Colour NOTES

From decoding a client’s sartorial style to redefining highlights, Andrea Dorata, Artistic Director and Alfaparf Milano UKI Ambassador, shares today’s challenges and tomorrow’s trends

CENERE & GELSOMINO

URBANA

RICH RED

What do you love most about being a colourist?

I see hair colour like make-up, I can add colour to contour, emphasise and beautify a haircut to make it come alive.

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

What are the main tones in your wardrobe and what kind of make-up do you wear? A lot of people come to the salon in gym wear, or they’re in more relaxed weekend clothes without makeup, but we need to know their daily style.

What colour trends are you glad to see the back of?

If I had to say one, the dip dye. But I don’t think you can write a trend off, it can always be made cool again.

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

Beautifully executed highlights. I love blonde highlights, expertly toned and multi-dimensional, rather than balayage.

What are the challenges facing colourists right now?

How clients are booking appointments and timings. The colour we do now is so much more time-consuming, skilled and labour intensive than the colour we did 10 years ago. Running a salon, I constantly have to make my team aware of how long they have the client sitting in the chair and to charge appropriately.

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

No idea and that’s what’s so exciting! I think clients are demanding healthier colour, and I think that has the potential to shape the colour palettes we’re using.

What colour techniques are you known for?

Creating beautiful, feminine, sexy hair. I’m not always a fan of grey hair and grey blending if I’m honest, I just think it doesn’t always match the client’s lifestyle or their wardrobe.

What colour creation makes you most proud?

I’m so critical of my own work so this is hard. Ok so, it’s actually colour that I created on an awards entry, but it didn’t translate to the final image – you could only see the unique effects in real life. So the creation I’m most proud of I can’t really show you!

What advice would you give to a trainee colourist?

Learn the rules, so you can break them.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt from being a colourist?

As an industry we need to be better at valuing our time and guiding clients to the right services – and charging for them!

#COLOURINSPO

1 CENERE & GELSOMINO

Translated as ash and jasmine, Cenere & Gelsomino represents the contrast and balance of styles. Inspired by London and my childhood memories of Sicily, I wanted to create looks that are classical but have a current influence, whilst remaining delicate.

2 URBANA

Inspired by retro street culture, Urbana is a collection that explores the hybrid look. Based and focused on the raw of the self-styled, I added an urban edge to retro shapes.

3 RICH RED

I wanted to create something that reflects the beautiful, multi-dimensional colours we find in the red palette, creating maximum shine and tonality while looking fresh and current.