Everyone wants to look their best, but on a college budget, regular salon visits can be tough. Professional hair coloring can have a price tag of $150 or more, with hair lightening services, like bleach or balayage, costing upwards of $200. Some may turn to at home treatments, resulting in disastrous consequences, or just decide to save up for months for a professional treatment … only to walk out of the salon with something they’re miserable with. But there’s a new option for SCAD Atlanta students, with third year student Elliot Sparlin, bringing affordable hair services to the suites of 100 Midtown.
Sparlin, an illustration major with a focus in concept design, originally came up with the idea after considering various ways to get some extra cash. “I originally started Time to Dye to make some money because I have no time to actually have a job while doing school,” says Sparlin. “I started doing it my freshman year, actually, but it wasn’t an idea I had expanded on yet.”
Sparlin’s coloring journey started all the way back in middle school when he started experimenting on his own hair. “In middle school, I’d dye my hair with sugar free Kool-Aid,” he says. “I always wanted to dye my hair as a form of self expression. So when I was finally allowed to, I went wild.” Over the span of a few years, Sparlin bleached and dyed his hair several times, learning the process of hair coloring in a guerilla, at-home style. “I watched some YouTube videos, but I mostly went through winging it trial and error. When I went to the salon I’d pay close attention to what my stylist did. She’d have to fix my mistakes sometimes.”
It wasn’t until going off to college that Sparlin came up with the idea of starting an at-home salon in his dorm bathroom. Noticing that there was a need for affordable hair treatments for students, and an opportunity to make extra cash, he started up the Instagram, @TimetoDyeATL, and created flyers to pass out and hang around school. He started getting his first clients soon after, transforming the SCAD student body with balayage, bleaching and hair dye treatments galore. Over the past few months alone, he’s transformed black hair into a bright pink, lightened dark hair for a smooth balayage, and gone for a split dye, with hair half pink and half brown.
Although he’s only been in the hair business few months, he’s already noticed his impact on clients. Hair can have a great impact on people, and he feels as his work can help. “It makes me happy to know I can help people express themselves through their hair,’ says Sparlin.
If you’re looking to book an appointment with Elliot Sparlin and Time to Dye salon, message him through his Instagram @TimetoDyeATL.
