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Celebrity hair colorist, Matt Rez, has the world seeing red, literally.
Kendall Jenner made headlines back in March when she debuted her fire-engine locks, courtesy of Rez and Jenna Perry.
Rez has made a name for himself in the hair world with his “Midlight” process. After moving to Los Angeles from Portland, Rez trained at the Vidal Sassoon Academy, where he learned advanced hair color techniques.
Rez has moved far beyond the classroom setting and is now perfecting the hues of Adele, Hailey Bieber, and Florence Pugh. Just to name a few.
For the latest episode of Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr, Rez shares his tips for prepping your hair before making a major transformation, what it was like to take Jenner from a brunette to a redhead, and so much more.
Scroll below for excerpts from their conversation.
What sort of colors are top of mind for you? Are you seeing any trends?
You know, it’s fall. People are asking for more warmth and depth. Brunettes that have issues with seeing red undertones, all of a sudden are open to having some red undertones and warmth. A lot of low lights going on.
You are really well known for doing these incredible hair transformations. I want to talk about Kendall Jenner going red. I know that you worked with Jenna Perry on that look. When someone is going from dark brown to a red like that, how long of a process is it?
I wish it was so easy to break down. It all depends on the starting point and the ending point. So what level is the brown? Is it natural brown? Or is it colored brown? If it’s colored brown, was it blond before it was colored brown? There’s so many different layers that go into creating a new look and a new color.
Depending on the starting point, you can just gloss to a red and get a really cool look with that. Again, depending on the red that you’re going too.
Time wise it all depends. It depends how much hair, length of hair, it’s so many different things. It can take up to six, eight hours. I’ve had situations with clients where the transformation had to happen over two days or two different sessions to get it there safely. The most important thing for me always is the health of the hair and that’s something that I’m very proud of in my work and been able to maintain that for people.
Is there anything that folks can do ahead of time to help prep their hair to get it into good shape for making a major transformation like that without damage?
I definitely like to have clients do treatments beforehand to get their hair strong enough for a major transformation. I think a lot of it is on the professionals’ watch.
I think that I’m very forward about saying like, “Hey, listen, this is going to take some time today. Are you in a rush? Do you have a minute?” If it’s a big transformation from dark to blonde, for example, I go in sections and make sure that area is completed before I move on to the rest. Or while I’m doing that, I’ll continue throughout the rest of the head, but we’ll stop and check in and see if things are done and pull. I will not sacrifice the health.
Between being super hyper vigilant about it and having someone use the correct products before and after their visit, I’m definitely in a much more comfortable mindset. Knowing that they’re going to be good, because I really do care.
We all use different words for different things. What language would you like people to use to describe it?
It’s so funny, because I’m sometimes asked to name a color. I’m just sitting there I’m like, “What do I call this?” I’m like, “I can’t come up with a name for it.”
When it comes to language, I have a hard time with it myself, because it’s all perception. It’s so dependent on how you perceive color.
Sometimes people are referring to a photo and the reflection in the photo that they think is a certain hair color, but it’s actually not—it’s the reflection of light that they’re seeing is lighter or brighter.
I don’t necessarily have certain language to give anybody to be like, “Oh, yeah go in and say you want this.”
I always say go off of a photo. Bring one photo—not five—because then it gets really confusing. For the person that’s doing the work, we have to be able to visualize it, too.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Next up, check out our previous episode featuring Olympia Gayot.