Where, Who, How? Mumbai Women Reveal Their Hair Colour Secrets

For brown highlights, Nayaab, a fashion stylist from Mumbai, headed to Mad O’ Wat in Pali Hill. Her stylist was Rishita, a senior stylist, whom she recommends strongly because the stylist is adept at figuring out what colours would {and wouldn’t} work for dusky Indian skin tones.

She chose the shades brown, golden brown and hazel because she wanted to go for a more natural beachy hair look. They used the balayage technique of hair colouring {applying colour to random strands of hair, two-three at a time, which gives a more natural look}. These colours didn’t require any bleaching on her already-dark hair, and took about an hour and a half to execute.

Hair Care: Nayaab uses the Loreal vitamo colour shampoo and conditioner, and Moroccan Oil once in a while.

Price of Treatment: INR 7,000 {might vary according to hair length and type}

Words for the Wise: Do ask your stylist to recommend what will work best for your skin complexion, because every colour looks different on different skin tones.

Blue, purple and pink are the shades Deepika’s hair {and dreams are} made of. For the hair, she went to ‘the one and only’, Happy In The Head. She got her hair coloured by the senior stylist, Avani Yashwin {call her on +919819622325}, whom she claims is ‘awesome’. Avani suggests colours to her clients, and only uses American brands. For this stylist, hair is a canvas.

Her hair is naturally black, and she got it it half-coloured with cobalt bluish and purple tones {The purple eventually fades to a nice pink}. Avani didn’t completely bleach her hair to a white, but bleached it to a blonder colour to lessen the bleach and thus lower the hair damage. The process took her about six hours, including the bleaching and the washing.

#LBBTip: Don’t just show up and expect to get time with the head stylist. Plan your hair colour day and book your appointment two to three weeks in advance.

Hair Care: Mythic oil and shampoo, which she used twice a week {the more often you wash your hair, the more you colour you wash out}. Every two months, she gets colour conditioning done, which is taking the colour and putting the conditioner on it and letting the colour seep in.

Price: approx INR 7,000, depending on the hair length and colours.

Words for the Wise: Don’t colour the roots. Ever. Avoid chlorine and too much direct sun time.

Mrigakshi, a dancer, has a thing with red hair and she recommends going to Auburn in Lokhandwala. She got her hair coloured by Soso, who was anything but that {call her on +919833088133}. She’s great at her work, and will without a hiccup tell you if something will suit your skin, hair type, texture, and even your face cut. But most importantly, we like the sound of her because she goes beyond trying to sell a certain product to you. At Auburn they use products by Schwarkopf {in the shade Violet} which is otherwise easily available in most salons.

Mrigakshi chose the global red colour, which in newbie-speak is red from roots to tips. The section towards the crown of the head was coloured darker and faded gradually towards the tips. She naturally has curly, black hair and has never had to have her hair bleached to get red hair. This took two hours of her day.

Price of Treatment: INR 6,000 {including the wash and the blow dry}

Hair Care: Reviver shampoo and conditioner {She also thinks that the Bedhead Red Goddess shampoo and conditioner for reds and browns is fabulous}. Sometimes Mrigakshi also uses a leave-in serum – Miracle Oil by Schwarkopf.

Words for the Wise: Change your shampoo every once in two months, otherwise your hair gets used to it and it stops working.

Sheefa, a fashion blogger at Style Stash Daily, finds herself with coloured hair more often than not. This time, she got her hair coloured in a variety of pinks and purples at Kromakay Salon in Khar.

This job well done was by head stylist Vrinda Makhija, whom Sheefa thinks is amazing, as often she finds that people don’t know well how to deal with colour. Vrinda tells you which would be the best bleach, how strong it is and how much amount she is applying too – full disclosure.

The technique used was the balayage technique, with a mix of three colours randomly applied to the hair. First the hair was bleached, and the entire process took about four hours.

Hair Care: Try the Paul Mitchell platinum blonde shampoo and conditioner, which Sheefa says is good for bleached hair, and makes the hair feel instantly softer. She uses it once in five days. She also gets regular olaplex and protein treatments for the hair. And don’t forget what your mom said about olive oil.

Price of Treatment: INR 7,500-9000, depending on how thick the hair is. She got an Olaplex treatment after for INR 2,500.

Words for the Wise: Always use a silver shampoo, it really makes a difference and will help smoothen coloured hair out.

#LBBTip: She also suggests going to Rashi at Asif Salon who is good with ombres.

Sanyja likes experimenting with her short hair and recently got done a green apple shade mixed with a turquoise blue, pink, steel grey. She too, went to Happy in the Head and had it done by Avani, but says that she thinks everyone over there knows their hair colour.

She says this colour looks like a dreamy white colour when it fades, which she’s looking forward to. It took her about three hours for the whole process. Sanyja usually gets the colour put it and leaves it on overnight, and washes it with cold water the next day.

Hair Care: Shwarzkopf colour block shampoo and Moroccan conditioner. If she wants to style it a certain way, she uses serum by Vella.

Price of Treatment: INR 6000 {for a haircut, shampoo, bleach, and colouring}

Words for the Wise: You hair will stay for two to three months with good care. Coloured hair becomes dry easily if you don’t use the right conditioner. Also, be careful of changing the water you use to wash your hair as well.