Summer is all about color

This season’s fashion is all about ?color, color, color! Bright, bold ?fun colors and prints have de-?fined summer’s hot clothing picks and makeup. What better way to complete the heat-defying summer look than with sizzling colors for your tresses?

Fashion is no longer just about clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories but also makeup, hairstyle, and color. Decades ago, hair dyeing was reserved for the experimental, adventurous, and those who wanted to cover their white hair. Today, hair color has become a major expression of style for women of all ages and nationalities.

Doing Your Hairwork

Hair dyeing is now accessible and affordable, making it one of the most requested salon treatments available. Often, though, women go to salons and ask to have the same hair color they have seen on certain celebrities, models or personalities. A professional hairstylist/colorist will steer women toward making the right color selection, but my suggestion is to get informed and learn some practical tips on getting the hair color that best suits you.

• First of all, determine the reason why you are having your hair colored. Is it to give your current hair color more luster? Is it to improve your overall look? Or is it to totally transform your persona? Often your motivation will dictate the hair color you eventually select.

• Take your time. Shop around and choose a reputable hair salon to have your hair dyed especially if it is the first time you are having it done.

• Listen to the professional advice of the hair colorist but make sure to give your input so you can work together on deciding the perfect color for you.

• Don’t scrimp on your budget. Set aside money for the treatment since great products and reputable salons usually cost more than substandard products and run-of-the-mill salons. Hair color treatment must be treated as a long-term investment and not as a one-shot deal.

• Get a haircut or a trim whichever is applicable before having your hair colored because the proper hairstyle does wonders in bringing out the color dramatically.

• If you can’t decide but would like to give hair coloring a try, stay within two shades of your natural base color to start with so the change is not too drastic. If you like the effect and want to go lighter, do it slowly so you not only avoid destroying your hair, you also get to appreciate the change better.

• Have an allergy test if you have sensitive skin and are prone to allergies since hair dyes contain chemicals that can cause irritation, skin discoloration, and hair breakage. As they say, better to be safe than sorry.

The Perfect Match

Unless you are dyeing your hair for “shock effect” like Bianca Valerio, host of Lifestyle’s Fash TV did turning bleach blonde, it is essential to take your skin tone into account to get the perfect hair color match for you. Here are the basic hair color guides for Filipinas:

• Filipina with kayumanggi skin looks best with warm golden or reddish brown hair color.

• Filipina Chinese or Chinese mestiza looks stunning with cool colors of ash in violet.

• Filipina Spanish or Spanish mestiza looks smashing with auburn, copper brown to ash blonde shades.

• Filipina with fair skin looks gorgeous with any shade.

The Latest In Highlight & Lowlight Technique

• Color your world: The modern trend in hair dyeing is to use multiple colors — one color or a combination of several — as a base with highlights or lowlights in other shades for dramatic effect.

Most salons use the technique of applying highlights and lowlights to the hair with the use of foil panels. While this way is efficient, it is tedious and rather time consuming. At Jing Monis Salon, they offer new and exclusive techniques of applying hair color with the least downtime.

• Braiding technique: This involves taking hair from around the crown area of the head and creating braids. Once the braids are tied, hair color is applied on the top part of the braids and under. A minimum of four braids is recommended for this type of technique but you can make as many as you like, depending on how thick or thin the braids are. It requires 15 minutes for the color to penetrate the braid, so this plus the other 15 minutes for applying the base color means the whole coloring process takes only 30 minutes. For Wendy, our kayumanggi model, the salon used dark blonde and Special Blonde Natural as base and the same combination with six-percent peroxide content for highlights.

• Backcombing or “teasing” technique: This involves taking a section of the hair, dipping the comb in hair dye and gently teasing the dye into the hair. Depending on your preference, the colorist can tease as much of your hair but sectioning is essential; for Maxine, our Filipina Chinese model, the salon used an ash brown shade for base and the same color with nine-percent peroxide for the highlights.

When major hair lightening is involved, more than 30 minutes is required and sometimes numerous color shades. In Margaux’s case, our fair-skinned model, the salon used a cocktail of ash blonde, caramel, coffee and cinnamon as base color and blonde strawberry blush for her highlights and lowlights.

Jing saw my hair and wanted to get rid of the dry ends and the extreme lightening of my highlights, a result of my constant outdoor runs under the sun. I was admittedly due for a major trim and touch-up so I took the opportunity for a “hairover.” Jing re-layered my hair, adjusted my sun-damaged highlights with his braiding technique and restored the ash blonde color of my hair to its luster. He went for the Ombre hair color, the preferred technique of Hollywood celebrities this summer. It works by weaving color midway down the strands allowing for color to gradually fade from the roots to the tips, from dark to light. The result was amazing and it was exactly what I wanted.

After hair-color care tips

Just like with exercise and diet, once you’ve seen the results, follow-through is key to keeping your hair “shampoo commercial” worthy. Remember, color-treated hair needs more care and maintenance than virgin hair.

Roberto Orleannes, creative stylist of Jing Monis Salon, offers the following simple must do’s:

• Use a color-save shampoo and conditioner every day to help lock in the color and keep the moisture for shiny, healthy hair; if a leave-on type of conditioner is available choose that one and apply it evenly after towel-drying your hair.

• Apply a nourishing treatment for several minutes at least twice a week and if you have access to a sauna or steam, leave it on inside for an improvised hot oil treatment. It’s a good way to rid your body of toxins and, at the same time, hydrate and nourish your hair.

• Stay away from elements that alter or damage your colored hair like salt water, chlorine, and the sun. If you do find yourself under the sun a lot especially during summer, make sure to wear a hat and use some hair nourishing treatment.

• Have a haircut every month and a color touch-up every three months or when the re-growth becomes obvious.

• Schedule other treatments like keratin complex or rebonding appropriately after a hair color treatment. Since hair dye contains chemicals, it is important to give time for the hair to breathe and rest before subjecting it to more chemicals. This way the hair color and succeeding treatments will have the maximum desired effect.

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The Jing Monis Salon is located at the 3rd floor of Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center with telephones 893-4098, 840-4773. Opening soon is the Jing Monis Salon in Bellevue Hotel, Alabang Town Center.