Salon Lighting Tips: A Simple Guide to Make Your Clients Look Amazing

Lighting can make or break the vibe in your salon. It affects how your clients’ hair and skin look, and it sets the mood for their experience. Here’s an easy guide to choosing the right lighting, with tips on what works best for hair, faces, and your overall space.

Why 3500 Kelvin Is the Best Lighting for Salons

You might have heard that 5000 Kelvin (K) lights are best because they show “true hair color” better. That idea comes from old-school bulbs (like incandescent or halogen) that added too much red tone, messing up colors. But modern LED lights don’t have that problem—they give clean, accurate light without extra red. Click here to learn more about LEDs and infrared light (#).
Here’s why 3500K beats 5000K:
  • 5000K Looks Too Cool: It has a bluish tone, like office lighting, which can make skin look pale and washed out—not flattering for clients.
  • 3500K Is Warm and Balanced: It gives a soft, natural glow that makes skin and hair look great, creating a cozy, welcoming vibe.

Does Hair Color Look Different Under 3500K vs. 5000K?

Nope! Your eyes adjust to the light in the room, so hair color looks the same under 3500K or 5000K once you’re used to it. High-quality LED lights (in either range) show hair color accurately because they spread light evenly. But 3500K makes skin tones look better, so your clients will feel more confident overall. That’s why 3500K is the way to go for salons.

Key Lighting Terms to Understand

Let’s break down three simple terms you’ll need to plan your salon lighting:
  • Kelvin (K): This measures the “color” of light. Lower numbers (like 2700K) give a warm, yellowish glow, like a cozy lamp. Higher numbers (like 5000K) give a cool, bluish light, like in an office. See a visual of the Kelvin scale (#).
  • Lumens: How much light a bulb puts out. Think of it as brightness—the higher the lumens, the brighter the light. Learn more about lumens (#).
  • Lux: How much light lands on a surface. Higher lux means a better-lit area. Learn more about lux (#).

Visual explanation of Kelvin color scale

Lighting Your Client’s Hair

  • Use 3500K Lights: This is the perfect color temperature for showing off hair. It’s the same kind of light you get an hour after sunrise or before sunset (called the “golden hour” in photography) when colors look their best.
  • Why LEDs Are Best: LED lights mimic sunlight better than other bulbs, giving you accurate hair color without distortion.

Lighting Your Client’s Face

  • Use 2700K to 3000K Lights: Go for 3000K if you can. This warm light gives skin a soft, slightly tanned glow that’s flattering. Higher Kelvin lights (like 5000K) can make skin look pale and harsh, which isn’t ideal for making clients feel great.

How Much Light Do You Need? (Lumens and Lux)

Here’s a simple plan for lighting your salon:
  • Overall Salon Lighting:
    • Aim for 50 lumens per square foot.
    • Make sure the light hitting surfaces (lux) is around 500 lux.
  • Cutting Stations:
    • Aim for 100 to 150 lumens per square foot.
    • The light hitting the station (lux) should be 800 to 2500 lux for clear visibility.

How to Calculate Your Lighting Needs

Let’s figure out how many bulbs you need with an easy example:
  1. Measure Your Salon: Say your salon is 25 feet wide by 40 feet long. That’s 25 x 40 = 1000 square feet.
  2. Calculate Total Lumens: Multiply the square footage by 50 lumens per square foot for overall lighting: 1000 x 50 = 50,000 lumens.
  3. Pick Your Bulbs:
    • If you use 1000-lumen bulbs, you’ll need 50 bulbs (50,000 ÷ 1000 = 50).
    • If you use 1500-lumen bulbs, you’ll need 33 bulbs (50,000 ÷ 1500 ≈ 33).
For Cutting Stations:
  • A typical station is 5 feet by 5 feet, or 25 square feet.
  • You need 100 lumens per square foot, so 25 x 100 = 2500 lumens per station.
  • That’s about 2-3 bulbs (depending on their lumens) directly above each station.

Extra Tips for Perfect Salon Lighting

  • Height Matters: Place general lights higher to spread the light evenly. Keep cutting station lights lower to focus the brightness where you need it.
  • Watch Your Walls: Dark walls soak up light, so you might need more bulbs. Colored walls can reflect weird tones onto hair (like a green tint from green walls)—stick to neutral colors like white or beige.
  • Test It Out: Walk around your salon with a client’s hair swatch under the lights to see how colors look. Adjust if needed to make sure everything pops.

Visual graph showing spectral power for different light sources.

Illuminate Your Salon: Zinke Hair Studio’s Perfect Lighting Setup

Experience the perfect salon lighting at Zinke Hair Studio, showcasing our light platforms, 2×2 ambient light, and specialized wall lights. Discover how these elements create an ideal salon environment on our salon lighting tips page.

Experience the elegance of Zinke Hair Salon in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, where our Freestyle Systems weightless hair dryers and innovative salon lights enhance every stylist’s performance and client experience. ✨ #FreestyleSystems #SalonExcellence #ZinkeHairSalon

Light placement above station, “Track