Colour NOTES

Steven Smart chats about shine lines and his signature technique

THE SILVER SCREEN

MUSIC LEGENDS

JAPANESE STREET CULTURE

What do you love most about being a colourist?

I love that there’s so much variation you can achieve with colour, and I love the experimental nature of it.

What is the most important question you ask in a colour consultation and why?

It’s hard to say what the most important question is, but one that I always ask is ‘What would you consider your ideal colour to be?’ Everyone always has something they aspire to.

What colour trends are you pleased to see out of fashion?

Heavy 90s face frames – I like them to look a little bit more refined. I think blend is the most important thing when it comes to hair colour.

Are there any colour trends you’d like to bring back?

Shine lines. If you imagine a flat, smooth head of hair and then you put a light over the top of it, there would be a band of shine that goes around the head, it's achieving that, but with colour.

What are the challenges facing colourists right now?

Greater client expectations as a result of social media; they’re bringing in a photograph from Instagram or Pinterest, and it's almost always edited. You also don’t know that client’s hair history – all you see is the finished result – but your client will look at an image and think, ‘If they can have that, so can I’.

What do you think will be the next big colour trend?

I think people are going to be bolder with their colours – more vivids and bright, intense shades. The world is changing, hairdressing is changing, and people are becoming more accepting.

What colour techniques are you known for?

In a lot of my work I’ll always put dark edges on the ends, or I’ll put light panels on the very ends. It’s about using the colour to try and show off the shape of the cut, showing the viewer what it is that I want them to see.

What colour creation makes you most proud?

There’s a red bob from my #BHA23 collection. It’s a wig, and I must have coloured it about seven times. I’m very honest about it. I wove in extra hair to make it thicker and give it a particular shape, and then I used a dark colour on the roots and ends, and blended three more colours – copper, gold and red – in the middle, to give it a real sunburst effect. Because of the amount of blending and time it took, that’s one of my looks that I’m most proud of.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt from being a colourist?

How colour affects shapes and cuts. You can dramatically change a shape through colouring. However, it does also work the other way around – your colour can be really affected by the canvas.

HOME SUNSETS

#COLOURINSPO

1 THE SILVER SCREEN This soft, violet blonde, combined with the model’s pose, hints towards Marilyn Monroe… a modern take on a classic image.

2 MUSIC LEGENDS I’m inspired by the bold looks from icons such as David Bowie, Madonna and Lady Gaga.

3 JAPANESE STREET CULTURE Intrinsically linked with manga and anime, I love Japanese street culture and arcade games of the 80s/90s, like Double Dragon Street Fighter.

4 HOME SUNSETS We have amazing sunsets in my seaside town.The effect the setting sun has on light distribution influences the way I use shadowing and depth of colour within my work.