Designing colour that grows with you

Most first colour appointments are planned for the look the client wants on the day. The formula is shaped by that day's reference photo, that season's trend, and the client's current styling routine. The result is colour that looks brilliant for six weeks and then faces an awkward, expensive correction as it grows out.

Our colour work proceeds from the opposite assumption: that a colour plan should serve more than one season of a client's life, and that the formula should be shaped by the long arc of regrowth rather than the immediate reference photo. This changes almost every colour decision, from placement to tone to how the root is treated.

• Placement should support a lighter summer look, a deeper autumn refresh, and everyday wear without major correction
• Root planning should accommodate several months of growth before the next full appointment is needed
• Tone selection should make future gloss refreshes and seasonal adjustments straightforward

Planning for the next appointment

Every colour plan we develop now includes a growth test: would this placement and tone still look considered eight, twelve, and sixteen weeks from now, without a major correction? Where the answer is no, the plan is revised. This is rarely more expensive than the alternative; it is usually a matter of disciplined placement rather than additional appointment cost.

• Hanna Bennett, bridal client: colour planned to hold through the wedding and settle gracefully for months after
• Long-term regular client: root strategy chosen to extend the gap between full appointments to five months
• Editorial client: colour designed to be reset easily between campaign bookings without stripping the hair

"Colour that needs a major correction every time the season changes is colour that fails the long-term test. We plan for the months ahead from the very first formula."