Hair coloring covers everything from a full change of base shade to a subtle lift around the face, and the plan for each client starts with the same question: what is the hair doing right now, and what has been done to it before. A colourist reads porosity, previous chemical work, and growth pattern before choosing a technique, because the wrong lightener on overworked strands undoes any result within weeks. That reading is what separates a considered service from a box dye applied at home.
Hair Coloring Techniques for Every Hair Colour
The technique a colourist recommends depends on the base you’re starting from as much as the result you want, so the plan usually splits by hair colour before it splits by desired shade.
Blonde and Light Hair
Babylights. The finest possible highlights placed throughout, giving fine or light lengths a natural glow rather than visible sections. See babylights.
Airtouch. The most precise lightening technique available, built for fine or previously treated blonde hair that needs the longest possible stretch between appointments. See airtouch.
Brunette and Dark Hair
Balayage. Pigment placed to follow the hair’s natural fall, so there’s no visible regrowth line as it grows out. Well suited to dark or brunette lengths on a busy schedule. See balayage.
Shatush. A softer, un-foiled lightening method for dark strands, giving a raw, sun-touched finish rather than a defined section. See shatush.
Grey Hair
Grey Blending. Fine sections of colour placed through greying areas so silver softens into the surrounding tone instead of standing apart, with no visible line as it grows out. See grey hair blending.
Any Base, a More Defined Finish
Highlights. Lifted sections, usually around the face, that restore contrast on flat or one-dimensional strands of any colour. A common starting point for first-time colour clients. See highlights.
Ombre. A deliberate, visible transition from a darker root to lighter ends, for clients who want the change to read as an intentional style choice. See ombre.
If none of these feels like an obvious fit from the description alone, bringing a reference photo to your consultation gives the colourist something concrete to match against your actual base before anything is applied.
Hair Coloring for Men
Male clients tend to fall into one of two groups — those who know exactly what they want, and those who just want to look sharper without it being obvious anything was done. Both get the same standard: a precise result with the least upkeep possible.
Grey Camouflage. Softens the contrast between silver and natural tone, so the result reads as authentic rather than covered and grows out without a visible line. Works the same way as our grey hair blending service.
Tone and Depth Refresh. Corrects brassiness and restores warmth to lengths that have gone dull or flat, without a full change of base shade.
Full or Creative Colour. For clients after something more deliberate, from complete coverage to lightened sections or a cooler, more graphic finish, carried out through the same highlights or balayage techniques used across the salon.
Every colour appointment for men starts with the same consultation as any other service, and clients often extend the visit into a men’s manicure or eyebrow shaping for men at either London salon.
At PIED-DE-POULE, every service is built around the same principles — precision, scalp and strand health, and a result that works for your life beyond the salon.
