Punch Up That Fading Color

For years, women have poured food on their hair--beer, eggs, olive oil.

Sublime Salon in Beverly Hills has taken it one step further. Co-owner and colorist Candace Feldman uses Kool-Aid in hair color, adding it to permanent dye or offering clients a temporary tint with just the Kool-Aid crystals alone.

“I add it into the color just to give an extra shine,” says Feldman, who owns Sublime with hairdresser husband Damo Sleiman. “I like to use it on my clients who are redheads.”

“Copperheads,” she says, lose their color faster than brunets or blonds. “Reds are the hardest maintenance colors.” And so, instead of getting permanent color treatments every 10 days, Feldman tints clients’ hair between dyes with cherry and orange crystals.

“I buy those individual packets and sometimes I custom blend.”

For blonds, Feldman will sometimes blend an orange Kool-Aid with lemonade Kool-Aid for a strawberry blond effect. “Usually with blonds, you don’t want to go too extreme.”

And for brunets, she uses a freshly brewed cup of coffee, “but cold.”

You can try this at home by adding coffee or Kool-Aid crystals to conditioner or gel, Feldman says. The color will wash out in a week or so. Feldman says you won’t smell like a java-head if the coffee is added to a strong-smelling hair product.

The Kool-Aid has one extra benefit in the salon. “It takes away that ammonia smell.”