Hair colour
Newcastle

Most of the hair colour we do isn't dramatic. It's one shade, applied from root to tip, to give back the depth and shine that sun, salt water and a few months of washing take out. A full head colour starts at $140 with a graduate stylist, $165 with a senior and $195 with a director, and takes about two hours including the blow-dry.

Single colour suits people who want a richer version of their own colour, a warmer or cooler brown, or a darker shade for winter. If you're after blonde, the brightness comes from lightener rather than colour, and that's a different appointment: see balayage and blonde.

Every hair colour appointment starts with a consultation. Bring photos of what you like and what you don't, and tell us about any box dye or henna in the last few years, even if you think it has grown out. Some of it reacts with lightener and some of it lifts unevenly, and we'd rather know before we mix.

Hair grows roughly a centimetre a month. On someone covering grey, that shows as a line at around four to six weeks. Root colour is $95 with a graduate, $110 with a senior and $130 with a director, about ninety minutes, and it's a fixed price because the job doesn't change with length.

We match the new colour to your lengths rather than repainting the whole head every visit. Colour pulled through to the ends every time builds up, goes darker than you wanted and dulls. If the lengths have faded, a gloss at the basin brings them back into line in half an hour.

This is the question we're asked most in the colour chair, so here's the straight answer.

Grey coverage is permanent colour on the regrowth, covering every grey. It gives an even, solid result and it suits people who want no grey showing at all. The trade-off is maintenance: the line comes back every month or so, and a contrast between dark colour and white regrowth is the most obvious kind there is.

Grey blending works with the grey rather than against it. Fine highlights and lowlights break up the contrast, and a soft gloss over the top takes the yellow out of the grey and ties it to your natural colour. The grey reads as brightness. It grows out softly, so most of our grey blending clients go longer between visits than they did with full coverage. It starts at $150 with a graduate, $180 with a senior and $210 with a director, and takes about two and a half hours.

Moving from years of solid coverage to blending usually takes more than one appointment, because the old colour in your lengths has to be broken up as the new growth comes through. We'll map that out with you at the consultation, with a price for each step.

A gloss is the lightest touch in hair colour. It's sheer, it adds shine, and it corrects tone: it can warm up flat brown, calm down orange, or cool a blonde that has turned brassy. It won't lighten your hair and it won't cover grey. It costs $55 with a graduate, $60 with a senior and $70 with a director, and takes about thirty minutes.

A gloss fades over a few weeks, which is the point: it's low commitment. There's more on how long tone lasts, and how to make it last longer, in our journal post how long does toner last.

Colour correction covers anything that went somewhere you didn't want it: box dye that came out too dark, orange where there should be blonde, bands of old colour, or green tinges from a pool. No two corrections are the same, so we price them by the hour: from $110 an hour with a graduate, $130 with a senior and $150 with a director.

Lena, our director stylist, does most of our colour correction. She starts with a strand test, estimates the hours, and tells you before anything is mixed whether it's one visit or two. Correcting slowly is how the hair stays in good condition, and we won't push lightener through hair that can't take it on the day. A bond repair treatment is often worth adding; it's on our keratin and treatments page.

Most hair dye allergy is a reaction to PPD (para-phenylenediamine) and related dyes, which are used in most permanent hair colour. An allergy can start after years of colouring with no trouble at all, and a temporary black henna tattoo can set one off too, so tell us if you've ever had one.

That's why every new colour client at Marram gets a skin test at least 48 hours before their first colour with us, as the colour makers instruct. It takes five minutes: a small dab of the colour behind the ear, and you go about your day. If you notice itching, redness or swelling where we tested, call us and we won't go ahead.

A clear skin test isn't a guarantee, so if your scalp itches, stings or swells after colour, tell us and see your doctor or pharmacist. If a reaction is ever severe, with swelling of the face or trouble breathing, call 000.

Ada, our founder and director colourist, takes colour clients on Thursdays and Saturdays, and every stylist on the floor colours. A graduate's colour is always checked by a senior before you leave. Every price, by level, is on our services and prices page.

We're on Kenrick Street in The Junction, a short drive from Cooks Hill and the rest of inner Newcastle. Plenty of colour clients book a cut on the same visit; our women's haircut page has the details. When you're ready, send a booking request and we'll start with the consultation and the skin test.