Tips for Mindful Mixing

It’s no secret that in 2022, the price of everything has gone up. Due to inflation (which hit 8.5% in the US in March), something that might have come to mind is your color usage. Hello, mindful mixing!

How many times have you heard (or maybe said 🙊) - “stop using so much color!”

You know, when you overmixed your color because you didn’t want to be going back to the back bar to mix more color.

Every scrape of color down the drain is equal to money down the drain, but also color down the drain.

On average each year 42,000lbs of color goes down the drain. That’s a lot of money down the drain!!

Now, we’re in the business of hair color and using hair color to complete our services.

So ultimately stopping hair color usage isn’t ideal. But, there are a few things you can do to become a more mindful mixer in 2022.

Tip #1 - Understand Your Color Costs

When stylists have an understanding of how much color actually costs, it’s easier to gauge.

Suddenly you have this awakening of, “My toners are HOW MUCH?!”

You’ll think again before letting a second toner just walk-out for free!!

As a salon owner or someone who is ordering color, you see how much each tube, box, and bottle costs.

Having the conversation and sharing with your team about each cost, and how much the business spends on color is week is important. Transparency is key to creating change! 🔑

Tip #2 - Track How Much Color You Actually Need 

It’s easy to get excited and think you're saving your future self-time by ordering extra color now.

We had a SalonScale member reach out to us and share that just tracking their hair color usage allowed their team to reduce the ordering each month by $500!

SalonScale makes it easy to see how much color you need week to week, month to month.

By tracking your color usage in real-time. We’re able to see to the quarter of the container how much product you need to re-order for you back bar. 

Tip #3 - Remix Your Color

We get it, time = money.

Due to the need for everything to be fast, and immediate has actually caused our population to not only over consume but become less efficient with things in order to move faster.

Taking a moment to not act with impulsivity actually allows us to be more conscientious of the environment around us.

But, there is no need to rush. On average new stylists use 35% more color. Often this is due to the pressure to be quick. But it also takes practice to know much color you’ll need from client to client.

I mean come on, if an extra 30 seconds saves you thousands of dollars why wouldn’t you do that? Hello, Mindful Mixing!

HOT TIP: Need a Lil bit? Use the hand SalonScale feature, Remix that allows you to easily recreate your formula by the bowl and by session. Making replication for future appointments easy. But also to easily mix ¼ of the bowl or just half!

Tips #4 - Leave Notes for Future Appointments

First, you need to remember to give yourself some grace. If it’s your first time with a client you might find yourself mixing more than you need the first time.

Use maybe a quarter of a bowl too much? Leave yourself a note in the app with a reminder of how many bowls you'll need. Bonus, we save your formulas too! 😎

Summary 

It takes time to get comfortable with mindful mixing practices. But with consistently implementing these steps will not only make you a mindful mixer, but it’ll also save you money and reduce the amount of color down the drain.

Happy Mixing!