Color, color everywhere

The trend of changing hair color isn't fading but getting brighter than ever.

By Times and wire report

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 7, 2000

Three out of four American women can't be wrong. That's the industry estimate of how many women color their hair. Many do their own color at home, while others pay a professional for the service.

Salon owners say that in addition to increasing numbers of baby-boomer clients intent on banishing gray, they're also seeing teenagers who want cutting-edge color and people who are using color to add texture and volume to limp, hard-to-style hair as much as to change their color.

It's no longer a matter of "does she or doesn't she?" but of "what shall we try this time?"

Clients request highlights, lowlights, random and even application of color and are open to all kinds of products and techniques.

It is particularly challenging to color hair in Florida because of our weather conditions, says Sue Lang, colorist and owner of Colourations Hair Studio in St. Petersburg. "Sun, salt, chlorine and wind all are contributing factors to fading. We have products available in the salon -- like custom-blended conditioners and shampoos -- to help maintain color."

Improvements in professional products in the last 10 years have enabled colorists to offer more hair color options to their clients, she says.

"Diversity in products has given my clients more freedom to change easily," she says. "Most of my clients are 35 and older, although I am seeing an increase in the number of 13-year-olds and up who are coloring their hair for fun and texture."

Richard Dalton, fashion director for John Paul Mitchell Systems, a California-based hair-care product company, advises clients to consider lifestyle and skin tones when deciding on hair color.

Ask yourself how much time you have to color your hair and how often you're willing to have it retouched. Expense is also a consideration, especially if you're having your hair done in a salon.

Dalton recommends color shampoos to refresh hair and keep it from fading.

If you're a hair-color novice and want to experiment on your own, he suggests selecting a shade a bit closer to your natural color than you'd like to go so the change isn't drastic.

"Experiment with semipermanent colors that don't have peroxide in them," he says. "You can always deepen the color later."

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