To Cut and To Colour!
If the last visit to the salon being 4 months ago wasn’t a good enough reason, the prolonged summer with intolerable humidity in Kerala was compelling to get a chop. I like my hair short; the longest I have had it may be a little below my shoulders. Having straight hair, which has a tendency to be weighed down easily, a visit to the salon every 3 months is almost obligatory.
In Kerala, if there is one person that I blindly trust to do justice to my hair, it’s Chewang from Toni & Guy in Lulu Mall, Cochin. It was during an extended stay in Cochin a couple of years ago that I first visited Toni & Guy. To date, I am so grateful that the lady at the counter referred Chewang to me. You know your hair is in safe hands when your stylist is able to articulate well why he suggests you a particular style and when he talks you through everything that he is doing. If you live in Cochin and is on the hunt for a good hairstylist, you should give him a try.
I find a shoulder skimming long bob absolutely chic. Widely known as a lob, it’s a cut that works for all hair types. Predictions for 2016 suggest that the style is here to stay. I have tried a few variations in the last couple of years and have loved each one of it. You can blow it out sleek or have it wavy and textured with a texturizing spray. Chewang suggested a slightly asymmetrical lob this time around, with long over directed layers to provide texture, volume and movability.
Highly versatile, you can have your hair side parted like in the pictures above or middle parted like in the one below.
An asymmetrical lob gives you additional length and lets you play around with different styling options. Your hair is not too short and you can still have it tied up. It's also an easy way to bring in change to an existing bob or lob.
Since I do not have length to experiment with, I love playing with hair colors, trying out different hues and techniques to bring in some novelty. I colour my hair once in 6-8 months and have been an eternal fan of reds. The colours are rich and seem to complement my skin tone better than browns and blondes . A discussion, which kicked off with Balayage made its twists and turns to finally arrive at and agree on a global color with Babylights.
Babylights are ultra delicate highlights that are achieved by taking teeny tiny strands of hair and creating smaller separations between foils, so that the highlights blend with the base color easily. Unlike some techniques that work best on longer locks, babylights look just as beautiful on lobs. The colors used are 4/6 for global and 77/44 for highlights from Wella Koleston Vibrant Red family.
Let down or tied up, the sprinkle of Babylights all over your hair adds a nice multidimensional and wavy effect. In the sun, your hair looks radiant and lit up.
I am incredibly happy with my cut and colour. Thanks to Chewang :-)
A word of caution though - If you are planning to do a global colour along with highlights on the same day, you should be ready to spend atleast 4-5 hours in the salon. Because Babylights involve weaving really thin strands of hair, your stylist will require more than the standard time he would take for regular highlights.
For my haircare, I use Kerastase Bain Volumifique shampoo for volume and lightness and Masque Chroma Captive conditioner for colour treated hair.
