New Delhi: In the fashion world it’s not just the clothes that are the focus, hairstyles too come in and out of trend. Cuts, colour, styles are all part of the fashion format. Hair colour is also a style statement.
Colour techniques that explore a wider reach is one such style project by Tom Connell, Davines Hair Art Director. A balance of technique and naturalness enhances the colour proposal of smokey reds, champagne blonds and cool brunettes.
In conversation with Vikram Mohan Co-Founder, Spalon India Pvt Ltd (Bounce Salons):
What colours are trending for the season?
Vikram Mohan: As people have started stepping out recently, I have noticed that there is some kind of �revenge hair colouring’ happening, where more people are experimenting with really bright shades, which I haven’t seen in the past 17 years of experience. Shades like neon green, bright purple, pink highlights are happening. I believe it’s because people were not stepping out much. I am also seeing another extreme with classic burgundies, etc.
So it’s the people going on holidays after a long time that are the ones trying out these crazy colours and on the other hand, we have those attending weddings, family events, getting ready to socialize, who are just refreshing their hair colour. To answer your question, the whole seasonality thing is gone today .
How important is it for clients to understand the various colour techniques and to discover what it is they truly need?
Vikram Mohan: There are multiple hair colouring techniques; block colouring, highlighting, and balayage amongst many others. Today’s client is very well informed, as they follow fashion bloggers, lifestyle influencers, hairdressers, so they kind of know what they want.
However, in terms of colour techniques, they can use the guidance, because everybody’s hair texture is different so sometimes the references that they see on the internet are heavily styled. We can do that type of colour for them but tomorrow it will look really weird, so we as hairstylists need to speak to our clients and explain to them what will suit them.
I have always believed that getting a great cut and colour service is one thing, but you should also be able to maintain, manage and style your hair as you want. You shouldn’t feel like you’re stuck with a hairstyle that looks great at the salon, but three days later upon washing, it looks completely different. So I suggest guiding the client is essential, explaining to them what will suit them the best for their daily lifestyle, styling, time and needs. Explain the technique and work around the reference that they have shared.
In a country where Ayurveda and natural colourants like Hena are popular, how does Davines plan to gain market share and make an impact?
Vikram Mohan: I don’t believe that Henna is very popular with the kind of customers we have at Bounce. When we started, we had many customers who used to apply Henna to their hair but we explained to them what Henna actually does. Eventually, your hair looks dry and unhealthy, because your hair won’t be able to absorb moisture. The people who use Henna on a regular basis, their hair are very brittle and there is no softness/natural feel left in their hair.
Whereas, any colour brand, including Davines, approaches hair colour by actually opening up the cuticles and putting the colour inside. The Davines Colour range has ingredients from nature, and Davines is one of the global leaders in sustainable beauty, it causes minimal damage to your hair and as well as the environment. We are not in the position where we have clients that we have to convince them to leave Henna and try hair colour, so honestly, we don’t face that problem.
I think the people who like to use Henna will continue to do so and nothing can change their mind, so for Bounce as a salon brand adopting Davines Colour has been quite smooth, because of its high-quality, high-performing range. We have gotten customers who had Henna in their hair, we applied Davines colour and the results were really good.
The world is moving towards sustainable practices in products and routines, what are Davines’ sustainable integrations?
Vikram Mohan: From the sourcing of ingredients to the manufacturing process to the packaging, we look at every aspect of being sustainable, in international markets the most underlying problems you see are in salons that don’t use sustainable products.
We keep in mind solar power and water usage and are in sync with the philosophy of sustainability. There’s no greenwashing as far as Davines is concerned which is what I’ve seen with a lot of brands that are not sustainable, they use the word eco-friendly but when you actually go visit them, they’ll serve you water in a plastic cup. These small things make a big difference. So sustainability is really something you need to understand, as far as I am concerned I really liked the philosophy of Davines and I saw the people that run the brand and they live and breathe the whole concept of ethically doing business and doing it in a way that reduces harm to the environment, at the same time they are doing other activities like planting trees, with plans to be carbon negative in the next five years rather than carbon neutral which is what most companies aim for.
Tell us what wearing your attitude in the way you look means to you?
Vikram Mohan: I think what I have noticed over the years is that a lot of credit has to be given to influencers and social media, celebrities. They have all adopted their own individualistic style and I think that people have today embraced this. They can pick and choose what they like, so let’s say if I’m following 10 influencers that I like, then I pick and choose 5-6 things that each person is doing and I make that my own.
Our brand motto is, What you wear, starts with your hair and we’ve been seeing that more and more as the years go by, even if you look at people in Bollywood or digital stars, all of them have started to take their hair very seriously. So everybody wants to have their own unique style and we want to represent them. And we also have a huge segment of our clientele, who want to be well-groomed and understated, so I think it is very individualistic.
Today there are young fashion brands, boutique fashion brands available, the amount in which women are taking care of their skin, makeup, all of that, you can truly personalize it and make it your own attitude. So gone are the days where people wanted to blend in, some of them may want to blend in, some want to stand out, but I think everybody has their own individualistic style and I think that is what their attitude is.
How are Davines’ colour services different?
Vikram Mohan: It starts with the product itself, it is made out of a large quantity of naturally sourced ingredients, so the amount of chemicals present in the range is far less. Also, you can talk as much as you want about sustainability, being eco-friendly, but the colour and the product should also give a good result. I have also noticed that the amount of colour that we need to use on the customer is almost 25% less compared to other brands so a little product goes far.
There is a large amount of waste, as all the colour that is washed into our basin, that eventually lands up in the river or the ocean, the Davines colour is decomposable and breaks down I believe in only a couple of days. It is very eco-friendly compared to other brands. The impact on the environment is much less, so when I talk to a client about, and of course, bleach that we have Davines Century Of Light, is one of the best bleaches that I have come across because you can really achieve a level of lightening in a singular sitting because it has hair building bonds incorporated into it. I believe it is the only bleach I’ve come across that has that particular quality and ingredient in it which really doesn’t damage the hair. So these things along with the whole idea behind Davines’ products and different ranges including the care line has made it easier for us to convince our clients to try Davines, and we are lucky enough to have clients who are environmentally conscious, and when we explain to them about the brand, their philosophy and colour, they try it and the results speak for itself.
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