Photo by Alexis Morrell
Festival season is in full swing and with some of the nation’s largest events including EDC, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands on the horizon, people are searching for easy ways to elevate their festival fits. Temporary hair color has become a fun way to achieve bold looks without the damage. Hair chalks, colored sprays, and clip-in extensions offer bold, eye-catching transformations with minimal effort, making them a trending festival-season favorite.
Celebrity hair colorist Bianca Hillier (who’s worked with clients including Diplo, Amanda Steele, and more) knows that temporary hair color is all about creativity and self expression while still maintaining good hair health.
In an exclusive interview with The Tease, Hillier shares the best looks for festival season, insider tips for temporary color, and ways to pull off unique shades without the damage.
The Tease: What’s the easiest way for someone to experiment with bold ‘festival’ hair color without fully committing?
Bianca Hillier: It’s always fun to experiment with fantasy colors that are temporary. Pastels fade the fastest and the more vivid the color is the more longevity it has. It’s easiest to play with fantasy colours on blonde hair. The lighter the canvas (platinum or very light blonde) the more true to tone the color will be. Pastels will not show up on darker colours like brown or redheads. For brunettes and darker colors, a simple way to play with fantasy colors are clip-in extensions. Perfect for a way to add a little pop of color without having to bleach or damage the dark hair. Achieving an elevated festival look comes down to hair health just as much as creativity.
If someone wants a high-impact festival look, what can make it feel elevated versus messy?
Hillier: Festival hair looks elevated when it’s not damaged. It’s super important to not overprocess the hair at any point in time or for any desired results. With fantasy colors, when the hair is damaged it looks especially messy and spotty because direct dyes won’t hold evenly in different areas. The porosity determines how even the color appears and how much light it reflects. This can determine if the hair looks cheap or intentional.
What are the biggest mistakes people make with temporary hair color?
Hillier: People often forget the very starting point of creating a fantasy color: color theory. When coloring hair, much thought is required to formulate. Canceling out unwanted tones and inputting desired hues are the largest contributing factors to creating any colour. For instance, if the blonde hair has tones of gold and you want pink, you must first cancel the gold or else it will be more sherbet toned. If the desired result is blue, then you must add violet to cancel yellow or else the blue will turn green.
Are there ways to make temporary color last just a little longer for a full festival weekend?
Hillier: If you want temporary color to last through a full festival weekend, it comes down to maintenance and restraint. The biggest mistake people make is overwashing. Every wash pulls pigment, especially with fantasy tones. Stretch your washes as much as possible and use a shampoo and conditioner specifically formulated for color-treated hair when you do. Beyond that, maintaining the integrity of the hair is what actually preserves the color. When the hair is strong and balanced, it holds pigment more evenly and for longer. This is where bond-building treatments matter — I use FILAMENT because it supports the internal structure of the hair rather than overloading it with surface protein. Sun exposure, which no one thinks about, will fade color fast. A lightweight product with UV protection keeps the hair nourished and helps prevent that dull, washed-out finish. Shu Uemura Essence Absolue Oil is one of the few that does this well without weighing the hair down — it adds shine, protects, and doesn’t interfere with the color.
If you had to recommend one go-to festival hair look that works for almost everyone, what would it be?
Hillier: A fantasy color is always the ultimate image festival hair go to. It amps up any basic look and gets you festival ready. It puts you in a fun mood and gets the party started. Plus it’s only temporary so you’re back to business in no time.
