For those of us with any kind of social media, especially Instagram, we see the countless “#Hair” posts of girls with beautifully colored locks and think “That’s want I wanna do to my hair”. However, the reality when you have made the courageous and EXPENSIVE choice to sit in a salon chair and have your hair drastically colored can be a disappointment. Let’s be honest, more times than not you won’t get the color job you saw on Instagram and that can be due to numerous things I like to call Hair Factors. The thick or thinness of your hair, length, texture, color, curly or straight and your ethnicity are huge factors in the potential outcome of your fresh color job.
For example, I’m a Hispanic woman with long, fine, curly, dark brown hair with a long history of damage. The dream to be a balayage queen like these Instagram chicks is not that realistic unless you do your research and find a colorist that understands and works with the previously mentioned hair factors. Luckily, I found a colorist in Houston who understood my desire to have lighter hair and worked with my hair factors. The ever so talented Fabian Espinoza at Shine in the Heights has quickly risen to the salon’s forefront as the expert on coloring, especially the intricate task of balayage coloring. Before we got to coloring, we had to have an honest discussion about my desires for lighter “Insta” hair.
My “Insta” hair example.
“Let’s be real, she’s got a ton of extensions in her hair and you can’t see all the damage. I can get your hair that light but it will take a couple of visits and we have to be careful it doesn’t grow out as a blunt line around your head”. Those honest words coming from sweet Fabian as he’s decked out in Rodeo apparel with a cowboy hat, was a little disheartening but comforting to hear. I rather have a real discussion about my hair and what it’s capable of handling than wasting money and time and being uuuupppset for months.
Having an honest and educated colorist is key to getting all your hair factors lined up right so you get the color job you want. Have you ever heard the process it took for a dark haired girl to get to the beautiful color you see on your social media? Probably not because it’s a long, expensive process that entails many sessions and behind the scenes damage they have to deal with. As a personal stylist my clients ask me how I get my hair to look so good or “You’re just lucky, your hair is easy to work with”. UGHHHHHHH not so much. My above mentioned hair factors are enough to make some colorist go “No, let’s not do that, let’s try something else” and that is not what I want to hear. I just want my clients, readers and friends to understand their hair factors, do a little research and find an educated colorist that will work with your hair factors and give you the look you envisioned for yourself. While also having an honest discussion on what your hair is capable of handling.
Fabian hard at work.
So chic, I know.
Buffering…
The lovely process of blow drying my hair.
When I become a millionaire in another life, I will have someone doing my hair every week and my hair will be someone else’s problem LOLZ.
YAY, we made it!
Finished Balayage, very happy with my color!
Three hours in the chair at the salon and I loved how light Fabian was able to get my hair. I go back and forth to the picture I showed him and I know it’s not 100% exact what I wanted but it is a process and I got another session to go before I can be like these “Insta” girls with my summer sixteen hair posts.
I’m currently on the hunt for a hair factors wizard and colorist in the Northern Virginia, D.C. area, so if anyone has any suggestions, you can email me at patty@stylebypatty.com, Tweet me or send me an Insta DM. Cause really, you know I’m on there trolling through more hair pics :).
Thank you so much my dear Fabian for my color and working through my hair factors to get me to my summer sixteen, balayage hair. ABRAZOTE!
Keeping it Confident – Patty