UPDATE: TINT is now closed.

Drive by hair color can fit into your schedule way better than a cut-color-blowout.

You know how they have all these new “blow-dry” bars like Blo and DryBar?  Where you can just walk in and get a blowout and nothing else and it’s cheaper and faster?  Well, now there is such a thing as a color bar.  I went to TINT in Santa Monica back in April to experience the magic, and I must say, if you happen to be in Santa Monica for a birthday party or some other kid adventure, I would recommend dropping the kids off, getting your hair colored, and then returning for pickup.

Created by Frank Dino and Dana Clark, both legendary stylists on the west side, TINT is a place where you can simply drop in, all the way up to closing time, and get your hair colored – completely or just a touch up.  You pay a la carte prices for the service, and then when the color is finished and inspected by an expert, you go to the vanity station and dry it and style it yourself.

Expert colorist Frank Dino himself took care of me.  He inspected my current hair color, which was this faded blah blah:

Dino advised me to go more natural, meaning a warmer brown.  I said what the heck, you’re the expert.  Also, he gave me wine.  I was gonna do whatever he said.  Working with my answers to the questionnaire I filled out when I arrived, and what I told him about wanting to cover my gray hair and the way I normally style it and how often I get it done, Dino chose and mixed the color to get it just right.  Then an assistant came and applied it to my hair.

I sat for a while, drinking wine and tweeting.  Then a different assistant washed it out.  And finally, Dino checked the color and did the blowout himself.  I felt like a VIP.

I was impressed with the sleek design of the studio, the friendliness of the staff, the locker facilities provided so you don’t have to lug your purse, etc., around the studio or worry that it will get lifted, the location right next door to a fancy yoga studio, and the expert advice of Dino poking around in my hair and making me feel special.  Right around closing time a prospective customer popped in.  Dino didn’t turn her away, but sat with her and discussed her needs instead.  On their website, TINT says they take clients right up to closing time, so you can literally walk in the door at 7pm and get your hair colored.

The services I received at TINT cost $47 for the base application (on my roots) $15 for the rest of the hair which is called toner, and then $35 for the blowout.  I was there for a few hours, but only because I was taking pictures and asking a ton of questions.  In my real life, I would have popped in, said “do what you did last time,” and run out of there with wet hair to hightail it back to Agoura Hills.  Let’s be honest, I hate going south of Zuma and east of Calabasas.  I’m not making a special trip to TINT.  But I do have to go to Santa Monica every now and then, and next time I’m hoping to time it to when the grays start to show.

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I received complimentary services during my visit to TINT to facilitate this feature.