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Paying a professional to color your hair? Beware of getting squeezed
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applicator bottle
By the bottle that is, or more precisely the applicator bottle pictured here.
Maybe professionals stared to use the bottle to apply color because of its name. But according to Jim Clinton, of Vartelli Salon on East 57th Street in Manhattan, who did my highlights, (which I wrote about last post) he has not seen anyone use that bottle for applying color to re-growth anywhere he has worked in Manhattan. “In fact.” he said “that is so 20 years ago. Colorists who apply color from the bottle usually do so for speed and they’re sure to get a Helter Skelter result.” He insists haircolor should be mixed in a bowl and applied with a brush, painted on like an artist.
The purpose of applying color to the roots or (the re-growth of the hair) is usually to cover gray, or to lighten or darken the natural shade of hair. Like any chemical procedure it should be done with care to insure accuracy and not to have any chemicals overlap past the re-growth or the root, which is sure to happen when an applicator bottle is used.
I told Jim that I have seen this done by professionals, where they squeeze the bottle, give it a shake when it’s upside down (a bit like a bottle of Heinz Ketchup) to get out the thick haircolor formula. I have even seen this done (although admittedly this was not in Manhattan) while there were foils in the hair for highlights. Jim gasped. He explained that the reason they need to shake the bottle is because haircolor formulas are so much thicker than they used to be 20 years ago. “That’s another reason not to use the bottle;” he explained, “you can’t remix your formula as you work. To use an applicator bottle with foils in the hair is a horrible way to do color; it’s so easy to disturb the hair in the foils.”
Jim is not alone when it comes to how color should be applied. When I asked Ti Ti Clemente, a colorist at the renown Oscar Blandi Salon on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, about using an applicator bottle for color she said, “Oh no. It’s just not done in finer salons.”
Finally I asked Frédéric Fekkai who just launched a line of hair color for Sephora. “You must use a brush; you just don’t have the same control with an applicator bottle.”
All the colorists I spoke to assured me you don’t need to have your hair colored in Manhattan or spend a fortune. Just find someone who is willing to take the time. If you’re thinking of trying a new salon for color, walk in and look around. See if the color is being squeezed on, or patiently painted.
I will be bringing you more next week of my exclusive interview with Frédéric Fekkai. Stand by
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