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Josh and the team visited Ruth and Eamonn at This Morning this week, to talk all things pastel hair. The desire for this unicorn friendly hair trend continues to escalate – with online searches for lilac hair up 1000%. Plus we’ve seen a big increase in demand in the Atelier and among our clients. Josh answered some questions about the pastel appeal, and showcased three top tones on This Morning viewers.
The reason for the allure?
Pastels have been around for such a long time, I guess what’s changed now is they’re available for everybody. It really started as a youth trend, but now everyone is adopting these colours and there’s a huge demand for them! They’re really pretty, they can be flattering - and they’re uplifting. I believe hair colour is part of your wellbeing - a good hair colour can affect your mood.
Will pastels last?
No! On the washing out front – the pastels don’t last, they’re fragile colours over bleach. However, I love the fact they don’t. It means you can be pink this week, lilac the week after, and green next month!
Can you use it at home?
Yes, pastels can be used at home, carefully. However, we’ve really pushed the boundaries with Laura, Amanda and Drue!
Before: Highlighted Blonde Hair
After: We wanted to create a pink pastel – as it’s just so popular. We wanted to show how soft, pretty and versatile pink can be on Laura. We actually used a couple of shades of pink; a corally pink at the roots, and a paler pink at the ends. Laura’s hair is thick, and we wanted to try to give the hair a bit of shadow and movement.
Tips from Josh:
*You must have light hair if you want this colour – it requires a blonde base.
*If you have darker hair: add some balayage or bleach in ends first, and then the pastels can be applied.
Drue | Rainbow
Before: Highlighted blonde hair
After: With Drue we’ve gone multicolour- playing with teal green, blue and coral. It’s not for the faint hearted! But the combination you can mix with these colours can really highlight and enhance skin tone and eye colour. We wanted to show something that pushed the envelope. All colours were applied free-hand by our team. We took sections, and added pastel tones.
Tips from Josh:
*Don’t do this pre holiday – it won’t last with the pool and the beach!
Amanda | Amethyst
Before: Platinum blonde
After: We layered the colour on Amanda. First we put a grey on, and then layered the lilac over the top. To get these gorgeous icy, true tones you have to start from the palest of bases. Through our experience on the catwalk, we like to show a pastel that looks like it has a history – and this can be achieved through layering.
Tips from Josh:
*The most important thing – you have to start from a light base. Highlights, bleach, balayage. Even if you’re very dark base to start with, you need to lighten up as a starting point to create pastels.
Do pastel hair sprays work?
Yes, you can use pastel hair spray colours for something temporary – but you still need to start with a light base. Think of it like a water pastel: If you want the true colour, you need to start with a white piece of paper, not a brown, or black piece of paper. If you want a beautiful pastel translucency, you need a white base.
Biggest take home lesson for pastel colour?
Condition, condition, condition! A hair treatment or mask at least once a week to keep your hair happy, healthy and ready to show off these gorgeous rainbows.
