Lambert’s jet-black hair colour has just as much impact as his shaggy, razor-cut hairstyle. Just about anybody can dye their hair black, but the chunk of blue in Lambert’s hair is another story.
Adam Lambert’s Black Hair
Dyeing hair more than two 'levels' of colour lighter than the current hair colour requires all the current dye and natural pigment to be bleached out of the hair. Hairstylists use this level system to describe how dark or light hair is: level 1 being jet black, and level 10 being platinum blonde. All natural hair colours fall somewhere in this scale.
Professional hair stylists don’t just deposit or ‘cover up’ hair with dye. The dye is mixed with a developer that opens up the hair cuticle and lifts out natural pigments and any other dye that has been previously deposited.
This ensures the new colour is deposited evenly so there are no patchy places, and no natural hair colour or old colour shows through. Professional dyeing will give better shine and keep the hair healthier but if all that is desired is black colour then dying hair with a home kit is easy.
Adam Lambert’s Blue Highlight
While it’s relatively easy to dye any colour hair black, it’s much more difficult to achieve the bright blue streak at home.
To get what stylists call ‘fashion’ blue, all dye and natural pigment must first be lifted out of the hair to be able to fully deposit the blue dye under the hair cuticle. Lifting and depositing is what gets that vibrant blue colour that lasts.
There are home kits that offer fashion colours, but if they are deposit-only or don’t come with a bleaching kit the blue will be dull, will fade dramatically after the first wash, or worse—it won’t even show up on medium to dark hair.
Highlight Placement
Lambert’s blue highlight is placed in what’s called a ‘peek-a-boo’ position. Instead of highlighting a chunk of hair on the top layer from root to end, blue was added to small panel of hair underneath so that it ‘peeks’ out from underneath.
This is done for a few reasons: it draws attention to the razor-cut layers, Lambert does not need a lot of colour to make an impact, and root growth does not show up as quickly.
To get Lambert’s razor-cut hairstyle read How to Get Adam Lambert’s Haircut. Learn the different ways to style this haircut in How to Get Adam Lambert's Hairstyles.
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