color that is 1 tone darker than the eye color. The eyes should not appear darker, but, rather, lighter.
2nd example : if the skin has a tendancy towards redness, then reddish or copperish tints should be avoided because they will accentuate the redness of the skin. On the contrary, a cool tin, something ashy, iridescent, or beige, should be chosen to counter balance the skin’s redness. It is important to flatter a woman’s natural coloring and look, and to respect, as carefully as possible, the quality of her hair. If the hair is very fine, just a little bit of strategically placed highlights will create contrast and a feeling of volume.
Above all : “There is no beautiful color without healthy hair”. Sometimes you must condition before coloring.
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Whether you want to color gray hairs, introduce some reflections or nuances, or add highlight, the possibilities are endless… as long as your hair is not damaged. You must first condition your hair in order to prepare it to absorb, and keep, its new color. If you desire a radical change of color you must see a professional.
Color products are very well formulated but I refuse to color teenagers. They are finding out who they are, and, therefore, like making color changes that are too tricky and difficult for young hair. I advise them to do a simple coloring without peroxide, or, alternatively, to add a few streaks which only affect part of their hair.
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There are no generalisations. Young women in their 20’s can be excessive and original because of the freshness of their complexion and eyes. At 30, a women should resolutely define her style. The 40 year old woman should do everything possible to soften and add sex appeal to her look. At 50, a woman should do her maximum to seem younger, to have shiny, well cared for hair. She should also be careful about keeping her complexion and style from becoming dull or boring.
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You can lighten your hair when you are 35 years old. But be careful as you approach 50 - your color should sometimes be darkened so as not to be too light. By constantly lightening your hair, your complexion and look will become lacklustre and dull.
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No, don’t do it. (Except to have ashy eyebrows made golden by a professional). Your eyebrow color should never change. They are like the line of a pencil which under lines your style. Nature knows what she is doing, and we often look too artificial by lightening our eyebrow color. If you darken your hair it can be interesting to darken your eyebrows too. If it is not advised to use the coloring product on your eyebrows, then you can always use make-up : an eyebrow pencil is ideal.
Bleaching eyebrows should only be done on young models so that they can offer as malleable a “canvas” as possible to both make-up and photography.
You can color your eyebrows if they are very ashy. In that case I make the eyebrows golden in order to give warmth to their color. Conversely, lightly darkening them will accentuate your expression. It is your look, style and expression that is most important to your face. I love natural colors and I love it when I hear it said about a woman that she is beautiful, or that she has a beautiful eyes, rather than her hair color is beautiful.
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You must prepare your hair prior to its being colored by applying a deep conditioner like “huile à la lavande” the night before you color it. Your hair will be able to absorb the color better and therefore the result will be better. Before painting, or plastering, a wall it is first treated to a preparation ; applying hair color can be seen, in more or less, the same way. Color should be applied to well cut hair so that the effects created won’t be lost with the first few snips of the scissors. Furthermore, with a new cut you will perhaps want to try something new.
Before consulting with a professional, cut a magazine page showing the color of your dreams, and then, take this with you to your colorist in order to avoid any misunderstanding.
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At your hair stylist’s, once you’ve been seated to have your hair washed, ask to have some of your ends “destroyed” with a decolorizing product (it is like subtly highlighting your hair by one tone lighter). A natural result is guaranteed. At home, even if you use a coloring shampoo, use a decolorizing product, like Cristal Mèches from L’Oréal, to make 2 or 3 highlights. Do not leave on for more than 5 minutes.
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To have a uniform color from roots to ends your hairs must first of all be healthy. If the ends are dry the color will rapidly fade. Sometimes, a bit of pre-coloring (adding pigments directly to aid coloration) is necessary, if you want to darken your base color by several tones.
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The best trick to stop your color from changing or fading is to treat and condition your hair with products that are made specifically for color treated hair. A product like shampooing au germe de blé, for instance, will seal the artificial pigments in and “fix” your hair’s shine.
Before coloration, it is essential to deeply condition your hair. For example, the night before your coloration, apply an intensive conditioner, like huile à la lavande, thoroughly throughout your hair in order to restore your hair’s capillary fiber, and to prepare your hair to receive color.
During coloration, you can either apply to your hair, or mix into the coloring product, a conditioner which helps the color adhere better, and more uniformly, to your hair. Often, the ends of your hair are more porous, in which case the addition of a conditioner will protect them. The coloring product might take on a different hue while left on your hair, but don’t worry.
After coloration, condition your hair with a treatment that will seal your hair’s cuticles and set the color. And, of course, at least once a week you should deeply condition your hair with a specially made moisturizing treatment. For example : huile à la lavande on the ends of your hair before shampooing with shampooing au germe de blé or crème lavante au citron. Change your normal shampoo for one made especially for colored hair. It should have a high acidity in order to seal your hair’s cuticles. Avoid styling products with alcohol because as they evaporate they needlessly dry your hair.
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To swin in the ocean or swimming pool on the same day you colored your hair would be a bit harsh. Sea water tends to dry hair, and the chlorine in swimming pool water changes blonde hair to khaki green.
It is very important to protect your hair, and, of course, your scalp as well, anytime you expose yourself to the sun or sea, with products made specifically for protection. For the swimming pool, while not very glamorous, a bit of huile à la lavande on your hair, and a swimming cap for protection, works very well.
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Coloring products are alkaline, therefore it’s enough to open the cuticles of your hair in order to add or eliminate natural pigments. The color must then be set by sealing the cuticles, which is why the pH level of shampoos and conditioners for colored hair is highly acidic. Coloring your hair should not render it porous. If that’s the case, then you have subjected your hair to too many chemical processes, probably, also, to a color too different from your natural color and, have eiher not conditioned your hair, or not conditioned it enough.
Rincing with lemon juice, thanks to its acid pH level which seals your hair’s cuticles, will make your hair shine. Just use a few drops, and only on your hair’s length, not on your scalp - it doesn’t need the extra acidity.
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Everything depends on the color you choose, and the quality of your hair. It also depends on your roots : are they gray or very different from the color on the end of your hair ?
I think that an average of 3 to 6 weeks is the normal rhythm between coloring your hair.
Models and actresses have to change their color for work, but most women find “their” color at a particular moment, often when they are 25 - 35, then stick to it, with minor changes to match the seasons, or their mood. Some want to be lighter for summer, and warmer, or darker, for winter, while others do the complete inverse.
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The most common error is not to want to work with what you have ; to want to radically change. Working with what you naturally have, and setting your best attributes off to advantage always leads to successful results. For example, choosing a hair color that enhances your eye color and complexion is key to a successful result.
Another common error is to neglect the upkeep of your hair by not conditioning and treating it (like your skin). How can you expect to have beautifully colored hair if it is damaged ?
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Yes. In effect, because of its curls, frizzy hair does not reflect light in the same way straight hair does. Delicate, light highlights on curly hair have a tendancy to make it look dull and rather frothy. In this case, it is preferable to make thin, delicate highlights at the roots, and more pronounced ones at the ends.
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I use whichever technique is needed to achieve the desired result. Having said that, I break easily with traditional techniques in order to have a more natural result. My highlighting technique is done out in the open with plastic wrap. It’s also called “hair painting”. No aluminium paper or cap !!!
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You can liven it up either by using a tone shampoo with shimmering highlights, which would remain discreet even with new growth, or, alternatively, by placing a few honey or caramel streaks near the face, in order to render it more luminous.
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Technically, yes, but it’s rarely flattering. In effect, grey hairs soften the face, and when you try to recreate the same brown or dark chestnut hair color you had when you were 20 years old, it actually hardens the lines. To look younger beautiffully, go for a color that is one or two tones lighter than your natural color, or created a few light streaks near your face. Blondes can cover up their grey hairs by using an optical illusion : light highlights which hide the roots as they grow in.
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Not at all. If light, golden, and iridescent streaks go well with blonde hair, then honey and caramel streaks match well with chestnuts, and copper-colored and mahogany streaks with brown.
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The ideal is to have one base color, and one streak color, more or less pronounced, from the ends to the roots. You could eventually add a third color. Beyond that, there is no pint because the end result would look confused and lack contrast.
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You have to gently put right your color with streaks that are the same tint as your natural color. If you feel capable of doing so yourself, you can do it at home, otherwise, go to your hair salon.
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These are light colorations that cannot lighten the hair. Despite their appellation, they are rarely 100 % natural (at maximum they are up to 70 % plant).
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Decolorizing products are becoming more and more gentle, and colorists have practically stopped using peroxide 40 volume. Therefore, hair is less bleached, and blonde hair, as it oxydizes in fresh air, often has a tendency to turn orange.
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The best is to stay within 2 tones lighter or 2 tones darker than your natural color. When dark hair is lightened, it often turns reddish. Golden or caramel highlights are generally well-suited to dark hair.
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The streaks which go perfectly well with chestnut hair are golden, honey and iridescent. For blond hair, light golden and iridescent highlights are the best. Do not give blonde hair white or ashy streaks.
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I don’t like highlights composed of lot of different nuances. I like 2 or 3 nuances maximum. In effect, beyond 3 nuances, it becomes confusing and there is a loss of contrast. There should be one color for the base, and another color for the streaks-which should be thicker and lighter on the ends.
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Now I notice among blonds a very trendy Rock’ n Roll influence started by John Galliano and Tilda Swinton, both of whom are extremely golden, almost grapefruit yellow. Fashion today is following this direction. Nevertheless, in the real world, “blonde” means a natural blonde that doesn’t require too much upkeep. Clients don’t like chestnuts that are so warm they turn red. They prefer cooler chestnuts to which I add a touch of iridescence in order to avoid any reddishness.
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Unless you are very young or a rock star, in general, people with olive skin and dark eyes can’t handle colors that are too light. Furthermore, technically, it is difficult to achieve a light color with dark hair, and, often, you get an undesirable yellow tint. This yellow tint looks very inelegant with olive skin.
The ideal for people with olive skin, or dark skin, is to have a chestnut base with a few highlights which are never darker than honey.
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Everything depends upon the color of the skin and eyes. I am against changes beyond 3 tones relative to a natural color.
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Deep conditioners like huile à la lavande or masque au germe de blé which you leave on your hair for 1 hour, or all night, once a week. It is great when a deep conditioner is applied the night before your coloration in order to prepare your hair for the chemical process, and, also, when used as a regular part of your hair upkeep to help seal in color.
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Most of the celebrities I take care of have the same desires : not to have their hair damaged, and to have one color which remains the same during the making of a film sometimes, that can mean up to a month. If you work with your hair, like actresses and models do, then roots must be done every 10 days. Furthermore, as the least bit of regrowth is visible in a photo, or on film, you have to be very fussy and particular when applying product. And, you must know when, and how, to break from your usual techniques : sometimes I use a cotton bud to apply product to the roots.
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I refuse to do a color which will be difficult to manage with time : either, because the hair will be damaged, or because it would not be beautiful for the woman.
Also , when I have a demanding color change to make, I take my time, because, sometimes, several days between each application is necessary. Women, in terms of color, need to be educated because often they think they can go from black to blonde easily.
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Blonde and red are colors that women regard as being more sensual and more sexual. Nevertheless, certain blondes are more icy and distant. Brown is more for those women who assert and affirm their personality. But 80 % of women prefer to be lighter, even if, in general, their eyes appear darker, and their skin more marked.
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Colors with a lot of contrast are old-fashioned. The “root” look, so beloved these last years, is no longer trendy. Caramel, golden and iridescent light browns, almost uniform, with just a touch of contrast on the length and ends, as worm by Beyoncé the model Gisèle are very trendy.
Shiny hair is very important.
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Blonde is a color which continues to fascinate, and I don’t think that will be stopping anytime soon. Marilyn Monroe, and Catherine Deneuve are blonde icons and Rita Hayworth the one for the red heads. It is rare for a client to ask to have her hair darkened ; she nearly always want to try a lighter nuance-even if, sometimes, darker would suit her better.
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Catherine Deneuve for her color and the mass of impressive hair which she looks after and treats in the most remarkable manner. Linda Evangelista and Kristen Mc Menami for their color changes with each collection. It is needless to say that Marilyn Monroe remains the blond icon.
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The spring summer 2008 trend is more than ever about natural hair. Color is once again synonymous of self-recognition.
Many blonds darken their hair to have a more natural color.
Chestnut-haired and light natural chestnuts are more than ever very trendy. To avoid the “helmet” effect, chestnuts are slightly shaded with ashy, beige or gold-plate highlights, colors that nature provides. Goodbye highlights we don’t find in naturally such as mahogany, red or dark purple: there is an incontestable search of natural color which points up the look and the skin complexion.
But don’t worry! It isn’t the end of blond since the counter-trend is to platinum blonde with iridescent highlights which reminds the Rock trend such as Kylie Minogue and Kirsten Dunst. The “roots” effect is also appreciated.
Concerning highlighting, the very contrasting or very pronounced locks are not trendy anymore. You’d rather choose slender and subtle locks.
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