The forbidden fruit of hair color

Summer is officially over. Everyone is back at school or work, and wardrobes are calling for a more reserved look. It’s time for a fresh start, time to reinvent your style.

Summer fads have quickly faded into autumn trends. Revealing bathing suits, sandals, tank tops, shorts and skirts have lost their appeal and necessity. Snug sweatshirts, boots and jeans are back in stock.

Photo by Ryan Morrill

But clothing isn't the only fashion accessory in flux with the changing season. Hair styles, cuts and colors have made headway, too.

The popular fashion trends trickle down from vogue runways and Hollywood celebrities into small towns across America. Last year, feathers and tinsels were popular among teenage girls. The wraps, or clip-in accents, were not sold just in hair salons along Long Beach Island, but also in gift shops and other stores alike. This year’s new rage consists of braids, French twists, looped-under ponytails, fringed bangs, rock short hair, mod bobs, long, cascading curls and bold, funky colors in every hue and form.

Hair salons along LBI and on the mainland began to see the color trend pick up among younger girls and older women in the springtime when the warmer weather unleashed everyone’s wild side. Appointments for different styles of colored hair have included panels, layers of hair usually near the nape of the neck dyed in contrast to the color of the rest of the hair; pieces, like highlights only far more sporadic; and ombre effects strategically blended near the bottom of the hair.

Traditional ombre styles feather a darker root color down the hair shaft, usually ending in a blond or whitish tip and creating a half brown, half blond look. The reverse ombre is the exact opposite of the traditional look, creating darker tips at the bottom of the hair. Both looks avoid a distinct break in color and maintain a more subtle switch. The traditional and reverse ombre effects seem to be most prevalent among older teens and college girls.

“It’s not always the dramatic, MTV, Snooki, bold red that other girls on the East Coast have been picking up on. It’s more subtle on some of the girls. It’s not a radical look,” explained John Karras, owner of Tiffany’s Salon & Spa in Surf City, who attributed the color trend to MTV’s hit show “Jersey Shore.”

But girls approximately 15 and younger seem to be most enthusiastic about adding splashes of vibrant colors to their hair, including pink, orange, red, purple, blue, green and yellow. Of course, adding such color to the hair isn’t always the simplest or quickest task to undertake.

If a person’s current hair color is darker than the new, intended color, it needs to be bleached out so the color shows up as expected. The bleaching process can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on how light the hair needs to be to achieve the desired look. The strength of the bleach and the peroxide it’s mixed with is another determining factor. It’s best to bring a picture of the desired look to the appointment.

Most of these trendy hair effects require the use of foils for sectioning out specific pieces of hair to color. This can be a tedious process and usually takes longer to do than using a highlighting cap.

After the coloring procedure, most hair stylists agree that it’s best to cut and reshape the hair for a more polished look.

“Any type of chemical work done to the hair is damaging,” explained Ron Francis, owner of Artisan Hair Salon in Manahawkin. “I recommend clients get a haircut to clean up the hair after the coloring process. The two usually go hand-in-hand.”

Once clients leave the salon, it’s up to them to maintain upkeep. Blond hair is the hardest to keep vibrant colors looking their best on because the color continues to fade. Darker hair will hold the depth of the color for a longer period of time.

Photo by Ryan Morrill

Bleached-out ombres are the easiest to maintain because they don’t bleed out. The funky colors, although stunning, are high maintenance. After a lot of washing, the colors tend to run into each other and continue to lighten. To keep color looking fresh, it should be touched up every few weeks.

Pricing for these funky ’dos usually depends on how long it takes and how much product is used. The process can take anywhere from one to three hours, after factoring in where clients want the color to begin, how many colors they want to use and what their current hair color looks like.

“There’s just so many different varieties and ways it can be done and different outcomes,” claimed Brittany Romano, owner of Lavish Salon in Beach Haven.

Romano said she’s also been selling a lot of professional, temporary hair color called ColorMe. The take-home product offers some of the most intense colors available and is specially formulated to maintain versatile color on all shades of natural hair. The color washes out rather quickly, giving people the option to try out a different look for a shorter amount of time than is possible with a more permanent dye. Many older women are opting for the temporary color, too.

Of course, not everyone is thrilled about the free-for-all color look. The exotic colors have been the source of many disputes between mothers and daughters, and even between students and employees and employers.

Dina Basile, part owner of Scissor Sisters Salon in Manahawkin, said she’s had to cover up vibrant ombre looks with more-natural colors on many girls. The reasons? Mom thinks it’s too flashy; the girl couldn’t get a job with such funky colors in her hair; school’s about to start; and some people think it’s just too radical.

“People judge from the surface sometimes, but it’s just trends. Last summer it was the feathers and tinsels. It’s innocent stuff,” said Basile. “I have a million pictures of myself with pink, frosted hair from 30 years ago. So the trend is coming back around, just like clothes do. I even have older clients that come in to get their hair done all funky,” she emphasized.

Two years ago, Alissa Marcello,15, of Manahawkin began dyeing her hair different exotic colors in hopes of mimicking the looks of some of her favorite YouTube celebrities. To keep the cost down, she had her hair bleached at a salon before heading to Sally Beauty Supply in Manahawkin, where she purchased a container of semi-permanent hair dye, which she applied at home.

Although Marcello’s mother encouraged the self-expression, some of her family members and friends weren’t so keen on the new look. She was bullied a bit in school and via Facebook. But instead of dyeing her hair back to a more natural-looking color, she decided to deactivate her Facebook account for a few months until the bullying subsided.

This summer, Marcello also had trouble landing a job on the Island because of her outrageous hair color. Although she had applied for the job position early in the season, Marcello was told she wouldn’t be able to work for the family-oriented company with orange hair. So she dyed her hair back to her natural color.

“I pretty much already had the job, and it’s tough to find a job on the Island. So I just decided to dye it back to its original color. I didn’t want to get in trouble with my supervisors because it’s kind of scary, but a lot of people don’t even recognize me with my brown hair,” said Marcello. “I kind of just feel like everyone else when my hair is a normal color, and I don’t like that. I’m really bad with talking to people as well, so if I have pink or green hair, it’s kind of like a conversation starter,” she added.

Many of the local schools have a relaxed view on the color trend. Although some of the teachers have questioned the outrageous looks on young girls in class, many of them agree it’s not a distraction.

Photo by Ryan Morrill

“Kids change and people change and everything changes, so I think schools also really have to sometimes change and roll with the punches. So we don’t really have a discipline policy, or anything like that on hair color,” explained Barnegat High School’s new principal, Steve Nichols, who recently transferred from Brackman Middle School, where he was principal for nine years. “When you bring more attention to it, then it becomes an issue. But we never had any issues with any students, boys or girls. Things come and go; clothes styles change and hair expressions change. As long as students are learning and teachers are teaching, it’s not a distraction. People come in all different packages, and it doesn’t mean that they’re good, bad or indifferent. That’s always been my philosophy,” he stated.

Whether or not society accepts the latest hair color trend, many people are opting to go for it anyway. As the new school year begins, many young girls are making appointments at hair salons for a color update because it’s fun and different.

“It’s back to school, so all the girls are coloring their hair again,” said Basile. “Who knows what else the fall will bring?”

This article was published in The SandPaper.