Before your hair colour appointment: what to tell your colourist

Colour is the service where the conversation before matters most. Your colourist can see your hair, but not its history, and history is what decides how colour takes.

Tell them everything that has been on your hair

• Box dye, even years ago: it can sit in the lengths long after it has grown out at the root.
• Henna, which reacts badly with some lighteners.
• Keratin, smoothing or straightening treatments, and when you had them.
• Bleach or highlights, and roughly how many times.

None of this is a confession. It changes the products and the timing, and sometimes whether a result is possible in one visit.

Bring pictures, both kinds

Bring two or three photos of what you want, and one of what you do not. "Not too warm" means different things to different people; a picture settles it. Photos in daylight are the most honest.

Ask about a patch test

Many colour products ask for a skin test before use, often 48 hours ahead, and many salons will not colour without one, especially for a first visit or a new product. If the salon asks you to come in for one, it is looking after you.

Good to know: When you book on Saloonly, the time is held for you in the salon’s diary. If a patch test is needed first, the salon may call you on the number you booked with.

Be realistic about time and budget

Going much lighter, correcting old colour or covering a lot of grey can take more than one session. Ask how long it will take and what it will cost all in, including toner or treatments, before the work starts.

Afterwards

Ask what to wash with and how long to wait before the first wash. A colour-safe shampoo and a little less heat styling go a long way. Many salons sell the products they use; on Saloonly you can order them from the salon and collect and pay at the counter.

This is general guidance. Your colourist knows your hair and has the final say on what is safe for it.