Slowly and cautiously, hair salons are beginning to open back up. Although many facets of the in-salon experience are radically different, from reduced occupancy to stylists sporting protective shields, the return is still an exciting one. And while there's nothing like having a pro massage your scalp in a shampoo bowl or that feeling of having your split ends sheared off, for many it's hair color appointments that are the most hotly coveted; not just because of grown-out roots months in the making, but because summer offers a special impetus to switch things up, whether it's a brighter set of highlights, or a fresh fantasy color conjured by the brightest, boldest season of all.

"A lot of the requests that I'm getting are for gray coverage and highlights that will grow out really nicely because I feel like everybody's anticipating a possible second wave," explains Jaxcee, a celebrity colorist and founder of The Coily Collective, a group of stylists that celebrate and specialize in the maintenance of textured hair. "They don't want to do something that's going to be high maintenance, so there's this trend of color enhancement as opposed to a whole color transformation." But in tandem with a desire for beachy, lived-in look there is also that hankering for a colorful "fuck it" dye job that equal parts fun and rebellious. "I think it might be a bit of a chasm between very natural, golden, surfery looks and bright funky celebrations of color," explains Bleach London colorist Freddie Leubner. "I would assume people would be either very hesitant to commit to high-maintenance looks, or absolutely starved for fun and wanting to reinvent themselves."

Brunettes: Embrace Subtle Sparkle

During summer, Jaxcee encourages her brunette clients to embrace soft, subtle highlights that play up their natural color. "For a beachy brunette, you want highlights that play up the sun-kissed areas around the face and don't want to change your base too much," she says, recommending a gloss treatment that will revitalize and enhance color, while also ensuring highlights won't veer too blonde. In the same spirit, Rez is a proponent of midlights and babylights, which are "floss-thin" highlights that are no lighter than two levels aways from your base color. "They read extremely natural when rooted and glossed to desired tone," he explains. "They will be the most minimal way to lighten up and bring a subtle sparkle to create an all over lighter feel and vibe." For an even lower-maintenance look, consider a sombré, which can be achieved by focusing more on the mids and ends of your lengths, but with a gradation. "The Balayage technique, or lightly teased foiled tipping technique works great depending on how dark your base color is," says Rez.

Redheads: Stick to Finely-Painted Balayage

Red hair color is notoriously the most difficult to maintain, which makes it all the more important to tread carefully during summer, and with the possibility of another lockdown. "The last thing you want as a redhead is even more maintenance," says Rez. "If highlights are too prominent, when regrowth comes in, you have even more demarcation—your natural regrowth, the red base, and highlights." As such, for redheads that want to have some fun during summer, Rez recommends extra-fine balayage or foilayage done to create multi dimensional, lighter color. "The wispier, the better for lowest maintenance—especially for [those] who have a single process base done to achieve their red," he explains. In terms of longevity, Kaeding believes it's best to go extra vibrant, especially during the sunnier months. "Reds fade so fast, so the more bold, the longer it will be between glosses and root touch ups," she explains. "This is especially important during the summer because the sun has a tendency to strip out color very quickly."

Raven Hair: Go Warm and Gentle

The first piece of advice for raven-haired individuals? "Do not fight warm tones," says Rez, who tends to stay off the roots for his darker-haired clients, lightening from the mid lengths through the ends of the hair in a gradual, gradated way. "I personally don’t do balayage for super dark bases in order avoid unwanted red tones," he says. "I do however love simulating that look and feel with 'teasylight' and 'teased tips' techniques to break up super dark lengths for a super melty transition of color." For curly and coily hair, it's important to be extra careful—particularly when using any form of bleach. "Usually textured hair tends to be darker hair and if a colorist isn't educated enough about it, then you end up damaging it because it's so delicate. You need to be very gentle when you're a lightning or coloring textured hair," explains Jaxcee.

To supply color-treated hair with extra hydration and moisture, Leubner is a fan of Dizziak Hydration Wash. "It’s a great product for all hair types, but especially curly and kinky hair, which really benefits from not having too much of its natural moisture stripped when shampooing," she explains. "The Wash and Conditioner are also fantastic for bleached and color-processed hair that feels dry and thirsty."

Fantasy Hair: Try a Pastel, or Colorful Extensions

A key factor in achieving fantasy color is the shade of your base. The lighter it is, the more saturated the color will be. "The best hair to work with is a very pale bleached blonde that has been toned to remove any yellow or brassy hues and create a clean canvas," explains Leubner. "Pastel colors show true to color on a white blonde base, but the bold and bright colors also take well to a deeper blonde. Dark hair can sometimes be hard to lift to a very pale shade, so you might want to try more vibrant colors." As a general rule, warm colors (pink, red, orange, yellow) fade better and quicker, while cool colors (blue, green, violet) can sometimes mean that unwanted blue or green tones hang around for longer than you’d like. "When you’re thinking about trying a pastel color, the one thing to be aware of is that they can fade extremely quickly," says Leubner, noting the realities of sun bleach during summer. Another option that requires less diligence is a dip-dye, or streaky "sliced" color effect. "It’s such a great way to experiment and have fun without being committed to any long-term maintenance... put it anywhere you want to see a flash of color!"

Since fantasy dye jobs often involve lightening your base, again it's important to consider the health of your hair, as well as the upkeep. Colorful extensions can be a robust alternative in that you get the same high-impact results, without having to commit. "If a client wants a fantasy color, maybe something super light or mermaidy, but I know they're not somebody that's going to want that forever, I'll tell them to get extensions," explains Jaxcee. "I'll take the extensions and color them in to make sure it goes with their cut and what's going on with their natural hair."