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2020 – 2021 lockdown will be remembered for years to come. Not only we will look back on the thousands, of hysterical funny videos, of entire families lip-syncing and dancing on
TicToK to Justin Bieber songs, watching our favorite celebrity’s cooking videos, self-shot in their own kitchens, to couples cutting and coloring their partner’s hair.
Did you ever think that you would let your other-half color or cut your hair?
The good news is that hair salons have re-opened and like me, many gladly masked and gloved up to venture back to see our favorite professional colorist, and stylist.
When I heard that one of our favorite make-up artists, and cosmetician with Sisley Paris, here in New York City was going to let her husband once again, color her hair, we stepped in!
When it comes to color, we must be careful, chemicals in hair coloring can damage your hair, especially if the color is not applied properly.
Our advice is to go to a professional salon, hair colorist, with professional-grade ingredients and application methods to ensure that your hair does not end up damaged, dry, or possibly even turning into a color you were not going for. Even worse, you could end up severely damaging your hair. If you want to become a platinum blonde without damaging your hair, then your hair colorist is the only one you should trust with your coloring and hair health. A professional colorist also has the knowledge and training to apply chemicals required, in the correct order to achieve the look you want.
Fekkai Soho New York City
At Downtown, we like giving give back to those who are there for us. Hence, our reason for stepping in before another husband completed his honey-do list. We gladly sent Marcia, one of our make-up artists, to the world-famous Fekkai Salon in Soho for color-correction after a long lockdown and home coloring.
Following the process, we asked the colorist Rae Ann Cotto a few questions:
Fekkai – Soho New York City
DTM: When did you start working in hair color?
RC: I started doing color 6 years ago. I got my job at Fekkai about a year after high school and spent time learning color theory and techniques before actually taking care of clients.
DTM: What inspired you?
RC: Since I was a child, I’ve been interested in all things beauty. Always wanting my hair done, playing with a red drugstore lipstick, I begged my mother to buy me. But it wasn’t until I was a teenager, with certain insecurities teens experience, that I decided to go to school to learn how to do the things that would teach me not only to appreciate my own beauty but to love it.
DTM: How do you know what color to color Marcia’s hair? It was stunning… really, beautiful great work Rae Ann!
RC: When it came to Marcia’s hair, I started with the basics looking at it, and asking her what she thought about her color, we both came to the same conclusion… it’s red. Too red. Using my knowledge of the color wheel, if I want to tone out red, I needed to use green. Also, knowing she wanted to lighten her roots, I opted for a neutral medium brown with green undertones. After bringing her to a solid more natural brown, I added some highlights around her face so she could feel nice and bright while keeping dimension in her beautiful thick hair!
Before – Marcia’s Color
DTM: With the COVID lockdown, have you experienced more botched DIY hair disasters coming in? a.) Is there ever a time when you cannot fix their hair?
RC: I was very surprised to not have a lot of corrections after returning to work! Even for me at the beginning working in color can be intimidating, and I think some people, really felt that at home. Doing corrections, the most important thing, and definitely the #1 rule for my work, is keeping the integrity of the hair. The only time a correction can’t be done is if it involves an excessive amount of potentially damaging elements like heat or bleach.
5. What is your favorite part of being a hair colorist?
RC: My favorite thing about being a colorist is I get to be the one to help people feel their best! I get to provide care and be apart of people’s self-care journey!
6. Any advice to give to our readers who may want to come in for color but are worried to leave their home during this pandemic?
RC: At Fekkai, we have a mission statement that starts with “Frederic Fekkai the leader in luxury clean hair care”, and that’s exactly what we are! We are clean, we are safe, and we do everything we can to make our clients feel that way too. For anyone that isn’t comfortable yet, you have nothing to fear, but whenever you’re ready, we’re here for you!
After Color with Rae Ann of Fekkai Soho
DTM: Anything you would like to share about your work?
RC: I am so in love with what I do. I’m passionate about what I do. Whether I wake up on a good day, or a not so good day, my passion and excitement never change. And it’s not just the hair, it’s every aspect of what I do; I love meeting new people, bonding with them, enhancing their beauty, and making them feel pampered, and then taken care of them for as long as they’re in my chair. I’m warm, bubbly, and welcoming, and I love having fun with everything I do. It’s so important to not only show this side through my work, but to have my clients experience the energy, feel it, and spread it too!
Rae Ann Cotto, Fekkai Soho New York City