The team at Pulp Riot recently caught up with Sarah Black, the award-winning artist and Colour Director of Adam Reed London. Discover Sarah’s expert view on industry trends, her inspirations, colour loves and why her signature dimensional colour creations are having such a moment.

What made you want to be a colourist?

I naturally moved into colour because, 6-7 years ago I started posting a lot of hair transformation videos on Instagram and people really engaged with my work, so it led me to explore the path of colour within my hairdressing career.

What are the big colour looks clients are asking about now?

Warmth is coming back! I have a lot of demand for richness, blondish gold colours and sun-kissed looks as well as soft auburn and strawberry blondes. I have been doing a lot of experimentation with coppers; a warm palette but with a fresh, soft blended and dimensional result that makes it look youthful and of the moment. The look I created on Jean for this shoot, blending Rose Gold Toner with the gorgeous coppers in Liquid Demi’s a great example of this.

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How do you build a personal relationship with your clients?

Gaining customers trust will take you to a really nice place. Confidence helps even if you do not have will make the client be comfortable. You cannot push your agenda on them, rather you need to collaborate with them. Find the balance and you will be able to evolve and have an amazing relationship.

What are your golden rules when it comes to colouring?

Always think about the negative space; everything you leave out will bring some dimension and interest to the final result, and I really believe gives a better end result overall. You do not have to colour every hair to get the best look. Doing less is often better!

Liquid Demi was used to create a bronzed brunette. Neutralizing the existing faded balayage or a cooler result. A highspeed toner was placed around the hairline to keep brightness. 

What was your inspiration for this shoot?

I want to give clients beautiful, wearable hair. Take the Liquid Demi copper and High-Speed Toner rose gold look I created: it is a vivid colour but it’s still so wearable, with a softness thanks that has so much beauty to it. It proves you can blend the creative & the wearable.

Why do you work with Pulp Riot?

Formulating and intermixing colour is what I love, rather than a sectioning technique perspective. Pulp is so unique in that each of the products has this perfect blend-ability and so they make it so easy to create the most beautiful and seamless blends even with different product families as they work so well together.  The experimentation is amazing, meaning my creativity is not limited at all and I can always ensure the dimensional result is seamless. 

 

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Another thing I love is the amazing even result I get thanks to the Quinoa is in every product. Because it is protein-rich it plugs any porosity in the hair during the colouring process. Even with overprocessed or dehydrated hair, you get an even colour result from root to tip and this amazing shine. Condition is everything to clients right now and I love giving them that. My clients can’t believe how lustrous their hair looks after a colour process!

What are your go-to shades at Pulp Riot?

My go-tos are brown shades in Liquid Demis. They give a lovely richness but because they are cool based they are not overly pink or red, which is perfect as I don’t have to formulate and can get the exact brown shade I am looking for straight out of the bottle.

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My favourite is the Liquid Demi 5-8: it adds just the right level of depth to a balayage, making the end result look so rich and glossy. The high-speed toners are just incredible; they work in 5 mins and the results are gorgeous. The Natural and Rose Gold High-Speed Toners are fantastic for muting and softening colour results. I make my own custom formulations a lot.

What are the upcoming trends you are seeing in 2022?

A lot of colour blocking will start to come through in 2022. People will be a lot bolder and braver, with looks like dip-dyes and graphic sectioning being requested in the salon. I also think we are going to see lots of contrasting colours coming in, with looks like blocked tips in contrasting colours or vivids being a look with the more experimental clients.

Look 1: A combination of Rose Gold High-Speed toner and copper liquid demi were chosen to give internal strength at the roots and softness to the lengths and ends.

Look 2: To add dimension sections of Liquid demi were placed roots to ends through the hair. The hairline remained the lightest area. High speed toner was placed on the remaining hair to enhance the tips and the face frame. 

SARAH’S 4 EASY STEPS FOR  MULTIDIMENSIONAL COLOUR

STEP 1: SECTIONING

Take two sections, the first to separate the surface of the hair from underneath and the second section to isolate the face frame. This technique will keep depth through the underneath and root area with a light veil of colour through the surface. 

STEP 2: APPLICATION

Apply Liquid Demi mixed with the Liquid Demi Developer to the roots area.

STEP 3: SHADOW THE ROOTS

Blend Liquid Demi into the mid-band on take all the way through the lengths and ends to make shadows of depth.

STEP 4: SPEED UP THE ENDS

Place the High-Speed toner onto the remaining lighter sections creating a seamless blend.  

STEP 5: FINISHING

Process for 30 minutes, shampoo and style. 

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