COLOUR FIRST, CUT LATER?

Try telling that to Julianne Moore and Julia Roberts, both of whom are in their 50s and look incredible with long hair. Age shouldn’t define you. The length of your hair has everything to do with your style and nothing to do with the year you were born. An 18- or an 80-year-old should be able to have the same haircut and rock the same vibe. You may just need to adapt how you style it.

You should dye grey hair

No one should feel obliged to do this unless you want to. Grey hair can do wonderful things for your skin tone and make you stand out from the crowd. If you feel like embracing your greys, go for it, and more power to you!

Blondes should never have dark brows

Darker brows can look great with blonde hair. Blonde brows can sometimes get a little lost among other facial features and introducing a darker shade to them (whether with a semi-permanent tint or make-up) can bring focus Lines and wrinkles are nothing to be ashamed of. Although you can hide them if you want. If you do want to address your lines, your money might be better spent in the pursuit of great skincare.

Dark roots are a no-no

Never heard of balayage? Modern techniques such as this colour the hair roots dark and the ends lighter to emulate natural regrowth, in which the roots are always half a shade or so darker than the rest of the hair. Re- creating this with colour lends more credibility to the result.

Short hair is for tomboys

It’s time to challenge gender stereotypes. Nowadays women (and men) are defying such outmoded ideas as long hair being feminine and Yes you can! Or at least you can give it a go. Although there’s still a school of thought that tells women that a particular haircut or colour is out of bounds because it won’t suit them, I like to take a more flexible approach. I consider how things can be adapted to suit the client’s needs. You may have to consider the downside or constraints of doing something, but there’s no reason why you can’t set your sights on a look.

You must cut your hair every six weeks

We’re not in the 1980s any more and women don’t tend to have those super-structured, high-maintenance styles that need regular pruning. Unless you have short hair or a specific length that you wish to maintain, you don’t have to make frequent trips to the hairdresser’s. Thanks to colour techniques such as balayage and clever ways of cutting hair, you can actually have some fun with the growing- out process. It is traditional for a salon to colour hair before cutting it, but at Hershesons we do it the other way around. It makes much more sense for the colourist to see the final cut in place so that they can paint around it and highlight the most important bits.