Glittery outfit prepped, facial jewels bought, bum bag packed; all that’s left to complete your festival look is the hair. If you take a quick glance through literally any festival edit, you’ll see that coloured hair – specifically in shades of pastel peach and millennial pink – is what’s making waves at this year’s biggest names. And while it may be an easier option to simply slap some glitter on, when actually making a semi-permanent change to your hair, it’s important to take a bit more care. Here, we’ll help you achieve your best ever festival hair, and help you prolong it for the rest of the summer; leaving you more time for rosé consumption and dancing like no one's watching.
Jamie’s tips for perfect, long-lasting festival colour:
Josh Wood Colour Associate Colourist Jamie Gould suggests that no matter whether you’re colouring hair at home or getting it done at a salon, working on dry hair will have maximum colour impact, as wet hair will dilute the colour. You should ensure the hair is combed through thoroughly before applying the colour too, to make sure you get an even coverage, and therefore an even colour.
He also suggests leaving the dye on for as long as possible; this will give you a darker colouring, meaning it will last much longer.
Bleached hair rejects colour more easily as it’s more porous, so, if you have bleached hair, it’s best to apply the colour to dry hair, comb it through and leave it longer.
For more dimension to Becky's peach-pink look, Jamie took two different (but similar) colours and applied them in varying sections. He took a rose gold shade and a pastel peach and applied the colour to inch thick sections from the nape outwards, varying the colour by each inch. He also left some dark root visible, to make sure the look isn't too 'girly' or 'princess-y', so that it has just the right amount of edge for a festival look.
Jamie suggests using a piece of white paper to test as a swatch, to make sure the colours are complementary. Jamie also recommends using City Beats by Redken, as it tends to last longer than other colourful hair dyes. This is because it is diluted with conditioner to achieve the desired shade.
To keep your colour for longer, when washing your hair, rinse with cold water, and use a shampoo with less detergent, such as mild baby shampoo. You should continue to use your normal conditioner to hydrate the hair, as the colour may make it feel more dry. You should also ensure you use a weekly mask to help close the cuticle for a better porosity, and a longer lasting dye job.
Jamie’s final tip is to avoid using heat products on your newly coloured hair, as the heat can remove the colour from the cuticle. He advises always using a heat protection product, and where possible, avoiding hot tools.
When you’re finally ready to part ways with your colour (or when you have to go back to work!), Jamie says that a strong cleansing shampoo will be able to remove any remnants of the dye. He recommends using the Redken Hair Cleansing Cream Shampoo, and suggests leaving it on for ten minutes before rinsing for colour removal. Then, follow up with a conditioning care routine - such as using Josh Wood Colour Shampoo & Conditioner and Everything Mask - to lock the moisture back into your hair that the temporary dye may have removed.
