Things to know BEFORE we start:

Q) How much should I budget for a vivid hair color appointment, and how long does it take?

A) Vivid hair color appointments can take anywhere from 3 to 6 or more hours depending on factors such as your hairs length, thickness, previous chemical services, and your desired hair goals. The average is around 5 hours not including haircutting. I recommend setting aside at least $400-$600. I charge by the hour for vivid color services, at a rate of $105 per hour. This rate includes top quality lighteners and color formulations, Olaplex in every step of your service, and any hair treatments you might need during the service to keep your hair at its healthiest and minimize damage.

Q) OMG FIVE HOURS! WHY?

A) You’ve heard me say “Trust the Process” so here it is! The Process*

Vivid colors (generally) don’t stick to unlightened/untreated “virgin” hair**, They don’t have any lifting ability on their own, or any way to shift or open the cuticle layer of your hair; which means almost every vivid appointment is going to be a double process at minimum. We can of course just apply a vivid over your natural blonde or grey hair, but the effects will be less vibrant, and will fade very quickly.

Lightening your hair to the appropriate level is the first step. Depending on your hair goals and the variables mentioned above, this step can take anywhere from 1-3 hours on it’s own. This might involve putting every single strand of your hair in foil to lift you evenly for the perfect canvas for your goal. It might involve hand painting balayage throughout your natural tones for an ombre effect.

Next is Shampooing and round one of Potions. I usually do the Olaplex No. 2 at this step, or a protein treatment if that’s what your hair needs here. This takes 15-20 minutes at the shampoo bowl. We can’t speed this up really. Your hair needs pampering after all that lightener.

Usually Step 3 is a little light blowdrying, some spritzes of things to even porosity and block out minerals, and we get down to the “art part”. Applying your color, picking the placement of things, etc. Application can take anywhere from 30-90 mins depending on how many colors we are using, how intricate the placement needs to be, and your hair’s individual attributes. Processing time is a minimum of 30 minutes but I find the color lasts much longer with a 45 min processing time.

Finally we rinse your hair thoroughly with cool water, and apply more potions: a cuticle sealer for 5 mins, and a deep conditioning Olaplex masque for 10 mins, then we rinse and head back to the chair. Blowdry styling or hair braiding is included in the service, which takes another 30 mins. Then we are all done! Look at the time. Where did the day go?

*If we aren’t starting from virgin hair, the process might be longer because removing old color is a whole color correction on it’s own
**Very rarely I have a client who’s grey or blonde will accept the vivid color without lightening.

Q) Is there any way I could persuade you to charge me less?

A) Unfortunately with inflation and rising rental costs, my hourly rates are as low as I can afford charge- However, about twice per year I run a special on Gift Cards. I usually announce those on Facebook or through vagaro marketing emails.