This Colorist Creates Nature-Inspired Hair Colors

Kansas–based colorist Ursula Goff’s Instagram feed is like the National Geographic of hair inspiration. As you scroll down, you’ll see images of the stylist’s recent dye jobs placed alongside gorgeous photos from nature that served as the source of inspiration for each look. We’ve recently seen hair-color trends inspired by things like food, unicorns, and mermaids, so it's not a stretch that some talented colorists may get inspired by nature. Ursula has managed to translate natural elements such as hot springs, wood grain, black opals, and sunflowers into hair colors for her clients.

"Colors and patterns are what pique my interest, especially unusual color combos or patterns you wouldn’t normally think to put on hair," says Goff, who is also the woman who recreated famous works of art on hair extensions. "If I see something that is very visually pleasant, I automatically start working out how I could do it on hair. Sometimes the translation is very literal, like with the hair paintings I’ve done, but other times it’s more conceptual and not completely obvious what the inspiration is."

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So where does she get her ideas? "I save photos that catch my eye, in addition to taking my own photos as inspiration, too. Sometimes my clients [will] send me images that get me thinking and looking around for ideas. I also lay in bed at night mentally going through different placements and patterns and visually imagining what different effects might look like," says the colorist. "[But] then sometimes I just wing it and come up with a concept on the spot or even while I’m in the middle of working. It’s a pretty flexible and organic process for me most of the time."

To create such abstract colors, Goff typically uses dyes from a wide variety of brands, like Rusk, Pravana, and Manic Panic, but the stylist notes a not-yet-released Matrix color collection as a favorite at the moment. "I've been able to play around with some new stuff that Matrix will be releasing soon and I'm pretty excited about it...the saturation is fantastic, so I'll definitely be experimenting more with [them]."

Goff's key to achieving most of her recent work is understanding the art of layering different shapes of colors into the hair. "This gives a variety of effects; done one way, it can look very digital and pixelated, but done other ways, can look very abstract and expressionist." For colorists looking to create more intricate looks like her poppy flower-inspired hair color, she recommends simply painting the dye onto the hair just as you would paint on a canvas. "I use paintbrushes for details, and understanding color formulation is especially important. They can sometimes take a bit of planning if [the client] has a lot of lighter tones," says the colorist.

So if you're in you're looking for a different kind of natural hair look, Ursula Goff's chair is the one you need to be sitting in. Now, go outside and get inspired!

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