Coachella Countdown: Hair Chalking

Posted by Lucy McBride on April 9, 2012 · 1 Comment

Countdown to Coachella with us at Rusted Revolution this week as we bring you all sorts of festival inspiration – music, fashion, beauty tips/tricks & more!

Here’s some festival-inspired beauty for you….even if you’re not attending Coachella, you can definitely try this for fun. I found a very detailed explanation of “hair chalking” on the Rackk and Ruin blog, so here we go.

(Image Source)

Here’s the tutorial and some tips. Click HERE for visuals.

Twist the hair as you chalk. The texture from twisting makes the chalk release more pigment.
Always brush the excess powder out after chalking each piece.
If you’re blonde or you have blonde tips, DO NOT wet your hair before chalking. I will stain if you do because adding water to pure pigment creates a real dye. If you’re okay with the staining for several washes then go for it! If you’re looking to do color for the day, do not add water at any time.
If your hair color is anything darker than blonde and you don’t have blonde tips, you’ll NEED the water. Doubling the pigment is what will help the colors to show up on darker hair. Mist a little water on the strand with a spray bottle, then chalk it up! It won’t stain darker hair the same way it will on lighter hair.
Red heads– try it without water and if it’s just not showing up, add a little water. It just depends on how light or dark your red is.
Use only “soft pastels.” THESE are our all time faves. Senellier brand pastels have the brightest and most intense pay off we’ve ever seen… and we’ve tried a lot. They’re nearly $4 per piece at Blick, which seems a little expensive, but so is hair color– and hair color removal. Regular chalk doesn’t work the same. It’s harder to transfer and getting it to stick to your hair can be virtually impossible.
Soft chalk pastels can be found at any major art store. Just don’t get “soft chalk” pastels confused for oil pastels. If you’re confused, ask a sales person. Removing oil pastels would be a nightmare, not to mention, they’d feel very sticky
Try doing 2 colors on one strand! Really fun and looks tie-dyed!
Always wear a robe or cape and lay something down on the floor to catch the chalk dust that falls off. This stuff gets EVERYWHERE!
It will get on your clothes during the day, so try and wear something close to the color you’re sporting.
Doing updos with chalked hair is ideal because you won’t get as much on your outfit.
Before you shower, brush with a soft, natural hair brush get out as much pigment as you possibly can! It should come off almost all the way with brushing.
Don’t chalk your hair too often. At the end of the day, you’re using powder pigment on the ends of your hair and that can suck up a lot of natural moisture that you need in the ends of your hair.
Shampoo your hair with a clarifying shampoo after chalking. Soft chalk pastels use “gum arabic” as a binder. It’s a very very small amount and totally natural, but it’s made from a tree sap so it’s really important to get it all out.
Conditioning treatment is a MUST after you wash out your chalk. Replenish the moisture that may get sucked out with chalking.