Colour is the service where clients most often feel they were quoted one thing and charged another. Usually nobody was being dishonest — the words just mean different amounts of work, and nobody explained that at the start.
Let me fix that.
What the different services actually are
- Global colour — one shade applied to all your hair. The simplest and usually the cheapest full-head service.
- Root touch-up — colour on the regrowth only, usually the first two to three inches. Much cheaper, and what most people actually need every six to eight weeks.
- Highlights — thin sections lightened throughout, using foil or cap. Adds dimension. More work, more time, higher price.
- Balayage — colour painted freehand, heavier towards the ends, soft at the roots. The whole point is that it grows out gracefully so you need fewer salon visits.
- Ombre — a more defined dark-to-light gradient than balayage.
- Grey coverage — technically global colour, but grey hair is resistant and often needs a different formula and longer processing.
- Colour correction — fixing a previous colour that went wrong. This is the expensive one and I will explain why below.
Our starting prices
| Global hair colour | From ₨2,500 |
| Highlights / balayage | From ₨3,500 |
A root touch-up sits well below a full global colour, and that is deliberately the option I steer most regulars towards. If your ends are still fine, you do not need to pay to colour them again.
Why two people pay different amounts for the "same" colour
- 1 Length and thickness. Waist-length thick hair can take three times the product of a shoulder-length bob. Nobody can quote fairly without seeing it.
- 2 How far you are going from your natural shade. Dark brown to a slightly warmer brown is one process. Dark brown to ash blonde is lightening plus toning, possibly across two sessions.
- 3 What is already on your hair. Old box colour, henna or a previous black dye changes everything. Henna especially can react unpredictably with chemical lightener.
- 4 Whether toner is included. Lightening Pakistani hair exposes warm orange and yellow tones. Toner is what makes it look expensive instead of brassy. Always ask whether it is in the price.
- 5 Whether a bond-builder or aftercare treatment is added.
Tell your colourist about henna. Always.
Even if it was a year ago. Even if it was "just a little on the roots". Metallic-salt henna and chemical lightener can react badly, and it can mean heat, smell and breakage in the chair. Nobody will judge you for it — we just need to know so we can strand test.
Colour correction: why it costs so much
Every colourist has clients who come in after a home box dye or a cheap salon job. They usually expect it to cost less than the original service because it is "just fixing it". It is almost always more.
Correction can mean lifting out old pigment, filling the hair back up with the missing tone, then re-colouring — sometimes over two or three appointments weeks apart, so your hair survives. You are paying for hours of skilled work plus the risk of handling already-stressed hair. If someone quotes you a suspiciously low price for a big correction, be careful. Rushing correction is exactly how hair snaps.
The cheapest way to have coloured hair long-term
This is the practical advice that will actually save you money:
- Choose balayage over all-over highlights if you want low maintenance. It is designed to grow out softly, so you stretch to three or four months between appointments instead of six weeks.
- Pick a shade within two or three levels of your natural colour. It looks better on Pakistani skin tones and the regrowth is far less obvious.
- Do root touch-ups, not full colour, when the ends are still healthy.
- Buy the sulphate-free shampoo. Colour fades fastest from sulphates and hard water. This is not an upsell — it protects the money you already spent.
- Wash with cooler water and use a heat protectant. Boring, effective.
What to ask before you sit down
- 1 "What is the total for my length and thickness?"
- 2 "Does that include toner and a wash and blow-dry?"
- 3 "Will this need more than one session to get to the shade I want?"
- 4 "How often will I need to come back?"
- 5 "Given my hair, do you actually recommend this shade?" — the answer tells you a lot about whether you are in good hands.
Send us a clear daylight photo of your hair on WhatsApp at 0328-0088408 and tell us the shade you want. We will give you a real number, and tell you honestly if it needs two sessions. We are near Metro Gajumatta Station on Ferozepur Road.