New York City based hairstylist, Timothy Kingsley has been in the hair scene ever since he was a little kid. As his own mother was a hairdresser, Kingsley quite literally grew up in the hair salon and loved offering her a helping hand whenever he got the chance. With the hair salon being Kingsleyโs second home, it ultimately fueled his passion for hair and led him to follow in his motherโs footsteps.
More recently, Kingsley has taken the hair industry by storm with his hair painting skills โ transforming his clientsโ hair into pieces of art. Two years ago, Kingsley unintentionally got into hair painting when he painted his friendโs hair for fun. It wasnโt until he posted a TikTok of his hair painting process that he saw a huge demand for his work. With his TikTok going viral, Kingsley decided to start offering hair painting as a permanent service and has been creating unique and creative designs on his clientsโ hair ever since. Today, Kingsley has over 18,000 followers and 1,200,000 likes on TikTok.
โBased on my work one would assume it must be easy to paint a design on hair, but let me be the one to tell you it isnโt as easy as it looks. Some clients think itโs like drawing on paper, but when youโre transferring an idea from an image on a phone onto someoneโs head โ things get complicated,โ says Kingsley.
When discussing his hair painting process, Kingsley states that there are so many factors that go into executing a clean and vibrant design. From his clientโs hair length and hair type all the way to the base color he begins painting onto โ the list goes on. What makes hair such a great canvas for Kingsleyโs artistic design is the versatility and impermanence that it offers, allowing him to switch his designs up whenever he wants!
โI love doing buzz cut length designs because it allows my clients to shave it off when it grows out and start again on a blank canvas of virgin hair,โ says Kingsley.
One thing that comes easy in Kingsleyโs hair painting process is finding inspiration for his designs. โI get my inspiration from everything and everywhere! It can be something as obvious as a design I see on Pinterest or from something more inconspicuous like a China plate or a spider constructing a web,โ Kingsley says. In addition, he also likes to reference various nail and makeup content since the beauty industry as a whole is so creative, constantly offering new patterns, prints and designs.
When it comes to creating his masterpieces, Kingsleyโs go-to tools are paint brushes from his local Dollar Store and his own hands to freehand his designs onto his clientsโ hair. Using paint brushes allows Kingsley to create precise sharp lines while also channeling a sense of nostalgia, making him feel as though he is doodling in his old school notebook. Kingsleyโs choice of hair colors range anywhere from cheaper alternatives like Adore or Kiss Colors all the way to more expensive hair colors like Iroiro or Manic Panic โ his favorite product being Strawberry Leopard Hair Color as they were one of the first brands to reach out to Kingsley to make collaborative content on TikTok and ultimately lead to his partnership with Sally Beauty.
โThey were the catalyst that turned my craft into a marketing opportunity and made what I do even more profitable. But to be honest whether you use a five dollar or twenty dollar color, the creativity in executing your design matters most โ some of my most amazing designs were from the beauty supply,โ says Kingsley.
However, when it comes to lightener, Kingsley does not play around! He discusses that in order to have a successful design, you must lift your clientโs hair to a level 10. Itโs important to invest in a good quality lightener, Kingsleyโs favorites being Schwarzkopf BlondMe and Ionโs Charcoal Flash Lightener.
The first step in Kingsleyโs hair painting process starts with a client consultation so he can ensure that both him and his client are on the same page. Kingsley says, โYouโd be surprised to hear the unrealistic wild things people ask me to paint for them, Iโm not Pablo Picasso people!โ When it comes to hair painting, if the hair is too long it will be more difficult to paint a clear design and the hair wonโt lift as easily or evenly. To ensure this, Kingsley will either cut his clientโs hair to a level two or ask them to come in with their hair precut. From there, he begins bleaching his clientโs hair to get it as light as possible giving him the perfect โblank canvasโ to work with.
Once his clientโs hair emulates the color of the inside of a banana peel, Kingsley knows it is time to rinse and tone. Next, Kingsley mixes various hair colors in either separate bowls or onto a big palette. Because Kingsley freehands his designs (sometimes even getting to freestyle his work) he prefers to use a short angled paint brush for extra precision! Once his clientโs hair is painted, Kingsley lets the color sit, ensuring that the product gets deep into the cortex of the hair shaft. From there, he rinses his clientโs hair with ice cold water, as it closes and seals the hair cuticle and ultimately prevents the colors from bleeding into one another. After the hair color is rinsed, all it takes is a quick blow dry and Kingsleyโs hair painting masterpiece is finished!ย
In total, Kingsleyโs hair painting process takes roughly two hours, but on occasion his more intricate designs can take up to four hours. Recently, Kingsley has branched out from just painting on his preferred canvas โ buzz cuts. Challenging himself, he has started coloring long hair extensions and attempting to paint designs in a new format.
Out of all of the designs Kingsley has created throughout his hair painting career his China plate design is by far his favorite. At the time, Kingsley wasnโt as confident in his hair painting skills, but to his surprise he was able to create a landscape filled with dimension and shading โ all techniques that he had never done before. โIt was an original idea and showed me just how capable I really was,โ says Kingsley. Not to mention, Kingsleyโs TikTok of his China plate design garnered over a million views making it his most impressive look to date!
To Kingsley, hair painting has grown to be such a popular trend due to the individualistic expression it allows creatives to convey. Every design is unique and can not only be customized to whatever vision the hairstylist has, but also the client. Since hair painting is done by hand, Kingsley notes that even more common designs like flames wonโt ever truly look like another personโs work. In addition, Kingsley has noticed that a lot of people arenโt comfortable doing something super bold so the concept of hair painting serves a statement and act of rebellion against the โnorm.โ
โI think of hair painting like a tattoo (but not permanent). You can get as many designs as you want and the freedom to change your hair based on where or what youโre feeling at the time is a beautiful way to express oneself.โ
For more information on Timothy Kingsley and to follow more of his hair painting process, make sure to check out his TikTok and Instagram!
