Consultation · 5 minute read
What should I say at a colour consultation so I get what I asked for?
The exact words that stop the gap between what you asked for and what you got. How to describe colour, length and maintenance so a colourist hears it the same way.
The most common thing we hear is not about colour at all. It is: I asked for an inch, and she took four.
That gap is a language problem, and it is fixable in one conversation. Here is the script.
The sequence
The sequence is the whole problem
Consultations go wrong in a specific order, and every one of those steps has a sentence that prevents it.
- 01
Feeling before technique
Say how you want to feel and what you are tired of, before naming any service.
- 02
Show, do not name
Point on your own hair with two fingers. Never say a number of inches.
- 03
Bring the no photo
One photo you love and one you would hate. The second is the useful one.
- 04
Say the maintenance out loud
How many salon visits a year and how much home effort you will genuinely do.
- 05
Ask it back
Ask your colourist to describe the plan to you before anything starts.
Potential solutions
What actually works.
Use your body, not numbers
Collarbone, shoulder, chin. Hold your fingers at the length. Every colourist reads that identically and nobody reads an inch the same way.
Say what you do not want
No warmth, no visible line, nothing above my shoulders. Negative instructions are far more precise than positive ones.
Name your real routine
If you never blow dry, say so. It changes the cut and the placement completely.
Ask for the number and the sittings
Price and number of visits, before anything is mixed. At Wicked Hair you get both without asking.
What to avoid
The things that make it worse.
- Asking for a trim. It is the least defined word in hairdressing.
- Bringing only filtered photos. Ask what is achievable on your hair, not what is in the picture.
- Saying you do not mind. You do, and the result will show it.
- Booking the appointment and the consultation in the same slot for a big change. The consultation is free and separate for a reason.
How we recreate it
Step by step, in the salon.
- 01
Book the free consultation
Fifteen to twenty minutes, no charge, no pressure to book anything.
- 02
Come with two photos
One love, one hate.
- 03
Talk feeling, then detail
How you want to feel, then length shown with your hands.
- 04
Hear it back
The plan, the sittings and the price repeated to you.
- 05
Then book the chair
Booked for the length of time the work actually needs.
Laila's pro tip
The single most useful sentence anyone says to me is: here is what I am tired of. Not the goal, the irritation. Fix the irritation and the goal usually takes care of itself.
Laila Grigley, Creative Director
Book with the Creative Colour teamCommon questions
Straight answers.
- Is the consultation free?
- Yes. Fifteen to twenty minutes, free, and it is the front door for every new client.
- Can I consult and get coloured the same day?
- For straightforward work often yes. For correction or a big change we consult first so the appointment is booked for the right length of time.