Best coloring tips for curly hair

Curly hair has its own set of rules—and that doesn't just apply to care and styling. You may need to adjust your color techniques and formulations to accommodate your curly haired guests. Here are our Technical Specialist Dolly Hernandez's top Dos & Don's for color curly hair.

Don’t: Over-process the hair 

If you lift her strands higher than the base color is capable of, you’re going to relax the hair and disrupt the curl pattern. 

Do: Skip the foils 

Opt for open air process and only lift her hair to a place where her curls will still be healthy. If it feels like you need some warmth tfor extra lift, place plastic wrap between your sections. 

Don’t: Just formulate to the desired shade 

Unless she has perfectly healthy—or better yet, virgin hair—formulating to match the desired shade  doesn’t guarantee it’ll work out. Depending on the curl condition, you could end up with a shade that is a few shades darker. 

Do: Consider the porosity of the hair 

Think of it this way: If you put a Level 6 on extremely porous hair, it could look like a Level 4 which means it would look much darker than planned. When you’re going darker, it’s better to go lighter with your shades.  

Do: Think about curly hair as a whole. Hand painted techniques works best for naturally curly hair.  

Don’t: Color damaged hair. Some stylists will still color damaged hair to avoid telling a client no. Don’t be that stylist.