One of the major gripes people have about hair colour is all the maintenance involved. Once you dye your hair, you've got to keep it up — and that usually means spending lots of cash and time at the salon. Luckily, colourists are taking note and developing techniques that make the whole process so much easier for us. Enter: Future Hair Colour.
Like Future Cuts, which was developed by hairstylist George Northwood, Future Hair Colour is painted on in a way that meshes with your natural hue. "It actually looks a bit better as it grows out," Northwood explains.
The stylist who is best known for this type of colour is Johnny Ramirez, one-half of the Ramirez Tran salon in L.A. "I call my technique Lived-In Colour, because the look is just that — lived in," he says. Here's how it works: He layers in colour strand by strand. He lets it cook, and if he needs more afterwards, he'll add it in. "It takes a while, but this is what ensures that I don't miss a strand," he says. Once the colour is in, he glosses and tones the hair.
"This is what makes it last so long," Ramirez says. "I take my time to ensure the colour I'm adding is blending perfectly with your natural hair, so when it grows out, you don't have an aggressive colour difference. It's more gradual." He says that some upkeep is necessary, though: Like getting regular trims with a Future Cut, Future Hair Colour requires visiting the salon for regular glosses. Luckily, those tend to cost a lot less than a full dye job.
Ramirez says this colour particularly appeals to the busy folks among us (so, like everyone?!). "There are so many reasons why someone can't frequent the salon as often — work, busy schedules, money, fear of over-processing," he says. "This technique allows people to go longer between visits without suffering from drastic roots or breaking the bank."
Can't make it to L.A. to get this one-of-a-kind treatment? Luckily, Ramirez and his partner Anh Co Tran travel frequently. "I have opened up my schedule and travel all over the country — and recently internationally — to try and accommodate as many people [as possible]," Ramirez says. He frequents San Francisco, New York, and Miami, and will be heading to Toronto in June. (He posts upcoming travel dates on his Instagram.)
If you can't make it to any of those cities, Ramirez has a suggestion for what to say to your colourist to get this look. "Ask them for hair colour that blends with your natural hair, so when your hair starts growing out, it doesn't have a drastic demarcation colour line," he says. And, again, he stresses the importance of regular upkeep with glosses.
So say bye-bye to high-maintenance colour. (Unless that's what you're into.) Even lazy gals who don't love their colourist's chair can get gorgeous strands. Just dye 'em and forget 'em. Doesn't that sound rad?
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