Every woman’s
hair color contributes both to her own identity and to the perception other people hav
e of her, which a
Clairol poll of 1,000 women demonstrated. In general, brunettes are taken seriously, while blondes are assumed to be a lot of fun and redeads can be intimidating. No surprises there. For details, go to the link above.
The surveys results are significant for the very fact that they do feed into stereotypes. A lot of people like to deny these hair color prejudices or fight against them, but you can help clients use hair color to their advantage. If a client who loves her blonde hair is telling you that she’s having trouble getting a promotion, she’s probably not going to want to go into a deep brunette—but you can gently nudge her toward experimenting with whether an overall warm golden shade or some caramel lowlights will work in her favor.
One fun fact that came out of the survey was that, given the opportunity to change their hair color for only one day, a majority of respondents said they’d go red. That info tidbit carries a lot of power for you as a hair colorist. People can’t temporarily alter all that much about their physical appearance, but it’s so easy for you to give women the short-term experience of being a redhead. Suggesting a
hair color shade that goes with their skin and eyes and can be fun for them is not pushy; it’s serving your clientele well.
Photo is courtesy of Scruples.