COLOUR NOTES

Colour Educator Emma Fowler, talks shine lines, party tricks, and knowing

What do you love most about being a colourist?

I’ve specialised in colour my whole career, I love seeing the transformations you can do. Using different techniques and formulating colours tailored to your clients can create their wow moment that they get to wear every day. Technique is so important to me, and it’s an ever-evolving landscape.

What is the most important question you ask in a colour consultation and why?

I have two. ‘When did you last have your colour done?’ as this gives me an idea of how often they would realistically like to maintain their colour. Then, if they are asking for a big change I would ask if they’ve had it before and if they previously liked it because often, they have actually already been down that route before, hated it and forgotten.

THE HAIR INDUSTRY
I love seeing beautiful, commercial hair on social media that’s wearable.

What colour trends are you pleased to see out of fashion?

Red and blonde highlights – I’m sure this needs no elaboration.

Are there any colour trends you’d like to bring back?

I wouldn’t mind seeing shine lines come back in.

TECHNOLOGY
We’re so lucky to have access to advances in colour. I embrace learning new innovations to move my colour game forward.

What are the challenges facing colourists right now?

The cost of products. There’s such a high cost involved in colouring compared to cutting. Tubes of colour can be over £12 and the cost of foil has increased 100%. I’d also say actually knowing what your service costs to deliver and therefore what to charge to make a profit – all too often I see colourists price randomly based on what they think people will pay or what someone down the road charges, and then actually lose money on their colour services. You’ve got to keep your eyes on the numbers. Also, I’d say Instagram is a vital part of a colourist’s job to market and stay visible, which is a challenge if you’ve not got to grips with it.

What do you think will be the next big colour trend?

I think lived-in colour is here to stay but will evolve just like we’ve evolved from ombre to balayage, to lived-in colour.

NATURE
As a colourist, who doesn’t look at a sunset, landscape, or animal and work out how you’d translate that onto a head of hair?

What colour technique are you known for?

Lived-in colour, balayage, and blonding services. My party trick is a 30-minute balayage and I have a free 30-minute face framing masterclass on my website. I believe every colourist should have this up their sleeve!

What colour creation makes you most proud?

I do love a transformation, especially taking someone blonde in a day. We’ve come a long way since we had to do multiple sittings of full head highlights to get a client to blonde, and I think it’s actually better for a client’s hair health in the long run to get them blonde in as few bleaching sessions as possible – one session is also more cost effective than four separate ones.

LEARNERS
I’ve watched people I educate grow in confidence. From old techniques to embracing modern colouring techniques, as an industry, we excel at pushing ourselves.

What advice would you give to a trainee colourist?

Dive deep into colour theory and absorb it all. You might want to learn the latest technique but the theory will save you in the long run.