Styles: The Batik Hair Colour Technique

Comments from Suzie McGill, Artistic Director at Rainbow Room International

Rainbow Room International are renowned colour experts and are known for their incredible colour work that has won them a number of awards and accolades, their predictions on the hottest upcoming colour trends and also their ability to create new colour techniques that are admired within the industry, such as their recent Colour Spill technique that uses geometric sectioning, relaxed colour application and precise colour choices.

For 2022, Rainbow Room International have unveiled their latest colour technique, of which they have used to create the hair looks within their latest colour collection – the Batik tie dye colour technique. Although an unusual and unique hair colour technique, the Batik tie dye hair colour technique is a great way for hairdressers to be inventive and artistic and for clients to opt for a more fun and bold hair colour choice. It will be a particularly popular colour choice for clients for festival season and for spring/summer when clients are looking to add more creative colour to their hair looks.

This technique is similar to the freehand hair colour technique, where stylists will look at the clients hair and see where the colour should be placed, rather than using traditional foiling methods, however, instead of using a regular paddle, stylists can just like an artist, apply the colour on via sponge to give sections of the hair a striking and pigmented hair colour application.

Although freehand hair colour techniques can often be more low maintenance, this one is certainly not. Clients will need to keep the colour maintained at home with colour protecting products and hair treatments to keep the colour sealed in and looking its best and they will need to be aware that should they wish to get rid of the colour, they may require a couple of trips to the salon to take their hair back to a more natural hue.

“I love to use this colour technique to give the hair a gradient of colour. Colouring the base of the hair a lighter shade and then using the tie dye technique to add a pattern in the middle of the hair that instead of blends into the lighter hair colour, bleeds into it. It blends beautifully but instead of being seamless, is more striking.

For clients who want a more subtle look, this can be done by creating more of a blend in the hair. As the colour starts to wear off the sponge, take this back through the areas you have covered to blend the colour out into the base hair shade.

I love to add a vibrant colour to a light blonde to create even more of a show-stopping tie dye look. More vivid hues like yellow are a great choice. These are shades that clients may not want to wear all over their hair but may be more inclined to try in these targeted areas to create a super quirky finish that looks particularly stunning paired with a short crop.”

Suzie McGill, Artistic Director at Rainbow Room International.