Full-head colour: 90-150 minutes
Lift 20-30 minutes, developing 30, processing 15-45, then rinse, tone and dry. Book two hours and stop watching the clock.
Appointment lengths and return intervals
A full-head colour takes 90-150 minutes, balayage 2.5-3.5 hours and a keratin or smoothing treatment 2-4 hours. Hair grows about 1-1.25 cm (0.4-0.5 in) a month, and that one number sets every return date: colour every 4-8 weeks, a fringe every 4-6, a longer cut every 8-10. This reference lays out the timings so you can block the right hours and rebook at the right interval.
01
Forty-eight hours before a colour, a PPD patch test goes on the skin, and a reaction can keep developing for up to 72 hours after it appears. On the day, a strand test on a 5 x 5 cm section is checked every 10 minutes before lightener touches the whole head.
02
Colour takes 90-150 minutes in four timed stages; balayage takes 2.5-3.5 hours of hand-painted sections; keratin takes 2-4 hours ending in a 10-15 minute blow-dry. Developer volume sets the pace: 10 vol tones, 20 vol lifts 3-4 levels, 30 vol lifts 5-7 with a 40-minute scalp ceiling.
03
Hair grows 1-1.25 cm a month, so colour returns every 4-8 weeks, a fringe every 4-6 and lengths every 8-10. A smooth finish holds 3-4 months unless sulfates strip it in about three washes at 12-15 °C.
Colour runs 90-150 minutes, balayage 2.5-3.5 hours and keratin 2-4 hours — and each has a stage-by-stage breakdown.
A full-head colour is built from four timed stages: 20-30 minutes to lift, 30 minutes developing, 15-45 minutes processing, then a rinse, tone and dry. Added together with mixing and application, the appointment lands between 90 and 150 minutes, which is why a lunch-hour colour is a gamble and a two-hour slot is not.
Balayage and other freehand lightening take 2.5-3.5 hours because the lightener is painted on section by section rather than applied from a bowl in one pass. Development and toning still happen afterwards, so the honest way to book it is as a half-day, not as an appointment between appointments.
A keratin or smoothing treatment needs 2-4 hours: the wash, the treatment itself and a 10-15 minute blow-dry at the end. The full service-by-service breakdown lives on the page How Long Each Salon Service Takes.
Lift 20-30 minutes, developing 30, processing 15-45, then rinse, tone and dry. Book two hours and stop watching the clock.
Freehand lightening is painted section by section, so it takes most of a morning or afternoon. A strand test on a 5 x 5 cm section runs first, checked every 10 minutes.
The wash, the treatment and a 10-15 minute blow-dry. The finish then holds a blow-dry for 3-4 months if sulfates stay away from it.
New hair grows in without pigment at 1-1.25 cm a month. A previously lightened base fades sooner than virgin hair, so it sits at the 4-week end.
A centimetre of growth is a big share of a fringe and a small share of a long cut. Same growth rate, different intervals.
A fingernail replaces itself in 4-6 months and a toenail in 9-18. That growth, not chipping, sets when a gel or shell manicure needs redoing.
Every return date in a salon is the same sum: 1-1.25 centimetres of growth a month, divided into a style.
A smooth finish does not fade — it is washed away, about three sulfate washes at a time.
| Service or check | How long it takes | How often it repeats | The number behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-head colour | 90-150 min | Every 4-8 weeks | Regrowth of 1-1.25 cm a month arrives without pigment |
| Balayage / freehand lightening | 2.5-3.5 h | — | Strand test first: 5 x 5 cm, checked every 10 min |
| Keratin / smoothing treatment | 2-4 h | Every 3-4 months | Sulfate shampoo strips the finish in about 3 washes at 12-15 °C |
| Fringe trim | — | Every 4-6 weeks | A fringe sits on 1-1.25 cm of monthly growth |
| Longer cut | — | Every 8-10 weeks | The same growth spread over more length |
| Gel or shell manicure | — | Redo as the nail grows out | Fingernails replace in 4-6 months, toenails in 9-18 |
| PPD patch test | 48 h on the skin | Before every colour | A reaction can keep developing for up to 72 h |
The figures on this page reflect standard salon practice: timed colour stages, patch- and strand-test protocols, and published growth rates for hair and nails.