HairColor Compass — Founding Members | Expert Color Solutions
HairColor Compassby ECS
Founding Round · Launching End of This Month
Meet HairColor Compass · Launching By End of This Month

We're this close. Help us bring HairColor Compass to life.

HairColor Compass is the ECS color consultation app — Elaine's methodology in your pocket, the moment you need it. Join the founding round today and your membership includes the app and full access to the Hair Color Secrets Insider Library — 10 modules, 95+ lessons, and Elaine's complete formulation training. We're targeting launch by the end of this month. Your support helps us finish the app build. In return, you lock in the lowest combined rate this will ever be.

Founding Round · Locked Forever
$37 today
$37/month (cancel anytime with 30 days' notice). We're targeting app launch by the end of this month.
CONSULT
What do you need help with?
Gray Coverage
Live now
Toner Selection
Coming soon
SOON
Color Correction
Coming soon
SOON
Going Lighter
Coming soon
SOON
Highlighting
Coming soon
SOON
REVIEW
Here's what you told me
Confirm before we formulate
Natural level Level 4
% Gray 25% — under 30%
Distribution Evenly through
Direction Stay on-level
Coverage type Full coverage
Last formula First-time client
Generate my formula →
FORMULA
Your recommendation
Use demi-permanent
At 25% gray on-level, you don't need permanent — demi covers cleanly without warmth.
Product 4N cream demi
Developer 10 vol
Timing 25 min, no heat
Apply Scalp out, even saturation
Don't do this Reach for permanent — you'd add warmth you don't need
How the founding round works

A simple, honest deal. You help us launch. We lock you in forever.

We're not asking you to pay for an app that isn't built yet. When you join today, you get full access to the Hair Color Secrets Insider Library immediately, and your $37 bills every 30 days from there to help us finish the app. We're targeting launch by the end of this month — and if that date slips, we automatically pause billing until HairColor Compass is actually live.

Step 01 · Today
When you sign up
$37
Your founding-member deposit.
A $37 charge today starts your membership and unlocks the Insider Library right away. This locks in your founding combo rate forever and helps us finish the app build.
Step 02 · Ongoing
Every 30 days
$37
Billed every 30 days, on schedule.
We're targeting launch by the end of this month, and your $37 continues billing every 30 days from today. If for any reason the app isn't live by the end of this month, we pause billing automatically until it is — you'll never be charged for an app that isn't in your hands yet.
Step 03 · Launch day
When the app goes live
App access unlocks — same $37/mo.
The moment HairColor Compass launches, full app access turns on inside the membership you're already paying for. No new charge, no separate signup — your locked $37/month rate now covers the app and the Library together, for as long as you stay a member.
If the app isn't live by the end of this month, billing pauses automatically until it is. We are committed to bringing this to life and we're closer than we've ever been. You'll always have full access to the Insider Library either way — you just won't be billed for app access you can't use yet.
A Note From Elaine

HairColor Compass is the beginning of something we'll build together.

For nearly forty years I've been teaching colorists how to think — not just what to mix. HairColor Compass is the first time that thinking lives in your pocket, available the moment you need it, in the middle of a consultation, with a client in your chair. We are this close to launch. The founding round is how a small group of you help us get it across the line — and while you wait, you're already inside the Insider Library, working through the same methodology at your own pace.

"I want you to have me in your pocket. Not a marketing voice. Not a generic chatbot. The same diagnostic method I've taught for decades — there when you need it, the way I would walk you through it. The colorists who help us launch will always have a place at the foundation of this."
— Elaine Travis, Founder

We are launching the app with what every colorist needs first: gray coverage. The full diagnostic, the complete decision tree, the formulas with the reasoning. And from there — module by module — we'll keep adding, because there's a lot more I want to put in your hands.

What the app does today

It asks the questions you'd ask if you had a mentor on your shoulder.

No infinite chat. No generic AI. HairColor Compass walks through a structured diagnostic — one question at a time, the way Elaine teaches — and then hands you a complete formulation with the reasoning behind it.

Q1
What is your client's natural level?
Because every formula starts here. Get this wrong and everything downstream is wrong.
Q2
What percentage of gray are they — and where is it concentrated?
Under 30%, 30–60%, over 60%, or resistant pockets at the temples? The answer changes everything — developer, product family, application order.
Q3
Are you staying on-level, going darker, or going lighter?
This is the fork in the road. Going darker opens up demi all the way down to level 1. Going lighter is a different conversation entirely.
Q4
Does the client want full coverage — or a softer, blended look?
The right answer depends on their lifestyle, their regrowth tolerance, and whether they're open to a lived-in root.
Q5
What did you use last time — and how did it process?
Your history matters. If something didn't grab last time, we don't just repeat the same formula and hope.
And then it gives you the formula, the developer, the timing, the application order, the common mistakes to avoid, and the reasoning — in Elaine's voice.
FORMULA RESULT
Gray Coverage · Stay on level
Level 4 base, 25% gray, full coverage —
Why demi-permanent
Under 30% gray and staying on-level is the textbook case for demi. You'll get clean coverage without the warmth permanent would add — and you won't compromise the integrity of the hair.
Product 4N cream demi-permanent
Developer 10 vol
Time 25 min, no heat
Application Scalp out, even saturation
Avoid Permanent — unnecessary at 25%
ELAINE'S INSIGHT —
Don't let "gray coverage" make you reach for permanent automatically. At 25% on-level, demi is the answer every time. Save permanent for when the gray actually demands it.
Included with your membership

The Hair Color Secrets Insider Library, included from day one.

This isn't a bonus PDF. It's Elaine's complete, brand-free formulation curriculum — 10 modules, 95+ lessons, built from decades behind the chair. It's yours the moment you join, no waiting on the app.

Positioning

Stand out as the expert

A clear framework for setting yourself apart from other colorists in your market — not with gimmicks, but with real formulation confidence clients can feel.

Business

Brand development

The branding fundamentals top-performing stylists use to build a client base that keeps coming back — and keeps referring.

Perspective

Interviews with industry pros

Hear directly from working professionals about what's worked in their businesses, so you can adapt their strategies to your own chair.

Templates

Business forms, done for you

Professional forms that protect you and your business, so you're not starting from a blank page — or a redo you could have avoided.

Formulation

The full power of demi-permanent

What demi-permanent can actually do — and the situations where it quietly outperforms permanent, if you know how to use it.

Technique

Highlighting that sets you apart

Modern balayage, couture highlights, flat foils, and more — techniques built to put you ahead of what's already saturating your market.

Pricing

Earn what you're worth

How pricing your services properly changes your income — without changing your client base or your hours behind the chair.

Corrective color

Simplify color correction

A clear process for approaching corrective work with confidence instead of dread — plus application tips that hold up in a real, busy chair.

& more

10 modules, 95+ lessons total

Marketing, application technique, and the fundamentals — all brand-free, all built from Elaine's own years behind the chair, growing as we add to it.

What's coming

Today: formulation.
Tomorrow: a complete diagnostic library.

We are building HairColor Compass module by module, in the same order Elaine teaches it in the Insider Library. Every category we add becomes available to founding members at the same $37/month — no upcharges, no tiers, no upgrade pressure.

● Live at launch

Gray Coverage

The full diagnostic: under 30%, 30–60%, over 60%, resistant areas, going darker, going lighter, the blend path with lived-in root assessment, and the escalation ladder before reaching for permanent.

On the roadmap

Color Correction

The category every colorist asks for. Diagnosing what's actually on the hair, the order of operations, and the formulas that fix instead of compound the problem.

On the roadmap

Going Lighter

Lift levels, developer choices, and the difference between brightening on-level and a true elevation.

On the roadmap

Highlighting & Balayage

Foiling, hand-painted color, the diagnostic that comes before you ever pick up a brush.

On the roadmap

Lived-In Color & Color Refresh

Maintaining tone, refreshing mids and ends without compromising the line, and the soft regrowth strategy.

On the roadmap

Color Removal & Color Matching

When to remove, how much to remove, and matching a level you can't quite see in the mirror.

Why founding members matter

Three things you get for being early.

We're not running a flash sale. We're inviting a small group of colorists to join us at the ground floor — and the things you'll get are the things you can only get by being here first.

01

Your price is locked. Forever.

As we add more app categories and the price goes up for new members, yours stays at $37/month for as long as you remain a member. No renegotiation. No "founder price expires after year one." It's yours.

02

Your voice shapes what gets built.

Every new app module is informed by the scenarios our founding members are bringing to us from their chairs. The order we build in, the cases we cover, the diagnostics we add — you're shaping all of it.

03

Everything we add is yours, included.

Color correction, going lighter, balayage, color removal, and every future Insider Library lesson — as each one ships, it unlocks for you at no additional cost. Your $37/month grows with the app and the Library, automatically.

Back the Founding Round

$37 today. That's the deal.

Founding Round · Locked Forever
$37one-time, today

Your $37 today unlocks the full Insider Library immediately and bills every 30 days from there. If the app isn't live by the end of this month, billing pauses automatically until it is. After launch: $37/month at your locked founding rate — app plus Library, together.

  • $37 today — Insider Library access starts immediately
  • Billed every 30 days going forward
  • Billing pauses automatically if the app isn't live by end of month
  • Founding rate of $37/mo locked for as long as you remain a member
  • Full Hair Color Secrets Insider Library — 10 modules, 95+ lessons, included from day one
  • Every new app module added — at no additional cost, ever
  • Full Gray Coverage diagnostic at app launch, in Elaine's voice with the reasoning
  • Downloadable PDF formulas, mobile-first, no app store needed
Back the founding round — $37 →
Billed every 30 days · Pauses automatically if app isn't live by end of month · 30 days' notice to cancel
Honest answers

Things you're probably wondering.

When will HairColor Compass be live?
We're targeting launch by the end of this month. Every scenario in the diagnostic has to be personally reviewed and approved by Elaine before it goes live, because her name and reputation are on it — so if something needs a little more polish, we'll take the time to get it right rather than rush it out. The founding round is what helps us close the final stretch. The moment we have a confirmed launch date, every founding member will be the first to know.
What am I actually paying for today?
A $37 charge that starts your membership right now — Insider Library access unlocks immediately. From there, $37 bills every 30 days, locking in your founding combo rate and helping us finish the app build. If we don't hit our end-of-month launch target, billing pauses automatically until the app is live, so you're never paying for app access you don't have yet.
Do I get the Insider Library right away, or do I have to wait for the app?
The Insider Library unlocks the moment your $37 goes through — you're not waiting on the app for that. Your membership then bills every 30 days as normal. The only thing tied to the app's launch is a safeguard: if we don't hit our end-of-month target, billing pauses automatically until the app is actually live.
Will I be billed again before the app launches?
Yes — your membership bills every 30 days from the day you join, same as any subscription, and that's what's funding the Library access you already have. The one safeguard: if the app isn't live by the end of this month, billing pauses automatically until it is, so you're never charged for app access that doesn't exist yet.
What happens if the app isn't ready by end of month?
Billing pauses automatically — you won't be charged again until HairColor Compass is actually live. You'll keep your full Insider Library access the whole time, and the moment we have a confirmed launch date, you'll be the first to know. We're committed to bringing this to life and we're closer than we've ever been.
What does "founding rate locked forever" actually mean?
It means $37/month, for as long as you remain a continuous member. As we add app modules and Library lessons and raise the price for new members down the line, your rate stays where it started. If you cancel and come back later, you'd come back at whatever the current rate is — so the only way to lose the price is to leave.
Is this a replacement for the Inner Circle?
No. The Inner Circle is where you learn alongside a live community — courses, monthly coaching calls, weekly drop-in sessions. HairColor Compass plus the Insider Library is where you apply the methodology on demand, in the moment, with a client in your chair. They're complements, not replacements.
Why is the app called "AI" — is this just a chatbot?
No. The diagnostic flow is structured — Elaine's actual decision tree, not a free-form chat. The AI is used to walk you through the result in her voice, but every scenario module has been reviewed and approved by Elaine before it's live. You're never getting a generic guess. You're getting Elaine's method, delivered conversationally.
Do I need to download anything?
No. HairColor Compass is a web app — it lives in your phone's browser, opens like a regular app, and works on any phone. No app store, no updates to install. Bookmark it once and it's there. The Insider Library is available the same way.
Where does the name HairColor Compass come from?
A compass points you in the right direction when you're not sure which way to go — which is exactly what the app does in the middle of a consultation. Elaine's decision tree, in your hand, every time you need it.
What if I want to cancel after launch?
You can cancel anytime with 30 days' notice. Your access to both the app and the Library stays active through that notice period, and then it ends. If you decide to come back later, you'd rejoin at whatever the current price is — the founding rate is only locked while you remain a continuous member.
A small group, at the foundation

Help us launch HairColor Compass. Lock in forever.

$37 today unlocks the Insider Library immediately, then bills every 30 days. If the app isn't live by end of month, billing pauses until it is. Your founding rate is locked for as long as you stay a member.

Back the founding round →
HairColor Compass
by Expert Color Solutions — brand-free hair color education, founded 2012 by Elaine Travis.
© 2026 · All Rights Reserved