Continuing today’s look at our most popular candy-coated color stories, this post on hair chalking tells you all you need to know to create your own inspired dip-dyes…
If you read today’s posts, you’ll know about the buzz behind colorful dip-dyes. Not much puts a girl off the idea of purples and pinks, but the commitment of full salon service might. Reason: the (understandable) fear of being stuck with an unmissable, bright hue that you realize you do not like. Luckily, hair chalking has risen to prominence. It is a way to ‘chalk’ color onto locks at home. The best bits: there are a rainbow of colors to choose, they wash out easily, and you can place the color anywhere you want. The image above shows the use of one tone to add vivacity to a lived-in look, but multi-tonal dyes, or chalking to highlight a bang, ponytail or braid also works well. However you go, make chalking fun! Click the Style Notes for some tips…
Step: You’ll need soft pastel chalk from a craft store.
Step: If you have bleached blonde hair, adding water before chalking can create more permanence to the dye. This rinses out after a few washes, but if you only want the color for a day or night, don’t use water. Conversely, if your hair is dark, you will need to apply water to strands before chalking in order to get the color to show up.
Step: It is important to twist hair as your chalk to help the pigment release. Be sure to brush off any excess powder.
Step: Be creative. Think about the shape of your cut and style and how to best accent it with color.
Step: Chalking does dry out hair. Use hair repair masque weekly to restore moisture, luster, and shine.
Style Notes provided by Mariesa Ferraro, Senior Colorist, ARROJO studio, NYC.
