Traditionally, Batik involves permeating an area of cotton or silk fabric with hot wax so the wax resists the penetration of the dye. Jet Rhys Salon in San Diego has applied this concept to make clients’ hair come alive with contrasting tones and shiny, marbled color.  The innovative technique requires no color brush, only a sea sponge and cotton strips.

Start with a clean canvas

Cover up old color and highlights with a translucent stain, then carefully select individual strands and separate them from the rest of the hair.

Get creative

Using a sea sponge dipped in a pot of demi-glaze color, layer the color to create the canvas, which is meant to look marbled. Batik color should be applied in layers and stages, starting with a lighter color for the canvas, then proceeding to darker, disparate colors and tones.

Infuse the color

Release the individual strands one at a time, and use the cotton strips to infuse color from three different pots of pigment stain. Select color based on skin tone (i.e. light honey, maple brown, or spicy topaz). Dip the cotton straps into the stain, lay the cotton on the canvas, and drop the strand onto the cotton. Repeat and rotate until you run out of strands.

Finish with steam

Wrap plastic around the head like a turban and place the processing machine on a steam setting, which causes the cuticle to open and makes the stains glossy like enamel. Voila! Vibrant color and tone.

Try out some of Jet's other innovative techniques. 

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