Hair colour artisan Christophe Robin shares the secret to great mane

Summer is here, and it's time to give more love and attention to your hair. In one of the episodes of comedy series Fleabag, the lead character's sister gets a 'horrendous' haircut. That's when Fleabag confronts the hairdresser and gives a monologue that goes like this - "Hair is everything. We wish it wasn't so we could actually think about something else occasionally. But it is. It's the difference between a good day and a bad day. We're meant to think that it's a symbol of power, that it's a symbol of fertility. Some people are exploited for it and it pays your bills. Hair is everything." We agree with this statement because hair, indeed, is everything and most of us struggle to maintain our hair in Dubai's hot weather. 
One of the world's leading hair color artisans Christophe Robin was in Dubai recently to give some hair care tips keeping the region's temperature in mind. "I want to educate people on how to take care of their hair. People fall into a vicious circle where they keep using more and more products to make their hair healthier, but it is like adding more and more makeup to bad skin," said Christophe while talking to City Times.
He takes his inspiration from travelling the world and meeting ladies of all ages and derives his techniques from their experiences. "I love travelling. I take my inspirations from Morocco, French Polynesia, and so many other countries. From Tahiti, I am trying to introduce seaweed in my product. Whenever I meet ladies from different countries, I ask them what they put in their hair and what their mother and grandmother would put in their hair. And I try and work around that."
Christophe started his career in 1985 when he was just 15 years old in a small salon where he learned very early on that hair coloring goes hand in hand with impeccable hair maintenance, in the same way, that healthy skin affects the beauty of makeup.
Christoph who has worked with a number of celebrities says that barring few, most of them take outstanding care of their hair. "Everyone says that it must be difficult to work with celebrities, but I think it is effortless to work with them because most of them take good care of their beauty. If I tell a regular woman to sleep with her hair oil, she would say no, and that her husband would not like it but when I ask celebrities to do the same, they say, 'Okay.'  One shouldn't apply it like French fries; use a little bit overnight every time you wash your hair."
He added how the Khaleesi of Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke's hair was damaged entirely when he met her. "A lot of young actresses don't get it like Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones... Her hair was in a bad shape with constant bleaching, and she didn't realise she was messing up her hair structure, but now she is using my products, and she is at peace with her hair because it is part of their job to take good care of their hair."
As one of the world's leading hair colorists  Robin is of the belief that it is not possible to have beautiful colour if we don't take good care of our hair. "Because if your hair is not in good condition, the colour will never be beautiful." 
He says one should oil their hair at least three times before visiting the salon. "You must condition your hair using some masks," he added. "If you want to make some dramatic changes in your hair color, you must keep a little bit of natural color onto the roots, so it serves as a connection between hair color and skin color."
The reason his career has flourished over the years is because he never went for short term gains. "I never wanted to be trendy. When I started my career, one of my mentors told me, "if you're going to be 'trendy', then you will become a trend. And those things never last forever."
Christophe Robin's Hair rules
 
Common mistakes women make with hair color
*People want instant results. I always tell everyone to put a serum in their hair. But serum coats your hair and most of the time it is not water soluble, and hence they stay in your hair. I want people to do a pre-shampoo treatment before they wash their hair, like my lavender hair oil. It is a game changer and very concentrated, and you have to leave it on for a little while.
 
*Another common mistake is when people want to change their hair color quite often. People always want to change their style, but I want to ask them; will constant change make them look better in real? Any modification is meant to enhance your feature and not to make you look like a disco ball.
 
*When you are in your 20s, you can play with colors but once you enter your 30s, you must stick to your natural hair color. 
 
Good old hair oil
"Hair oil is essential to prevent breakage. When we wash our hair, we lose a lot of oil; hence, it is vital to give back oil to the scalp with regular oil massages. Hydration is also critical. Omega 3, Flaxseed oil and Borage oil comes in tablet form. It is game-changing for the hydration of hair and skin, and you will notice it after three months."
 
Take care of your hair like your skin
"Scalp is skin, and every time I would bleach my client's hair, I wanted to find a way to treat them and bring the moisture back in their hair. I always try to use the ingredients that my grandmother and my mother would use in their hair because the scalp is an extension of your skin.
When you have so much stress, and your scalp is tensed, blood circulation is wrong, and people don't breathe properly. Hence one must drink a lot of water, breathe, exercise, put your head upside down and do massages every day as it will reactivate your circulation and help the condition of hair."
 
the Super Model Era 
1990 was the beginning of the supermodel era, and that is when Robin worked very closely with Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, etc. "I had the best time. Though it was a bit too much as I had to do so many hair color changes in a short time due to time constraint. They used color to reinvent themselves. It was a good time because all these supermodels were there to stay and they were trendsetters. I don't understand the current generation models who are on their social media the whole time." His salon's first clients were supermodels. They were followed by the actresses: Vanessa Paradis, Kristin Scott Thomas, Catherine Deneuve, Faye Dunaway, Jeanne Moreau, and Emmanuelle Béart.
 
arti@khaleejtimes.com