For most of us, there's a stark delineation between before and after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Some visual markers of this shift include the point our phone's camera rolls stop including any people we don't live with, the vast amount of canned goods in our pantries, and, of course, the growth of our roots. Now, as states have reopened and our favorite hair colorists' books have, too, we're faced with a question — what will we look like in the next phase of our camera roll?
Colorist Nikki Ferrara, who is based in New York City, tells Allure that many of the clients she's seen since she reopened her salon in New York City told her they had nearly altogether stopped doing their hair while sheltering in place, and now, getting their hair done finally feels like engaging in self-care again. "People are just trying to put everything back to where it was," she says.
But others are continuing the experimentation they started early in the days of stay-at-home orders. In March and April, many played with hair color in the confines of our homes, not only as a way to pass the time but also to feel in control of this new reality. We saw people experimenting with temporary pink hair dye (fun!) and at-home bleach (eek!). Now that states have reopened, hair colorists and stylists are doing what they can to both primp and protect, and there's already a "new normal" in the industry when it comes to safety standards. We're seeing increased sanitization of equipment and stations, fewer people in salons during appointments, and some offering the option of house calls.
But most salons haven't been open long, so Allure talked to five experts about their predictions for post-stay-at-home hair color trends.
Hair colorists knew early on in the pandemic that their industry would be changed for quite a while — possibly forever. Many started offering virtual consultations and delivering toner and custom-mixed color kits and the option to talk their clients through dyeing their hair at home.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based hair colorist Olivia Smalley tells Allure that she's been FaceTiming with both current and new clients. "I've actually realized that FaceTime is so convenient instead of actually making that 30 minutes in my book," she says. She plans to continue the practice indefinitely.