The art of colour customising your clients lashes and brows can be thought of as a time consuming task to some beauty therapists and is more often a method associated with hairdressing techniques, but those days are gone! Therapists are looking for ways to set themselves apart from their competition and become the therapist of choice for their clients and clients friends. So with that being said – It’s time to unleash your inner Van Gogh, get colour creative and give your clients some extra TLC that will have them raving to their friends and have them coming back for more of your artistic colour styling mastery. Steps to becoming a Lash and Brow colour stylist are much simpler than what you might think, a few basic rules apply but after that, let your artistic ability run free. Firstly it is good to have a sound knowledge of the colour wheel – visualise back to grade 4 and put on your painters frock…. Identify which are warm colours (Reds, Oranges and Yellows) and which are your cool colours (blues, greens and purples). This colour wheel will allow you to understand the relationship between the colours and what colours are used to neutralise other colours. This information can be especially helpful when lightening eyebrows by using a bleach or lighting creme. Then you can apply this knowledge to lash and brow tinting. When dealing with lash and brow tints – some of the browns used on brows are of a warm based hue (honey and red browns) and others are a cooler tone (light browns or ash browns, these have more of a green base). After identifying your clients base hair colour and discussing with them the result that they are looking for you can then consult your colour mixing knowledge to achieve your clients desired look. No two clients are the same so why give them the same lash or brow tint colour? Gloria is a gorgeous blonde with deep green eyes who you normally use plain old Black on. Why not offer Gloria a Dark Green shimmer with her tint by mixing Green and Black to accentuate her fantastic eye colour. Glorious Gloria will be raving to all of her friends about how you picked out her fabulous features and enhanced her style.

Mixing ratios are an important factor in colour customisation – mix a little too much of one colour and the result might not be what you or your client had hoped for. Belmacil Lash and Brow tints have made mixing ratios easy with their Colour Ratio Chart and Colour wheel, a simple and easy to read explanation of just how many additional results are achievable. Once your clients hear that they can have “glossy dark violet” lashes and the “ultimate brown” on their brows with exceptional “grey coverage” – you might need to order some new beds because your appointment book will be filling up fast.

As always the application technique when performing a lash and brow tint is incredibly important. Rumours of salons that don’t remove eye make up before applying a lash tint or cleansing the skin and prepping the brow before a brow colour may have you reeling but its not the only application no-no that happens. Some therapists still tint a clients lashes with their eyes open claiming its “the best way to tint both top and bottom lashes”. The best way to tint a clients top and bottom lashes is “safely”. There are products out there such as the Belmacil Protective Eye Guard, a plastic comfortable guard that rests under the eyes so you are able to pick up each one of those stray lower lashes and it also reduces the tint absorption into the protective paper eye shields – or tissues I hear you say (another no no). More tint on the lashes or brows gives a better result and with correct processing times helps to ensure the colour lasts.

Possibly the most important application technique when colour styling a brow for the first time is the technique called “TAKE YOUR TIME”… Applying tint to the tail end (thin end) of the brow first to build colour and definition is a great way to start. Allow this to process for a short time 1 – 2 minutes (depending on your chosen colours being applied and the base hair colour that its being applied to). Remove and reassess your clients results – decide whether they need another short application of the tint to the tail end or are you ready to apply the tint to the whole anchor (brow section closest to the nose) and tail end – or the complete brow. This technique allows you to identify how quickly your clients hair reacts to the colour

processing time – as we know everyone is different and processing times should be noted accordingly. You can make notes on their client card of the colours you have mixed and the ratios used as well as the the procedure and times involved, that way when the client comes in next, you know what you are doing and the process will be quicker.

In some cases when performing brow tinting, therapists put the colour on for a minute or two then take it off and leave it at that, which is fine, but remember this point, the longer you leave the colour on – the longer the tint will last. Most cases a maximum of 5 – 10 minutes is recommended for the longest lasting results, unless you are using a very dark colour on the brow and your client has light brows, in this instance you may require less time.

Lightening eyebrows – the holy grail of colour styling. We have heard time and time again that people are soooo scared to bleach or in better terms “lighten” a brow. But in some cases its a great way to get the result you are after. For example you have a client that has now lightened their hair colour but their brows are too dark, as a “brow colour stylist” you can give an overall harmonious look by lightening the brows and then applying a lighter shade of brown to better match the clients new hair colour. This is a specialised service that will take you to the next level and your clients will be impressed.

Grey coverage – To understand how hair turns grey, you have to understand how hair is formed. Cells in the hair follicle, called keratinocytes, build the hairs out of protein. Then other cells called melanocytes add melanin, or pigment, to the hair to give it its colour. Hair turns grey due to a decrease in the amount of pigment in it.

As we age, melanocytes start making less pigment so there is less of it to use when forming your hair. As the melanin declines, the hair becomes grey. At this point colour will still take on the hair as their is some pigment to develop on, but when your cells have run out of pigment altogether your hair will go white. At this point, it becomes very hard to dye your hair since there’s nothing for the color to stick to. In these cases you need to pre colour the hair, then re colour it again. In some cases unfortunately you still may have no luck.

A popular colour to use for for grey coverage is Graphite, this has a charcoal effect and it can be mixed with light brown or red brown to add warmth and pigment to give the desired result. Depending on what colours your client has for their hair colour, you can either add the warm (red, honey brown hues) or cooler tones (ash – light brown, dark brown) to match their hair colour and give the ultimate colour styling solution.

Versatility in a brand of lash & brow tint is essential in your ability to have more options for colour styling. You also need to take into account the quality, long lasting result of the product and profitability is a very important factor to consider, sometimes you may pay a little more per tube for a product but if you get more applications per tube by doing this, then it’s a smarter choice by far isn’t it? You need to make your services as profitable as possible.

When your skills with colour styling are proficient you will be excited to unravel your Colour Customisation menu to your clients. It will open up more possibilities for you to cater for your clients needs and give you that edge over your competitors.

If you’re interested in doing a colour styling workshop and learning advanced tips and tricks you can contact Belmacil Lash & Brow Tints info@belmacil.com or Arrow Beauty NZ to find out more.