Noticed something weird about salon lighting on a trip to Portland last month

I was visiting a friend in Portland and stopped into this small salon she goes to called Fox & Rose. Their lighting was totally different from what I'm used to - they had these warm dimmable pendant lights over each station instead of the usual harsh overhead fluorescents. The color seemed way more natural for seeing true hair tones. I've been thinking about swapping out my own salon's setup since I got back. Anyone else messed around with different lighting setups in their booth?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas_roberts6d ago

that warm lighting thing is actually a lot smarter than people realize when it comes to client satisfaction. i used to work in a salon that had those blue-tinted LEDs everywhere and we got complaints all the time from people who took selfies in the mirror and thought their highlights looked weird. the color rendering index matters way more than anyone talks about. if you switch to dimmable pendants with a high CRI rating your clients will actually see what their hair looks like in real life instead of under that fake department store glow. plus you can adjust the brightness depending on what service you're doing which is nice for balayage where you really need to see the subtle color breaks. just make sure you get bulbs in the 2700-3000K range or it'll end up looking too yellow and warm.

hugoj866d ago

Yeah, the CRI thing is huge and nobody talks about it. I swapped my bulbs out for 3000K dimmable LEDs after fighting with yellow bathroom light for years and it made a night and day difference for color accuracy.