Thinking bolder coverage and colour for my next touch-up!

It had been almost ten years since I last coloured my hair. Been there, done that, I remember too well the struggles &mdash; from aftercare to the endless touch-ups &mdash; of keeping bleached hair happy. But if I was going to do it again (spoiler: I did), I knew exactly who to trust with my hair.
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/hanatlucid/?hl=en">Han</a> has been doing my hair for the past five years. With more than two decades in the game, many of his clients find their way to him the same way I did &mdash; through a friend who always has a great cut. He styles a list of familiar personalities around town though he&rsquo;s never one to name-drop. &ldquo;For me, I&rsquo;m just here to help my clients look and feel their best,&rdquo; he told me. And just recently, he took the next step and opened his first studio, Lucid.
When asked why &ldquo;Lucid&ldquo;, Han said, &ldquo;Simplicity and clarity have always guided the way I work. I wanted to bring that into the concept of our brand, and somehow &lsquo;Lucid&rsquo; captures it all.&rdquo; Staying true to its name, Lucid is filled with vibrancy and energy. A huge floor-to-ceiling window brings the natural sunlight and greenery in and sets a warm, cosy tone to the modern space. It&rsquo;s somewhere comfortable enough to stay for hours.

I booked an appointment with Han at the new space and told him I was ready for a change &mdash; one with as little commitment as possible. I was thinking of a muted pop of colour at the tips that would fade and grow out without drama. Or better yet, something I could just chop off later when I&rsquo;m over it. Han got it right away and said Airtouch would give me exactly that. He explained it&rsquo;s a technique that uses airflow instead of backcombing to lift and separate the strands. &ldquo;So it will give dimension and a very seamless transition between your natural hair colour and the dye,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;
From there, we went straight ahead without reworking my hair structure, just a little trim here and there since Han already knows my hair&rsquo;s length, layers and texture well. Apparently, according to Han, getting the hair&rsquo;s structure right is a biggie for a beautiful Airtouch. &ldquo;It decides the precision of the hair colour placement and movement,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
The base is another. I wanted a cool-tone ashy lilac so we aimed to lift my natural dark hair to a level 8.5 to 9, blonde enough so that even when the lilac fades, it leaves behind a soft, pale undertone instead of turning brassy. To get there, we did two rounds of bleaching, each took about 45 minutes for the treatment to act. And because some sections were foiled later than the others, Han used a hair dryer to gently warm them up so they could catch up. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not about rushing but the consistency, we want it to come out even and clean,&rdquo; he explained.

Then came the direct dye, which doesn&rsquo;t rely on any oxidising agent. &ldquo;It coats the hair with a layer of colour that&rsquo;s more vibrant and longer-lasting,&rdquo; Han told me. We followed up with a nourishing ritual using L'Or&eacute;al Professionnel&rsquo;s Pro Longer Ends-Filler Concentrate and Pro Longer Hair Thickening Mask to lock in that colour and treat my hair to some well-deserved TLC &ndash; just before the final reveal.
The moment itself wasn&rsquo;t dramatic at all because I already knew I was in good hands.&nbsp;The colour was on the darker, pigmented side at first, but nearly two weeks (and daily washes) later, it&rsquo;s settling into the perfect ashy tone I was hoping for. The way the colour moves through the layers is so seamless and dreamy, and honestly, my only regret is playing it safe.

As for my hair&rsquo;s health, yes, it lost some moisture but it&rsquo;s far from fried. Hair oil is my best friend now, love how it replenishes moisture while adding a glossy finish. Han also reminded me to invest in a really good shampoo, Miriam Quevedo&rsquo;s Extreme Caviar Shampoo for Color-Treated Hair and Extreme Caviar Shampoo for Blonde &amp; Silver are among his most trusted picks. I also asked him about the retouching, and he recommends going back in about five to six weeks after the previous colouring session. So, booking my next appointment as we speak, might be up for something fun this time!

Lucid is located at ALFA Bangsar, Level 3, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur.

Han at Lucid gave me the dreamiest Airtouch — here’s how it went down

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