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If you’ve been there, done that, switched up your hair from warm browns to cool-toned lilacs, then it’s about time you turned to rainbow hair to enjoy a brand-new refresh!

From ribbons of soft pinks, blues, and yellows, to strobing streaks of holographic hues, rainbow hair can be worn in so many ways – all of which look absolutely magical, of course.

While an altogether enchanting sight to behold, rainbow hair appears to be on the highest difficulty level of mane styles to achieve. Imagine how hard must it be to maintain not just one, but seven celestial shades on your tresses.

You’re not chasing rainbows when it comes to wearing a multitude of colours on your hair, though. Issac Ng, Senior Director Stylist at You Are My Sunshine hair salon, assures us a rainbow hairstyle can be achieved and maintained in a way that’s manageable.

Read on, because we’ll be sharing everything you need to know about rainbow hair!

What is rainbow hair?

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Photo source: K老尸🔴/Xiao Hong Shu

“Rainbow trends have always been in fashion to a specific niche of people regardless if it’s hair, makeup or clothing,” said Issac. It’s almost as if rainbow styles are like a classic bob haircut, but bolder and on another prismatic level.

Plus, if there’s so much that you can already do with a single colour hair dye, then how much more will you be able to achieve with rainbow colours. “Each rainbow style is unique and individual,” noted Issac, “so the design is very adaptable for various hair lengths.”

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Photo source: SOO Salon/Xiao Hong Shu

It isn’t just adaptable for hair lengths, but for skin tones too. Issac emphasises it’s very important to consider skin tone when plotting rainbow hair colours.

“For warmer skin tones, bright and saturated hues are recommended,” Issac explains, whereas “vibrant or neon hues look the best” for skin with cool undertones.

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Photo source: Pinterest, 赤瞳_迪迪尼少女猪/Xiao Hong Shu

What about pastel rainbow hair? This, the stylist recommends for neutral skin tones.

Best rainbow hair looks

There’s a rainbow hairstyle for every person, which is why we rounded up our favourite looks to inspire you before your next visit to the salon!

Pastel baby rainbow hair

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Photo source: Wattpad/Pinterest, Xiao Hong Shu

With soft, subdued streaks of pastel rainbow tones lightly cladding the mane, pastel baby rainbow hair is the style to go for a breathtaking, ethereal look.

With a mane that’s this light in colour, the stylist will need to “bleach the hair two to three times to achieve this level eight or nine lightness”, explained Issac.

Though one salon visit is possible to achieve this pastel hairstyle, depending on your hair condition and the compatibility of the design with your tresses, Issac recommends multiple visits to achieve “excellent results”, as well as lessen the damage.

To better deposit colour on your strands, “a colour protecting treatment is a must before the bleaching,” said the stylist. Colour-protecting treatments, for the uninitiated, are used to strengthen and hydrate strands, also keeping colour from fading afterwards.

As for the effortlessly blended highlights of pink, blues, and other colours, a “hand painting technique is involved to give a very soft subtle contrast finishing”.

Surface rainbow shine

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Photo source: 马丁没有阿斯顿(染发设计)/Xiao Hong Shu

It’s always a pleasant surprise to see a small rainbow refracted on a surface alongside warm beams of sunshine. This is what this hairstyle looks like: a dancing surface rainbow, or as Issac calls it, a “surface rainbow shine”.

The colours on this rainbow may appear more vibrant than the earlier pastel shades, but it’s still necessary, according to Issac, to bleach the hair two or three times and reach a lightness level of eight or nine to achieve this hairstyle.

To create the rainbow itself, the stylist will have to “use foil work to divide the section”; you can then choose whatever colour you love to wash over the rest of your mane. The hair in the picture is a rich blue, recalling the overall image of a “ turquoise sky”, as Issac imagined.

Mermaid rainbow

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Photo source: Pinterest, UNISON造型 /Xiao Hong Shu

Pale and ash colours have been all the rage this season, though this hairstyle puts a refreshing twist on the typical cool-toned colours with ribbons of holographic rainbow shades.

Issac calls this hair the “mermaid rainbow” style, since “the pale lilac-grey base colour paired with soft waves is reminiscent of mermaids”. The muted base shade also “[makes] the look ultra-feminine” – not forgetting that “touch of rainbow chic”.

Expect to have foils wrap your tresses not just during the bleaching process, but also when the stylist designs the luminescent rainbow highlights on your mane, said Issac.

“The crucial part of executing this design is matching the vertical strands and making the section come together as a rainbow streak,” Issac observed. Leave it in the hands of your stylist and you’ll step out of the salon with an eye-catching prism of colours that look absolutely gorgeous.

Peekaboo rainbow

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Photo source: 天津3AM世纪都会造型设计/Xiao Hong Shu, Pinterest

If a full head of rainbow hair is too bold for you, then why not go for a subtle tease of rainbow shades with this peekaboo rainbow hairstyle?

Peekaboo highlights are designed to peek out from the underside of your tresses, giving your tresses a subtle pop of colour that elevates your overall look.

With a rainbow peekaboo, you’ll surprise with new flashes of colour each time your mane shifts – people will wonder if it was red, blue, or yellow that caught their eyes before.

Rainbow balayage

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Photo source: Pinterest

For natural but extra three-dimensional highlights, most of us would turn to balayage, which fades effortlessly from the near the root or mid-length section of the hair to the tip.

Introduce rainbow colours to your balayage, and you’ll be bringing greater contrast to your locks, which takes the hairstyle to a whole ‘nother dimension!

This deep rainbow balayage will also put less strain on your tresses, as it only requires bleaching “one to two times to achieve this lightness level eight”, described Issac. “It is less than the other hairstyles above because the hues are deeper.”

After applying a colour-protecting treatment to your hair, “we’ll choose dye colours with extra vibrant tones […] for longer-lasting results,” he noted. Of course, if you like rainbow balayage in softer shades of pastel, you’ll be able to do that too.

Tips for rainbow hair care

The big question that we’re all asking when it comes to rainbow hair is, just how hard is it to take care of?

“It is not difficult to maintain as long as you follow the proper aftercare routine from your stylist,” Issac assures. Since bleaching is essential to wearing rainbow tresses, a “complete five-step hair care routine is highly recommended to be followed religiously”.

  • Step 1: Colour-preserving shampoo
  • Step 2: Colour-preserving conditioner
  • Step 3: Colour-preserving intensive treatment
  • Step 4: Colour-preserving leave-in serum
  • Step 5: Heat protector

Hair salons in Singapore to get rainbow hair

You Are My Sunshine

jennie's orange hair singapore - you are my sunshine

There are only so many tips that you can get from Issac in our article. The great news is that you can head straight over to You Are My Sunshine hair salon to have your rainbow hair done by the Senior Director Stylist or others from the team.

Scroll through the salon’s Instagram page and you’ll see that the stylists here nail a gorgeous, three-dimensional balayage. So, entrust your tresses to them, and you’ll walk out of the salon with a bold, beautiful rainbow balayage hairstyle for sure.

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Nestled within Takashimaya, the salon is outfitted with hipster cactus plants, tall mirrors, and orange walls, to make your visit to the salon all the more enjoyable. You can even visit the salon’s café to chow down on delicious Korean and Western food after your appointment!

Address: 391B Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City, #05-05A, Singapore 238874
Opening hours: 10am – 8pm (Mon to Sun)
Contact: WhatsApp 8887 8805, book online, or email [email protected]
Website | Facebook | Instagram

Walking on Sunshine

hair salons in singapore no CNY surcharge - walking on sunshine

You might not even have noticed that it’s a salon that you’ve just walked past at Orchard Central, because Walking on Sunshine is draped floor to ceiling with lush green plants and flowers – it’s a hidden respite amidst the hustle and bustle of the city.

Walking on Sunshine is known for its creative colour hair services, having designed everything from hot pink to cool-toned silver tresses.

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You don’t even have to guess whether the salon will be able to create a vivid rainbow hairstyle for you, because it’s already done so for its customers before. The surface rainbow shine can be seen on the salon’s Instagram!

Address: 181 Orchard Road, Orchard Central, #03-07, Singapore 238896
Opening hours: 10am – 8pm (Sun to Fri) | 10.30am – 8pm (Sat)
Contact: 8877 8800, or book here
Website | Facebook | Instagram

Haarattic

skirt dyeing singapore - haarattic

Haarattic is a salon that specialises in creative colouring, so much so that you can even find a Mermaid Hair Colouring service on the hair salon’s menu. Another type of rainbow hairstyle, mermaid hair features lots of sunset pink, ocean blue, and seagrass greens – all of which recall the image of the sea.

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Recently, the salon has also featured more freehand-painted hairstyles on their Instagram page, like leopard prints over rich streaks of purple and pink.

There’s no limit on the styles that you can achieve at Haarattic – simply speak to your stylist and, soon, you’ll be wearing a unique rainbow hairstyle that was made just for you.

Get Mermaid Hair Colouring for S$398 on Salon Finder. View Haarattic’s other hair services here.

Address: 18A Keong Saik Road, Level 2, Singapore 089125 | 67A Boat Quay, Level 2, Singapore 049855
Opening hours: 11am – 8pm (Mon to Fri) | 11am – 7pm (Sat) | 11am – 7pm (Sun)
Contact: 6835 9811, or 9873 0235 (WhatsApp or SMS only)
Website | Facebook | Instagram