During a very hot July day during the less-than-desirable time and place of a New York summer, I was walking down Park Avenue, frantically looking for a Starbucks with a short line to keep me going.
Somewhere around 26th street, fueled mainly by the sole purpose of having an iced coffee in hand, I passed a very chic woman—if I had to guess, she was probably in her 70s—rocking a gorgeous muted-blue bob.
She made me smile.
She also made me take some hair-color and overall styling notes.
Three blocks later, I made a right and saw a very similar trend: A longer-haired lady (most likely in her 50s or 60s) who was, coincidently, concurrently, and confidently, wearing a pastel-pink style that looked so good.
So, so good.
A ton of cold brews and a lot of steps later, I met Chase Kusero, celebrity colorist and co-founder of IGK Hair Care, down in SoHo.
His salon is super chic, cutting-edge and cool, but it’s also not pretentious.
It’s also a spot that is keeping up with the trends on the street (see above), without a whole lot of fanfare. Yet it did, just recently, launch an entire line of masks devoted to the art of non-permanent hair color, DIY, DIH (do-it-at-home) style, which, concurrently, seems to be right on schedule with Hollywood—think Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s matching cotton-candy hues or Vera Wang’s pop of pink for her 73rd birthday—sporting similar shades.
“Hair color is a core element of our salon heritage. We have been seeing clients come into the salons looking for ways to enhance their color at home in-between salon visits or looking for fun pops of color without the commitment of permanent hair dye.”
To that end, the IGK team developed the new high-quality, nourishing Color Depositing Masks to provide “a cool take on at-home or in-salon, semi-permanent hair color” in an affordable way. “They are easy to use, with nourishing, high-performance pigments and allow clients to get creative and experiment with color at home or in the salon,” Kusero says. “We also offer these in the salon for easy, temporary color—perfect for younger clients or anyone wanting to experiment with color!”
Over on the other coast, celeb hairstylist and Moroccanoil Color Ambassador Amanda Lee (she’s responsible for Hailey Bieber’s tresses) has been seeing a similar “trend.”
“Temporary hair color seems always to have a moment in the summer months,” she says. “It’s good for someone who wants a change but doesn’t want to commit. Usually, blondes are the ones loving temporary hair color as it makes the biggest impact on lightened hair.”
As Lee explains, temporary hair color does not make its way into the hair cuticle, but rather sits on the outside of the hair shaft, which is why it can completely wash out after two-to-three shampoos. “In many cases, especially on light-colored hair and pre-lightened hair, temporary hair color can last much longer due to the porosity of someone’s hair.
And, Lee adds, it’s a style that can successfully be done without a visit to the salon, if you follow some simple tips: “I always recommend doing a strand test to ensure they are happy with the color and vibrancy. The Moroccanoil Color Depositing Masks are so vibrant that occasionally I will dilute them down with a Moroccanoil Conditioner to make more of a pastel tone!”
