4 mins
COLOUR MENU MAGIC
Pulp Riot
Your colour menu is the place to entice clients and inspire your team. Whether it’s through your website, Instagram or on the salon wall, it acts as a shop window to show what can be achieved and add an element of excitement to your day-to-day services. Below, the experts share how you can make the most of your colour menu for the new year.
Inspire the team
Get the team involved in any colour menu updates. “Having an exciting colour menu not only inspires your guests, but also your team to visually create the colour,” says Gavin McIntyre, director G&E McIntyres for Alfaparf Milano. “Ask your team to help create the menu to add excitement in the salon and to share with their clients,” he says.
Create an ambience
Is your backwash luxurious? Or do you do the best scalp massage? Mention it on your menu. “At Tuckwell & Co we believe it’s important to make clients feel invested in an alluring experience,” says Simon Tuckwell, Balmain Paris Hair Couture ambassador. “We have a colour development room containing coffe table books and a TV showing our trend collections, as well as plug in points for their smart devices.”
Add personality
"A great way to personalise your colour menu is to consider ‘packaging’ certain services together and naming them to represent your brand,” says Amber Letham, Crazy Color color squad member. “This really entices clients to book in for these 'special' services, as well as boosting sales because your client can see singular prices associated with these packages for less confusion."
Manic Panic
Offer artisanal colour
You can also offer an artisana approach to your colour services. “Everyone can do a half head of highlights,” says Tom Connell, Davines hair art director, “but the best colourists assess the hair holistically with tailored, bespoke colour. After all the client is not paying for your hands, they are paying for your mind and years of experience.” Don’t be scared to suggest tweaking your client’s usual service in their consultation, whether it be by altering the placement or switching up the tone for the season.
Keep it simple
Depending on your client base, sometimes a simple menu is best. “Keep your colour service menu streamlined so it doesn’t become overwhelming for your customer,” says Tracy Hayes, Fudge Professional global colour ambassador. “Keep it simple with your top services listed (think gloss, tint, highlights ½ and whole, balayage, tone etc) and then when you’re holding a consultation, that’s when you can discuss more tailored techniques,” she says.
Consider your rates
“When you’re considering a new colour menu, you need to be thinking about you and your team’s hourly rate,” says Michael Convey, OSMO global ambassador and owner of Convey Salons. “Once you understand that, you can come up with fun names for the techniques. As an industry we need to really show our worth and not be afraid to price your menu accordingly.”
Vas Mikellides for L’Oréal Professionnel Paris
Bring your menu to life
“I’ve challenged the team to work more visually with our guests to show we are forward-thinking and bespoke,” says Darren Fowler for L’Oréal Professionnel Paris. “This creates excitement around our luxury colour services menu, we use illustrations from our head colourist to tell a story and coloured bespoke wefts by each team member to bring their colour stories to life.”
Post-Christmas services
Keep in mind that once the Christmas rush is over and the New Year begins, so does your client’s desire to change their hair colour, says Lucy Trevorrow, senior brand manager for Celeb Luxury. “By using Celeb Luxury Colour Depositing Shampoos and Conditioners, this transition is made easy, providing an easy fade from 2-3 weeks post-Christmas, in time for the inevitable colour change in preparation for Spring 2022,” she says.
Seek inspiration
Look outside of the salon to find inspi ation. “Do some research on the big fashion brands and check out magazines and research what’s on trend,” says Pedro Pimpão, UK educator for Pulp Riot. “Look at the colour palettes being used and create mood boards of the key colour themes.
Remember, it’s not just about shades but about the use of tonality, colour mixes and how hues are sitting side by side,” he adds.
Pinterest is a great way to collate your ideas. “Use Pinterest to keep references fresh and plentiful. It’s the perfect place to get your colourists adding images, sharing ideas and getting clients excited for new season shades,” says Mark Leeson, Revlon Professional global ambassador.
Curate your services
“At our salon I’ve found personalising and branding our services very useful,” says Jordanna Cobella, Wella craft exper . “We change our colour menu every six months and create new seasonal services inspired by fashion and interior trends. I’m a true believer in finding inspiration from outside your industry. I find it keeps your work unique, current and creates really powerful stories,” she says.
I’M A TRUE BELIEVER IN FINDING INSPIRATION FROM OUTSIDE YOUR INDUSTRY. I FIND IT KEEPS YOUR WORK UNIQUE, CURRENT AND CREATES REALLY POWERFUL STORIES
Jordanna Cobella for Wella Professionals
Offer seasonal colour
“Sharing new techniques and seasonal tones will have guests feeling that you are offering so much more,” says Amy Lopez, Yellow colour director.
“This creates a fantastic foundation for any consultation and allows you to upsell with minimal timings added. Offering a glaze service in a seasonal hue will bring your guest back every 4-6 weeks,” she says.