The latest hair color technique doesn’t involve paying big bucks in the world’s best hair salons. In fact, it’s something anyone can do if they take a trip to the home improvement store.
New York City-based Redken colorist Chiala Marvici developed a method for applying hair dye that takes just a few minutes and delivers some seriously stunning results. Marvici applies swirls of hair dye to one sheet of plexiglass, positions her client’s hair atop the color, and then takes another piece of plastic to press the color into the hair.
The stylist said that she was inspired to use this method after a dream she’d had.
“I have a beautiful painting that a friend of mine did and it has multiple layers of colors and I think a lot of times you see something during the day and you dream about it at night,” Marvici told Teen Vogue. “While I was sleeping, I saw these gorgeous transparent colors all living together and it inspired me to translate that into a hair color technique that you can use in real life.”
As for her methods, Marvici said that the idea was to imitate screen printing techniques. “I was originally inspired by screen printing and the way they lay down the template and design with the colors and press the ink onto a fabric,” she said to Teen Vogue. “So you’re creating the pattern with the hair dye on the board versus laying the hair down on the board first and painting over it.”
The resulting hues create a “gorgeously multidimensional” look that Marvici likens to “a holographic effect.” Hand pressing the hair color allows her to blend in bold tones like blues or pinks with more natural shades.
What are Marvici’s tools of the trade? Turns out she really did head to the hardware store for some inspiration.
“I was on the road and stopped by a Home Depot — you know, an obvious place for a hairdresser! — and just started looking for larger surfaces that could work well with hair color,” she said. She wound up choosing plexiglass since it had the right thickness and wouldn’t interact with the color like a sheet of metal would.
Approximately 75% of women in the U.S. dye their hair, and many choose to go the D.I.Y. route with at-home color. Yet if the trend catches on enough, it could appear in salons across the country.
In addition to using plexiglass, Marvici also paints the streaks of color onto the boards with a putty knife.
Once the hair in one part is saturated, she moves on to the next section. The total application time can take anywhere from five to 30 minutes.
The treatment won’t actually leave a pattern in the hair — more like a blend of colors. Some of the results can be seen on Marvici’s Instagram account.
