Take a Dip into Chroma Hair

Your hair is your crown and sometimes that crown needs to take a deep dive into a pool of color. Will it come out silver, pastel pink, lavender, blue, sea foam green or a blend? Whatever color you choose, you should be prepared before you head into the salon. Fashion colors are notoriously hard to upkeep but new technologies are coming out everyday to improve that. We've listed multiple options for you below.

How many sessions will I need?

It will typically take 1-2 sessions. The lightening process can cause the most damage to your hair so we never want to rush it. If your hair needs to be further TONED (depositing color)  we will have you come in for a complimentary 2nd session within the first week of service. If your hair needs to be further LIGHTENED (lifting color)  we will need to charge you for a 2nd session at full price. Pricing is based on each round of services, not the total look, and while we try out best, it's not always predictable how many sessions it will take to achieve a look. Your stylist will discuss the process with you and if a second service is needed, what the price will be. 

Cost:
Emi and Tee start at $550
Mishi starts at $650
All Services include Royale (Toner and 2 powerful conditioning treatments)

Disclaimer: It might sound like a lot of money to spend a nearly or over thousand dollars to achieve a look however it takes a lot of time, energy, and expertise that goes into doing a chroma color, and the pricing is actually lower that the amount a stylist will make doing a regular highlight. Our goal is to make chroma color pricing attainable for our clients, while making sense for us as a business. Thank you for understanding.

How long does a Chroma Service take?
A Chroma Service can run anywhere from 5- 8 hours, occasionally takes 9 hours. Bring snacks, dinner, a book, your computer, or whatever you feel you need. Also, expect to be switching chairs, so be mobile. There is both iPhone and Samsung recharging plugs available at the salon.

How long does a color last?
Color longevity depends on several factors: 

• How often you wash your hair
• How active your lifestyle is
• The products you use
• Your hairs porosity

After Service Upkeep:
We recommend using great products that will help keep your color fresh. You will need a color safe shampoo, conditioner or mask. (We carry several options here and a color wash that is amazing at depositing color in between appointments.)

The more you shampoo your hair the faster the color will fall out, and keep that hair moisturized! We highly recommend a great leave-in conditioner. We carry diamond serum, kendi oil, okara leave in and solarie leave in.

Use Olaplex once a week. It is a game changer when it comes to having healthy strands.
We also recommend a toner every 6-8 weeks. However, you can choose to skip the toner and stay blond or choose a completely different color.

Products we Recommend:

Viral Shampoo ($35) Maintain your color at home at an affordable price.

Purple toning shampoo for platinum blond, gray, or white hair ($29)

Okara radiance enhanancing spray ($26) Maintain your color while protecting it from UV rays

Karinga ultimate hydrating mask ($35) Masks are essential and we love how healthy and hydrated this makes us feel.

 

MORPHIC'S CHROMA Before Photos

MORPHIC'S CHROMA after COLOR 

MORPHIC FAVE: RENE FURTERER ABSOLUE KERATINE

Here at Morphic, we've got a new favorite product, and we want you to get your hands on it too! 

One of the highlights of salon life is getting first try at the newest and best products, so we were stoked to check out Rene Furterer Absolue Keratine. 

The "keratin" part provides hair with really amazing gloss and shine, so it's perfect for those who need a little extra oomph for dry strands from things like heat styling, color treatments, or even just cold weather (so it's perfect for winter). Plus, it smells amazing. To turn those limp locks into silk for the holidays!

Mishi says, "This is product is great for anyone who feels like their hair is dry and damaged, or anyone who just likes to treat their hair with something super rich every once in a while. Just use more or less, depending on preference. Perfect for hair that's been highlighted."

Mishi created a beautiful ombre that she sealed with the Absolu shampoo and conditioner. Instead of looking dry you can see that her hair is shiny and healthy.

We're so excited about this line, we're offering a Rene Furterer Absolue Keratine Gift Bag.  The set includes shampoo, conditioner, leave-in, and a $25 treatment gift card for just $99 (a $150 value). Get yours today! 

STYLE SPOTLIGHT: LAUREN

Welcome to our second Style Spotlight! Lauren is rad as hell, and we just love her grey hair. She's so cool, let's just meet her already! 

Want this look? Book the Chroma Hair service.

YOUR HAIR IS AMAZING. WE HAVE TO START THERE...

What inspired your hair look?
My hair inspirtation came from my favorite color grey. I wanted grey hair for years and extensively searched for a stylist who could help me achieve it. I went through one failed attempt a while back that faded to a horrible bleached blonde. A couple years ago I found Mishi and she agreed to embark on this hair adventure with me, the rest is history!

What is your hair regimen?
Because my hair is so heavily processed,  I try to take really good care of it. I rarely wash my hair—only once every couple weeks to preserve the color as much as I can between salon visits. When I do wash it I leave Olaplex 3 ($28) in my wet hair for 15 minutes, then use Rene Furterer's Okara Mild Silver Shampoo ($29), and leave it in for about an hour. Then I wash that out and do the Absolu Keratine Mask ($52 )for about 15 minutes. For in between washes I usedry shampoo. I try to use very minimal heat styling, but I've enjoyed practicing with my Caruso steam rollers. I'm so busy my day-to-day routine consists of brushing my hair and running out the door.

Blow Dry or Air Dry?
Air dry! With everything I do to get my hair color perfect, I try to use as little heat styling as possible! I usually blow dry just a bit so it's not soaking wet, then let it finish air drying. 

Top 5 favorite hair products?

1. Rene Furterer's Okara Mild Silver Shampoo! ($29) It's my number one product for keeping my hair color looking great.
2. Bamboo Kendi Oil ($25) I use it all the time, usually on my ends.
3. Dry shampoo ($28) I used different brands, but it's a lifesaver since I wash my hair so infrequently.
4. Oribe Maximista Thickening Spray—I love big hair, and this builds volume and smells amazing!
5. Elnett—The classic! Still the best hairspray I've ever used!

What’s your best tip for someone with your hair on a budget?
Grey hair is probably not a great choice for someone on a budget. It takes a lot of upkeep and maintenance. I would say just be realistic about what you want to spend, but definitely only go with someone you trust and take really good care of it.

Lauren is wearing Harputs' Own

What is the coolest thing you own?
I have a WWII-looking rusted out bomb sitting in my living room. It's pretty awesome. 

What current fashion trend you're over?
I was hoping that trends were over! Really, though, I hope that the world's appetite for low-quality, cheaply made, trend-driven clothing decreases. It's bad for the environment, more often than not is made by extremely underpaid workers, and contributes to a culture of wasteful consumption.

Let's talk career...

What do you do for a living?
I'm the Director of Product Marketing a startup called Pantheon. I specialize in the developer tools space.

Coolest thing about your job?
I'm always learning. I have to be constantly learning new things and improving to stay engaged, and there's never a dull moment when it comes to my job. I also really love working with developers, who I tend to get along with well.

What are you passionate about?
I'm passionate about being the voice of the user, data, and always staying curious! 

And you live in San Francisco...

 Describe SF in three words...
"It's so expensive" 

Would you ever leave?
I'd like to live in Japan. And if our gentrification problem doesn't improve, I'm not sure I'll want to live here forever.

How long have you lived here?
I was born and raised in The Bay! I stayed for college in The Bay and have lived in San Francisco since.

What is the best way to decompress?
I love to play records, watch movies or Rick and Morty (the best show on television right now) with my boyfriend, go on hikes, and gardening.

FOOD & FUN

Who is your favorite musical artist?
Four Tet

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
I've always wanted to be able to use the Force. 

Favorite word?
Galaxy

Favorite curse word?
Putain—a habit I picked up living in Paris and never shook!

What's the wildest thing you've ever eaten?
Hmm...I ate crickets and grasshoppers recently—that's pretty out there. They were really tasty. I've also eaten ox penis.

If you could have one last meal, what would it be?
There's a Vietnamese dish that consists of a whole roasted fish that you cook and then roll spring rolls with at the table that is simple but just so good, and reminds me of my childhood.

Name your favorite restaurants in San Francisco?
We're lucky to have such awesome food here.
I love Bar Tartine.  

REAL TALK. WHAT IS THE PROUDEST MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE?

I was out in the desert shooting guns with my friends. We were trap shooting and I'd never shot a shotgun before. The guys weren't having much luck. When it was my turn, the guys were all about to make fun of me because the shotgun was about as big as I am and I was standing there in this billowing white desert getup with feathers sticking out of my hair. I did not look like I could do this. My friend started pulling and I started blasting those clay pigeons out of the sky, one after another. When I was done shooting, all my friends shut right up! I was pretty satisfied with myself.

Thanks, Lauren! 

---

Initially, when I did Lauren's hair I bleached it three times starting with the mid lengths and ends. Later, I do the roots since it has to sit for a shorter time then the rest of the hair. Her toner is the ashiest toner possible, which is 911 and 802. We always use the Olaplex and Powerdose treatment to keep her hair healthy.

The Road to Healthy Asian Blonde

Have you heard the news? Blonde hair color for Asian women is IN!

The time for adventurous Asian hair color has arrived, and as a hair stylist, I couldn’t be more thrilled. And while this is exciting news, I don’t want us to rush going blonde too fast, and forget about hair health. When taking Asian hair to a blonde color it can take two to four sessions to get the color just right. Think about it this way: on the hair color spectrum platinum is 10 and black is 1. Asian hair tends to range between 1 and 3. When you process, you should only go up by 3 to 5 levels in the spectrum so that your hair remains healthy. Of course, there are amazing hair saving products like Olaplex that we can add on to your color service, but it’s important to not forget your basics of coloring.

I have a wonderful client, Janice, who has been with me since June 2014. She started out with black hair on the spectrum at a 2, and her goal was a golden blonde ombre. Here's Janice before we started:

To accomplish her brilliant blonde, I did 6 color services over the span of 3 months. We built the color up over time, and trimmed her hair every other session.  We have finally gotten to our golden destination, and now we just upkeep her hair with partials and mini express services.

The proof is in the picture! Just look at that beautiful, healthy, blonde hair! It glows! You’ve got to trust the process, and not rush it so that your hair remains healthy and vibrant for the long haul. Give us a call if you are interested getting your blonde on!

More on Janice’s Formula:
Blue Platinum 40 vol
Toner- 10.12 + 9.11 Dia Light  6 vol
Olaplex 20 mins

Credits:
Hair by Mishi Nova
Makeup by Emi Navas
Photography by Christina Campbell

Newest Hair by Emi and Paul!

We're Growing!

As you may already know, Morphic has been growing over the last couple of months!

Paul, who's been doing Mishi's hair for years, has finally joined Morphic. Emi, our resident makeup artist/blowologist, has been working hard training, and is moving into an even bigger hairstylist role. Paul and Emi both bring even more of that goofy spirit to Morphic that we love!

Besides being super tall (seriously...he's a giant!), Paul's got impeccable taste, and an uncanny ability to put ANYONE at ease. We're feeling real lucky to have him! Then there is lovely Emi. That's exactly how you have to say it when you meet her, "lovely Emi". She's incredibly thoughtful, warm, and funny. She's a real joy to be around. They both bring some bad ass hair techniques to the Morphic HQ. If you haven't worked with them yet, you're missing out!

Over the last couple of months they've been working with Mishi to refine their balayage and color techniques and the evidence is all in the hair! 

Check out the top cover photo with Paul's color and cut. Pink perfection!

And in case that's not enough...

Hair By Paul

Hair by Emi