[The Hair Affair] The Soloist Salon | The Hair Colouring Expert

Visuals compiled via The Soloist Salon Instagram 

The Soloist Salon, should be a name that is familiar to you by now, if you had followed us for some time, as we have partnered with the team two months back to bring you not only information relating to hair, but also as our official hair partner for LUMINNEJ, part of our colourful journey to a more exciting hair do, you may have read it here and our FACES feature of one of its founders, Nicholas Chua here. This month, we caught up with Nicholas and had a quick chat with him about HAIR COLOUR. Let's head over and discover more about this part of the hair affair, shall we?

The development of synthetic dyes for hair can be traced back to the 1860s of the reactivity of para-phenylenediamine (PPD) with air. Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal, is recognised for creating the first synthetic hair dye in 1907. In 1947, the German cosmetics firm, Schwarzkopf launched the first home colour product, Poly Colour. Hair dyeing or hair colouring is now a multibillion dollar industry that involves the use of both plant-derived and synthetic dyes. Here (via wikipedia) for more details about hair colouring.

Left: Our first hair colour - Cool Brown with Purple highlights | Right: Our second hair colour - Cool Blonde

Why do you think people these days love to  colour their hair? 

Hair is our crown and it is something which is permanently there. Hair colour today has become an accessory. Changing hair colour for some, is like changing their apparel. It is an extension of your character and mood, or for whatever reasons you may have.

How does on prepare to go for a hair colour?

There is no hard and fixed rule to hair colouring. I personally feel it all depends on the individual. One needs to be prepared for that change. If you feel you are prepared for it, hair colouring can be something really exciting. 

Tell us a little bit more about hair colouring. 

On a broader sense, from a layman's perspective, usually people will come to understand hair colour through warm or cool tone, or acid and alkaline. Alkaline colour is commonly known as permanent colour. It has a lifting effect, meaning it is a chemical process (with ammonia, and a mix of a developer or an oxidizing agent) done onto your hair to alter the natural hair colour, so that another colour can be applied onto it. It has an expansion/swelling process as the ammonia opens the cuticle of the hair to allow the developer and colourants to penetrate into the cortex. It permanently changes your hair colour, in that sense. 

Acid colour can also be called semi-permanent colour. It does not alter your original hair colour but only enhance or added onto it a new colour of your choice. It has a contraction/shrinking process. It is actually quite technical, a hair colonist will have to learn it in a more in depth manner in order to advise clients accordingly. 

Our third hair colour - Ash Violet. From left to right, how the colour changed over time (also depending on the lighting of the ambience and time of the shots were taken, colour may vary). Visuals via LUMINNEJ Instagram

We try to keep it quite simple and straight-forward whenever we explain to clients, more along the line of warm or cool tone. We try not to confuse them too much as the decision to use what sort of hair colouring is our discretion, as a colourist, and based on the person's hair texture. Usually, finer hair texture takes in new colours more readily while coarse hair texture resists penetration a little more. Cool tones have matte finishing while warm tones like red or orange have more shining kind of finishing. Here at The Soloist Salon, we do not only choose based on colours or tones, but also the looks, finishing and style that the clients prefer or will look good in. For instance, the Japanese style of hair colouring is more subdued (except for those cosplay types *_^), faded, seasoned kind of look, not too saturated. 

How does one takes care the hair after hair colouring?

Hair care is very important. One can come to the salon and do hair treatment, like this one called Diamond Treatment that we offer here. Home care is equally crucial. Adding protein back to a coloured hair is the rule of thumb. We believe styling starts from hair shampoo itself already. One needs to use the right kind of shampoo. Protein is for strength, moisture is for shine and softness of the hair. Light moisture conditioner is good for the hair too. Of course, hair colour shampoo is best to take care of your coloured hair. Good shampoo can also help prevent free-radical and the adverse effect of the UV ray, as these are some of the factors which will affect the longevity of your hair colour. So, after hair care is advisable. Here for more.

How about hair styling products? 

Gel is to create structure while clay is good for volume. Clay is more drying, therefore it suits finer or thinner hair better. Here for more.

What is a beautiful hair colour, to you? 

Like I mentioned before, beauty is very subjective, so is hair colour selection. It is very personal. In today's world, there is no limit to the colours of your hair. It is a matter of choice and preference. To me, one solid colour is boring. We don't mind doing one shade, but it must have different tones or gradients.

Do you have a favourite colour?

For me, colour is like a painting. It is an art form. If it is not a hair colour, my favourite colour is green.  I tend to like cooler shades more.

Our fourth hair colour - Cool Blue. Seen here with Nicholas Chua from The Soloist Salon

Hair colouring can be a fun aspect of your hair to explore. So far, we have been having a great time with it and people whom we bumped into and met with since our hair colour journey would always be surprised by our new hair colour, each time we updated it. It does create a whole new image or look for us, something which we had never thought of before, that would have such an effect or impact on the way we look, overall. It does change your mood and outlook. The Soloist Salon is truly an expert in creating stunningly beautiful hair colours with endless hues and combinations of tones and shades. You can keep up-to-date with our official hair partner via their Instagram page here and Facebook page here.

The Soloist Salon

Ansa Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Lot 1.5, Level 1, 101, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Tel: +603.2448.9000). Opens daily from 10:30am to 08:30pm.

Till our next rendezvous with our favourite hair place, have a luminously colourful week, lovelies *_^

With love, 

Jeann