Hair Colour Terminology
Hair Colour 101 At Contemporary Salons In North East England
Transform the way you look and boost your confidence with a brand-new hair colour! At Contemporary Salons across Teesside & Yorkshire, we can help find the perfect hair colour that’s suited to you. When you find the right hair colour it can make you look and feel your best.
We pride ourselves in being colour experts across our 8 hair salons as an award-winning salon group in the North East. To ensure that we provide our clients with gorgeous hair colour results every time, we use top quality hair colour products from L’Oréal.
Whether you’re new to hair colour or you’ve been getting your hair coloured for years, it’s always important to keep up-to-date with the latest hairdressing lingo so that you know exactly what to ask for. Don’t worry if you don’t know any hair terminology, our expert team have created a guide to help explain the latest hair colouring techniques.
Important: Although allergies to hair colour are rare, you must come in for a quick allergy patch test at least 48 hours before your hair colour appointment.
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Hair Colour Terminology
Full Head Colour – A full head of colour is when one hair colour is applied all over the hair.
Pre-Lightener – This is the new, professional term for bleaching, and it is when the hair is lightened using bleach.
Toner – Pre-lightener is often followed by toner to remove any unwanted warm or brassy tones.
Partial / Half Head / Full Head Highlights – Highlights are lightened sections throughout the hair, typically applied using foils. The level of coverage can vary from partial which uses approximately 20 foils and takes around 30 minutes, to half head, or full head for full coverage.
Regrowth – Regrowth refers to root touch ups, which is when hair colour is applied to your roots where the colour has grown out.
Face Framing Highlights – This is also known as Money-Piece Highlights, and it refers to lightening the pieces of hair around your face.
Babylights – Babylights are delicate highlights that tend to be added around the front of the hairline to mimic the naturally sun-kissed hair that children often have.
Lowlights – Lowlights are applied in a similar way to highlights, yet this technique involves using darker tones that your base shade.
Balayage – Balayage is a trending hair colour technique with blonde balayage being the most popular, however it can be created using any lighter shade than your base shade. This technique involves our skilled colourists hand-painting highlights throughout your hair from dark roots to lighter tips for a naturally sun-kissed look.
Ombré – Ombré involves an all over colour gradient from dark roots to light tips.
Colour Change – This involves completely changing your hair colour.
Fashion Colour – A fashion hair colour is any hair colour that is not considered a ‘natural’ shade. Fashion hair colours include colours such as pink, purple, blue and silver. These can be applied as vivid, bright hair colours or pastel hair colours.
Temporary – As the name suggests, a temporary hair colour washes out after a few washes.
Semi-Permanent – A semi-permanent hair colour washes out after around 20 washes. Tints are semi-permanent hair colours.
Permanent – A permanent hair colour is deposited deeper into the hair strand which means the colour is permanent and your roots will need to be touched up once your hair grows out.
Richesse – This is also known as Tone-On-Tone Hair Colour. Richesse hair colouring is ideal for blending away your first grey hairs as it creates a rich, natural-looking hair colour.
LUO Colour – This is also known as Multi-Dimensional Hair Colour. LUO Colour is a L’Oréal Professional product which creates a glossy permanent hair colour in around 20 minutes.
Global Colour – This is when the same colour is applied from root to tip.
Pre-Colour – Pre-Colour is used to prepare and protect your hair from pre-lightener (the bleaching process). We also offer Olaplex which can be added to any hair colouring process to protect and repair hair deep within the hair strands.
Which Hair Colouring Technique Is Right For Me?
If you’re still unsure about which hair colouring technique is the right one for you, then our friendly staff across our 8 hairdressing salons are here to help! During a free colour consultation, our expert colourists can assess your hair and discuss what hair colour you would like. They can then recommend a hair colour and technique that would create the look you are after.
Pictures can be a great way to get across what you would like your hair to look like if you don’t know the terminology! If you’ve found a picture of the hair colour or technique you want, then be sure to bring it in to your consultation to show your colourist. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions about the latest hairdressing lingo as any member of our team across our Contemporary Salons would be happy to answer your queries.
Book Your Appointment At Contemporary Salons In Yorkshire
For a stunning hair colour that you’re sure to love, make sure to book your free colour consultation at your local Contemporary Salon. To book your appointment please call your local hairdressers on one of the numbers below or book online here.
