Dropped into that new salon in Portland last week and walked out confused about their color matching

I was visiting my sister in Portland and she wanted to check out this trendy new salon called Bloom & Blade. The space was gorgeous all white marble and plants. But I watched three stylists mixing color and not one of them pulled a swatch book or did a strand test. They all just eyeballed it from a phone photo. One girl spent 20 minutes trying to match a level 6 copper and the result was not close at all. My sister watched her own stylist mix a demi color straight from the bottle without any developer math. I get being fast and confident but is everyone just skipping the basics now? Has anyone else noticed newer stylists ditching the old color formulas?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_burns733d agoMost Upvoted

Right? It's like the whole industry decided math doesn't matter anymore. I noticed the same thing at a barber shop near me. The guy just sprayed water on my head and started cutting without even checking my hairline or the way it grows. Just eyeballed the whole thing and left a weird patch on my sideburn area. It's this weird confidence thing where people skip the boring steps because they think they're too good for them.

emma_rodriguez303d ago

yo did they at least offer you a free drink while you waited? i went to this spot in Austin called Velvet Fade and the "stylist" used a level 10 toner on my level 6 brass and i came out looking like a creamsicle. she told me it would "lift the warmth" but my ends snapped off a week later. i swear some of these new salons care more about the instagram wall than actual color theory.

erickelly3d ago

Big agree on the Instagram wall thing @emma_rodriguez30, half these places spend more on lighting and fake plants than actual color training. Saw a stylist at Bloom & Blade using a phone screenshot from Pinterest as her reference for a balayage, didn't even touch the foils or weave sections right. Feels like the whole craft is getting replaced by people who just want to look cool behind the chair instead of actually knowing what they're doing.