Improvability Blog

Last week I was the guest speaker at the annual Wella Master Colour Congress in Manchester on the 22nd March and again in London the following day.

Last summer, I trained the Wella Master Colour senior trainers in the latest colour analysis techniques and we worked on how to adapt them for use in hair salons and by hair colourists everywhere.

The senior trainers train the trainers who then train the Wella Master Colour Experts, hair colourists from the top 20% of hair salons (if you follow my ‘train’ of thought - sorry, sometimes I just can’t help myself…)

Very exciting stuff, and it was absolutely wonderful at the annual Congress to see how Wella have used some of the ideas we worked on together to come up with some fantastic new tools for the Wella Master Colour Experts to use in the salon with their clients.

I went early to watch some of their guest hair stylists and colourists demonstrate the new colours and style trends. You wouldn’t believe what some of the very clever people can do with nothing more than a pair of scissors! And some of the hair colour demos were just stunning. I never realised that you could use the end of a styling comb to create such amazing nuances of colour in your hair!

I learnt so much, and not just about hair either. I’ve got loads to write up as I think it’s going to be so useful to colour and image consultants around the world. And I’m now working on some amazing ideas for image consultants and hair stylists / colourists to work together - after all, we both have the same mutual client, don’t we?

Grab this while you can

In the meantime, I’ll do you a big favour. If you’re really interested in learning more about how the hair industry and the image industry can work together, you need to check out Scott Cornwall’s great book ‘An Introduction to Hair for Image, Colour Consultants and Stylists’.

Let me warn you now - my plans include re-launching this fantastic product soon at a much higher price.

Last week’s work with Wella has shown me just how amazing and valuable Scott’s book is and how the insider secrets he lets you into are worth so much more than the current fee. Grab it while you can.

Hundreds of years ago, when I was a mere whippersnapper and had no idea that colour and style advice even existed, I was looking for a dress for a bit of a college ‘do’ when my then-boyfriend said, “If you buy another black dress, you’ll be going on your own.”

Stupidly, I took this to mean that I didn’t look good in black and I didn’t wear it again for quite some time. What a twit I was, and how much time I wasted.

Many moons later I had my colours ‘done’ and discovered my Winter colouring and learned that black is one of my best colours. I had dark hair at the time but even with my current blonde locks, black is still a bit of a stunner on me.

What was his problem?

The problem was that this chap was an Autumn and black wasn’t one of his favourite colours. When I think back, he looked ruddy awful in black so I can now see why he didn’t like it.

He wanted me to wear the colours HE liked - olive green, autumn gold chocolate brown - colours in which a true Autumn would most probably look stunning but both of which make me look absolutely ghastly and in severe need of immediate resuscitation!

Once you understand your own colouring, you don’t need to listen to mis-information like this ever again. You’ll know exactly what suits you, and why. And you can also educate those who insist they know better than you do about what suits you!

Most people base their opinions on their own likes and dislikes

- and some of them just won’t let up

I have a friend who, every time I used to see her, told me I should have my hair cut. As you can probably imagine, this irritated me beyond all comprehension and, over the years, I cut down to a bare minimum the times that I saw her.

Finally though, the trials of remembering to be a lady at all times, smiling sweetly, thanking her for her advice, and saying through gritted teeth that I would bear it in mind just became too much for me. I found myself telling her that I have absolutely no intention of ever having it cut and, if she wanted to remain friends, not to mention it ever again!

“Better out than in”

It’s one of my favourite sayings, and I have to say that I felt so much better.

The fundamental problem here is that she is an out-and-out Classic and wants to see me with a neat, ordered, classically-acceptable hairstyle like her own.

I had to explain to her that I’m different. I’m a Dramatic with Romantic hair and a neat, ordered, classically-acceptable hairstyle like hers isn’t me at all. It’s not my style, it doesn’t reflect my personality and I will wear my hair as long as I flippin’ well want to!

If there’s someone in YOUR life who is offering such self-opinionated and uninformed advice, might this not be a good time to set the record straight? Just tell them it’s a slightly belated New Year’s resolution and you need to get this off your chest…

Wearing what someone else likes will only make you grumpy in the end

I suggest that you go and find out which colours are the best ones for you, find out which styles suit your body shape and personality (and which ones don’t), and then you will know what makes YOU look absolutely fabulous.

And then you can confidently:

• ignore people who don’t take YOU into account
• educate them as to what really suits you
• or ‘do a Kim’ and tell them to mind their own business!

I had to laugh when I read this week that blondes are more aggressive than brunettes or redheads. The findings of a study on students in California found that “Fair-haired women, whether natural or out of a bottle, display a warlike streak when fighting battles to get their own way.”

As I have been a bottle blonde for about a year now, I was naturally rather intrigued by this potentially worrying suggestion and, for one moment of complete stupidity, I even wondered if it was true!

What a dipstick I am, and the only reasonable way to deal with this appalling lapse of judgement is to laugh out loud!

Apparently, researchers found that even women who dyed their hair blonde quickly took on the attributes of those who were naturally blonde. Let me tell you something; I went blonde overnight in January last year and, one full year further on, I am still as bad at confrontation as I ever was. Give me the choice of fighting a battle head on and running away and I will always leg it!

This study was based on a mere 156 students who were concentrated in one very small area of just one country out of the entire world only so before you go trying to live up to the results of this ’scientific’ research, consider first how old you are, the culture in which you live, what you have to do to put bread on the table, how you normally fight your battles and, most importantly, if you ever actually GET your own way!

My advice? Whatever your hair, skin or eye colour, be who you really, really are and you’ll be just fine!

The story of my hair colour journey

• To go from darkest brown to pale white blonde

After my last newsletter ‘What to wear to a bit of a ‘do’ several ladies emailed to ask when and why I’d decided to go blonde, and how did I do it.

Here’s the first instalment of the story of my own personal hair journey. I apologise up front if you find all the chemical explanations a bit too much to get your head round but some ladies have asked specifically for all the insider details so I’ve included the lot.

This journey has taken around 18 months from when Scott Cornwall and I first discussed the possibility of me going blonde and I kept a diary during that time of the all the ins and outs. As you can imagine, I’ve got thousands of notes so I’ve split it down into 4 parts for easier reading - I don’t want you dying of boredom….

Part 1
It’s all Scott Cornwall’s fault…

He was the one who persuaded me that going from dark brown to blonde wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.

It all started when Scott came up from London to Chesterfield in January 2008 to discuss how the hair and image industries could (and should) be working together.  Using me as the example to explain his work, this is the story of what he advised me to do and how I became a hair experiment.

I was born an archetypal dark-haired, pale-skinned, bright-eyed Winter and I have been colouring my own hair for over 25 years. Many dark-haired Winters go grey in their late 20s or early 30s and then we have to choose:

• Do we perpetuate our naturally dramatic, sharply-contrasting look or
• Do we lapse into grey, dull and lifeless?

It’s not that all Winters look dreadful with grey hair but the length of the transition process from completely dark to completely silver grey can prove incredibly depressing so most end up resorting to using chemicals. For me, there was absolutely no choice. I am a Dramatic Winter and you can’t do drama with badly-greying hair.

The problem is that as time goes on I ended up in the tedious routine of sticking a colour on my hair every two and a half weeks because the roots were, after 20-odd years, totally white.

White hair is completely devoid of colour because melanin is no longer being produced as the new hairs grow, and having white roots with dark hair made me look like Morticia Addams and I wasn’t having any of that!

Choosing to become a ‘Diamond Winter’

Scott told me, “My big issue is that nobody should be colouring their hair more than once every five weeks.

“If you are very, very white (under your artificial colour) you will get away with becoming (what I call) a ‘Diamond Winter’. What any Dramatic Winters have the ability to do is switch their hair colour from very dark to very light and it still has the same dramatic effect - it tends to work the best on pure Winters (like yourself). 

“I would only recommend it if you have more than 70% grey as too much of your own colour will ‘kick up’ warmth and the blonde colour will not be cool enough - but if you are very white you will find it fantastic to suddenly be using a light ash or pearl blonde on your roots as they will only need doing every 6 - 8 weeks because the contrast will be minimal.

“Whenever I consult with people I always try to give them a celebrity example of someone who is the same type as them and has a similar look. 

“The journalist Carole Malone is exactly the same category as you.  She’s a Romantic with Drama. In fact she’s very dramatic but she is also a Diamond Winter (she has ash/pearl blonde hair and blue eyes).  I have attached a photo of her.  Interestingly enough she has her hairstyle with lots of body and movement and it works very well for her. The same would work for you. SC.”

Why not go blonde overnight?

As a Dramatic Romantic style personality, I really wanted to go blonde overnight but as an inveterate learner (after all, if I don’t learn something new each day then what exactly was the point in me getting up?) I decided to go blonde over time.

Scott warned me that I wouldn’t like the transitional period but I’m a sucker for an experiment.

Read Part 2
‘
Another idea gets in the way of my big plans to go blonde!’

Would you like a hair journey all of your own?

Book your own individual personal hair consultation or attend a hair analysis class with Scott Cornwall

Scott Cornwall’s unique Hair Consultancy is possibly the only image resource that offers hair advice, guidance and classes to not only clients but also the image and fashion expert. Scott believes our hair should harmonise with our entire image. His method is perhaps the first to combine principles of fashion, physicality and psychology to unlock his client’s dream hair and perfect overall image.

Scott has spent many years working within the hair industry as a technical stylist (specialising in colour and chemical services) before moving into the world of image and style. Over the years, Scott has been fortunate enough to have a diverse range of clients from brand name corporations to celebrities.

Book your own individual personal hair consultation with Scott Cornwall at http://www.scottcornwall.com/

You too could soon be telling us all about your very own hair colour journey. Maybe yours will be a bit shorter than mine…?

Pause for Thought

What will you regret NOT doing when you’re 87, sat sitting staring out of the window with a blanket draped round your shoulders and someone you care about asks, “What did YOU do with your life?”

Do it now

And you’ll have nothing to regret later on.