Vivid & fantasy color
Vivid Hair Color in Chatham Township, NJ
Hot pink, electric blue, violet, rainbow, hidden peek-a-boos and placed block color — designed around your hair’s real condition, and built to stay bright without wrecking it.
The honest version
Bright color is a technical job
Vivid pigment is translucent. It has no power to lighten anything — it only shows up properly on a pale, evenly lifted base. That means almost every vivid service is really two pieces of work: a controlled lightening process, then the color itself.
The lightening is where vivid color goes wrong. Push too far in one appointment and you get uneven, porous, over-processed hair that won’t hold pigment — so the color fades in a fortnight and looks patchy while it does. That’s why Cait stages bigger transformations across sessions and works K18 bond-building treatment through the service to help rebuild hair structure as she goes.
The result is color that reads properly bright, sits evenly, fades gracefully rather than blotchily, and leaves you with hair you can keep coloring.
Consultation comes first
Fantasy color, peek-a-boo color and block coloring all start with a complimentary consultation. You’ll get a real plan — sessions, cost and maintenance — before anything is booked or mixed.
Three ways to wear it
Pick Your Level of Bold
You don’t have to go all-in to have vivid color. These are the three routes Cait books most.
Peek-a-Boo
Pops of vivid placed through the hair, usually underneath. Visible when you move or wear it up, subtle when you don’t. The gentlest, lowest-commitment way in — and the one to pick if you have a conservative workplace.
Book a consultation →Block Color
Placed sections of color — from just your front money pieces in a vivid shade all the way to an all-over design like a calico pattern. Highly customizable, so the plan is built with you at consultation.
Book a consultation →Full Fantasy Color
An all-over vivid application — one saturated shade or several blended together. The biggest visual impact, the most lightening involved, and the most maintenance. Worth every bit of it when it’s your thing.
Book a consultation →Real work, real clients
Vivid Color Gallery
Every look below was created by Caitlin Richards at Studio 360 Salon.
Vivid services
Vivid Color Menu
Vivid work is quoted individually after consultation — hair length, density, color history and the design all change the time and product involved. You’ll always know the number before the appointment is booked.
Keeping it bright
How to Make Vivid Color Last
- Wash less, wash cool. Hot water opens the cuticle and lets pigment escape. Cool water and fewer washes is the single biggest thing you control.
- Sulfate-free shampoo only. Sulfates strip direct pigment fast. This one genuinely matters — most of the rest is optional.
- Color-depositing conditioner. A tinted conditioner in your shade tops pigment back up in the shower and buys you weeks.
- Protect from heat. Lower your tool temperature and use a heat protectant — heat both fades pigment and stresses lightened hair.
- Book your refresh before you need it. Topping up healthy color is quick and cheap. Rescuing faded, banded color is neither.
Cait will give you a specific routine for your shade before you leave — vivid reds, pastels and blues all behave differently.
Everything people ask
Vivid Color FAQs
How much does vivid hair color cost?
Vivid color is quoted after a consultation rather than from a fixed price list, because the work varies enormously — a peek-a-boo panel on light hair is a very different appointment from lifting dark box-dye to a clean pastel base. Your consultation is complimentary and you’ll get a real number, plus what upkeep will cost, before you commit.
How many sessions will I need?
If your hair is already light, often one. If it’s dark, previously colored, or you want a pastel, it’s commonly two or more sessions spaced a few weeks apart. Cait stages it that way on purpose — forcing a big lift in one sitting is the fastest way to damage hair, and damaged hair won’t hold vivid color anyway.
Will vivid color damage my hair?
Lightening is a chemical process, so it does affect the hair — the goal is to control it rather than pretend otherwise. Cait works K18 bond-building treatment through her lightening and vivid services to help rebuild the internal structure as she goes, and she will decline or stage a service if your hair genuinely can’t take it that day.
How do I make vivid color last longer?
Wash less often and always in cool water, use a sulfate-free shampoo, skip very hot tools or use heat protectant, and consider a color-depositing conditioner in your shade to top up pigment between appointments. Most clients get four to six strong weeks this way.
What’s the difference between full fantasy, peek-a-boo and block color?
Full fantasy color is an all-over application. Peek-a-boo places pops of color through the hair — usually underneath — so it shows when you move or tie it up and stays subtle otherwise, which makes it the gentlest way to try vivid. Block coloring is placed sections, from just your front money pieces up to an all-over design like a calico pattern.
Can I go vivid over box dye?
Usually yes, but it needs care and honesty. Box dye deposits unevenly and can leave stubborn bands that lift at different rates, so Cait will assess it in person and may recommend a staged plan. Please mention any box dye when you book — it genuinely changes the approach.
Do I need a patch test or consultation first?
Cait asks all fantasy color, peek-a-boo and block color clients to book a complimentary consultation before the service itself. It means the appointment that gets booked is the right length for the work, and you find out the plan and the price before you’re in the chair.
Thinking about going vivid?
Start with a complimentary consultation. Bring your inspiration photos and Cait will tell you honestly what it takes to get there. Prefer to talk first? Call or text 908-824-6418.