Now you see it, now you don't: The hidden rainbow unicorn

I've always been besotted with hidden design cakes. Those inconspicuous ones covered in creamy frosting that only reveal their 'true colours' in layers when the fork cuts through for a slice. Something about a mouthful of colours feels and tastes exotic...

Ever a radical fashionista, with a prismatic rather than charismatic personality, I love the bright and loud dress-up. Though, at times, I prefer to throw a cloak on it. So when I heard of the hidden unicorn rainbow hair – vivid underlights in the colours of the rainbow that show only upon flicking your mane to one side or styling it in a bun or braid – I knew this was right up my alley, erm...nape.

This peek-a-boo trend is a rage internationally, with variations such as hidden pale rainbow (with pastel shades), hidden two-three toned rainbow (one strand with two or more colours melting into each other), and hidden root rainbow (colouring only the roots). As I always tie my hair up, the focus being on the back of my head felt perfect – subtle, not OTT.

Fixing the right hue, tint and order in which one colour followed the next, width of each underlight...all required the expertise of a pro, like the senior hairstylist Hazel Pradhan at Envi Salon, Oberoi Mall (Goregaon). Hazel felt seven colours would be a bit much, and having always dabbled in reds, browns and blondes, I couldn't agree more. Prior to my appointment, Hazel had dyed a sample hair patch and together, we threw out pink, kept purple, lightened the green, brightened the blue, and added orange in place of yellow. We finally arrived at five hues. With the sample now fixed, I thought things would go smooth. But it took double the 2.5 hours we'd anticipated. After washing my hair and defining tufts to be 'rainbow-ed', it took three rounds of bleaching my hair of its natural jet black pigment for a pale outcome/blank canvas. Next, my hair was parted in five slim bunches, each treated with a colour guard meant for strengthening the hair fibre, before being coloured and wrapped in foil. After 30 minutes of sitting obediently in my chair, with a top bun and five silver foils sticking out (looking absolutely alien-ish!), I was summoned for a hair wash.

After drying the hair and the blowing drying, finally, the infinite mirror moment arrived, where Hazel held the mirror behind, while I peered through the one in front and couldn't stop beaming at my new iridescent tresses, flowing smoothly down my nape to settle sassily upon my shoulders. A small glitch though, the 'purple' was 'onion pink'; the pre-decided deep, royal tone hadn't caught on entirely. Re-colouring it took another 30 minutes. Once the rainbow was in order, Hazel whipped up some mean hairstyles that would let me sneak out my rainbow – plain braid, French and reverse French braid, top knot, half-up topknot...That's not all. If I wear my hair loose and flick it to the right, the green, blue and purple strands come into bloom. If I flick it on the left, the red, orange and green ones say hi. Parting my mane at the middle and bringing both ends in front to rest on my collarbones shows off all the colours at a go.

I'm told the look will pale out in three months. Till then, I'm swimming in compliments and finding excuses to waltz in the sun – when the light catches my hair, the colours get deeper and the rainbow shines brighter.