Show your true colours
As a new season arises, hair colour trends do too. With the help of some experts we look into how staying on top of trends and happenings within the industry can boost a salon’s reputation long-term.
Whether you’re a salon owner, a hair and beauty industry professional, stylist, or creative in any capacity, it’s important that you stay abreast of industry trends.
Staying aware of what’s trending in the world of salon is crucial to appealing to a range of clients. This way you can ensure that your branding, offers, giveaways, and collaborations are strategic and relevant to the current trends and demands in the industry and you will therefore be favoured over salons who aren’t keeping up with the times.
Gary Taylor, Schwarzkopf Professional Global Hair Expert and UK Education Ambassador explained that at his salon, Edward & Co. they have regular salon meetings to discuss seasonal trends: “I believe it is so important keep them at the forefront of our minds and it helps us to be prepared for every client request. We see current trends via social media, as well as in trade and fashion magazines, and we use these meetings to discuss what trends would look amazing on our clients. It’s always great to understand what trends and fashions my team members like and it helps me to understand where I can offer training sessions to help them improve on certain techniques.”
Brooke Evans, Schwarzkopf Professional UK Education Ambassador, also realises the importance of staying on top of trends in order to stay present in the industry but, with her salon being situated in Shropshire, she admitted that it can sometimes feel like it takes a while for trends to catch on.
We were keen to find out what Brooke forecasts to be a big hit this year for hair colour, to which she said: “I think dip-dye and coloured tips are going to be a big trend this year. Many creatives are already trying it, and naturally, other colourists will hop on the trend too. It’s something that’s fresh and I think clients will love it as it gives them the option to easily switch up their look with minimum maintenance.”
As hairdressers, creativity lies at the heart of what you do, and is essential to the evolution of your business. Alongside this, trends can allow you to stay at the forefront of creativity and offer your clients looks with a truly fashion-forward appeal. Thomas Hills, Director of TH1 Hair, Oxted likes to call this the ‘trickle down’ effect: “Often it’s the more pared back versions of the trends we see on the runways, a nod to their sometimes much more extra approach but with a more wearable appeal for the everyday client. With consumer knowledge at an all-time high, it also makes sense to keep an eye on upcoming trends, while understanding the importance of making them truly translatable, taking current catwalk styles and learning how to distil them into commercial looks to suit the ever-evolving needs of your diverse client base.”
Alongside work in the salon, Thomas has been fortunate to work behind the scenes at LFW over the years, which he described as the perfect platform to learn firsthand the trends set to filter from catwalk to clients in the forthcoming months.
Thomas continued: “While Fashion Weeks may have had to pivot their offerings in recent times, trends are always available and accessible, online and in print, for us to translate and use back on our clients in the salon. Alongside fashion, music and film, celebrity culture and street style are also great indicators of industry trends set to be big and something I always keep an eye on.”
Trends can help boost your clients’ perception of you and your team as experts, helping boost your reputation at the same time. When it comes to marketing your seasonal hair offerings, it helps to make your menu client-friendly and ultimately, understandable.
“At TH1 Hair, we adapt our seasonal colour menus to incorporate any trend-led offerings with wording that is clear and concise. We are always looking to evolve with our clients’ needs and expectations, and have found that offering bespoke hairdressing solutions to our clientele cements our positioning as hair tailors.
“Adaptability is key; we don’t subscribe to a one-size-fits-all approach, and by highlighting this in our colour service menu we have been able to communicate our skillset to our clients more effectively. We also wanted to make the wording that we as technicians take for granted, easier for our clients to understand. With the increase in clients seeing extreme colour changes on celebrities, influencers and models across social media, we have also had to become more adept at managing our client expectations in terms of the commitment required from them with both time and money.”
Siobhan Haug, International Technical Education Director and British Colour Technician of the Year suggests that stylists and salon owners gain their inspiration from a good mixture of places: “Celebrities are always a good source as they are names your clients will know and recognise, plus celebrities are all different ages, genders and ethnicities so they can be relatable for all clients.
“Street Style. Whether it’s in your city or your country, micro trends appear throughout the year and what’s popular in one area won’t necessarily be popular in another.
“And of course, Instagram. Search via the hashtags to get specific ideas for curls, balayage or brunettes. Posts that have been really popular will appear first, making it easy to navigate.”
In order to make the most of being aware of current trends for it to work in line with client retention Siobhan advises forward planning your clients’ colour journey with them. As well as talking them through their immediate colour changes, mention how you’ll tweak it for their Summer appointment and then, of course, when they’re back from their lovely holiday, new tweaks can be made to get them ready for Autumn with glossy, rich, healthy hair.
Siobhan explained: “Our clients trust us to be the experts on all aspects of their hair, from the products they use to maintaining their look at home, through to what’s trending in hair. Knowing what trends are out there and how they could work for your client creates a lot of confidence, especially in new clients.”
It’s all well and good if you’re going above and beyond to ensure you’re staying on top of trends, but you must make sure you’re circulating them with your team in order for them to stay knowledgeable.
Siobhan said: “We share trend updates with our team seasonally so that they have the language and the knowledge to talk to clients about the styles that are relevant and exciting for them.”
Siobhan predicts that there will be plenty of BBWaves in coming months. These are Blushed Balayage Waves that celebrate the beauty of baby lights in combination with signature balayage techniques. Seamlessly blended to create a subtle transition throughout the natural waves of your hair.
Wherever you’re getting your inspiration from, just remember to share it far and wide with your team members. Your role as a professional isn’t just to provide great services but in order to continue to build your brand and maintain a strong reputation, you must work ahead of time to keep up to date with upcoming trends.
