Hair Color Ideas from Subtle to Striking
This season, hair color ideas trends veer toward softer hues that add light or depth without altering natural hair color too much. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a striking change. After all, the total makeover is what gets noticed most. For those who lean toward the soft side, it all starts with richness.
Hair Color Ideas ~~Restraining in Order
If you like the basic hair color shade you have, can’t commit to high maintenance routines or simply want more vibrancy and shine, choose a hair color that’s close to your natural shade.
Brunettes get richer when you add slightly darker or redder brown over the top. When selecting a home hair color, check the back of the box so you know how the color will look over your natural shade. A touch of warmth can make skin tones glow, plus you’ll be in step with the season because autumn always means warmer, richer shades. Another way to brighten a brunette is through contrast. Add a few golden high lights in front and your natural shade will look darker against them. Clear glossers intensify the shine.
“Get Out of the Rut With One of These Bold Hair Color Ideas”Dark blondes and light brunettes who like warmer shades can opt for soft apricots or medium copper hair colors this season. Either shade can be used for the base or for subtle high lights. If the hair color is just a bit darker than your natural hair color, you can even get it with a semi or demi-permanent hair color that fades away naturally.
Blondes can get a great hair color shift by choosing beach-inspired shades. Sun-kissed hair color comes from a few high lights, a slightly more golden shade or even a strawberry blonde henna hair color. To start off super-subtle, use a chamomile rinse at home. Or, mix a tiny amount of hydrogen peroxide with water in a bottle and mist it on your hair. Sit in the sun for an hour and see what you get. While it’s sticky to wash out, sun-baked honey will also give you a natural golden hue.
Sometimes, it’s not that you want your hair color change to be subtle, so much as you’re short on time. If you love high lights but don’t want a big commitment, try bang-only high lights like “Hydra Lights,” which are super-fine high lights created on wet hair. When hair is wet, hair color gets closer to the root, so it grows out more slowly.
For subtle nuances of hair color in minutes flat, ask for high lights just at the crown and around the face. Think of it as “Drive-through Hair Color Ideas.” Also, if your hair colorist uses a diagonal placement pattern, instead of vertical or horizontal rows, one-month-roots are a thing of the past. Many hair salons offer $-per-foil pricing, which also lets you get a hair color change quickly and affordably, too.
Hair Color Ideas ~~Drama Ahead
When you want a big hair color idea, choices expand, From black cherry to pale platinum; gold on toffee to gleaming copper, you can have it all. The newest hipster shade is pink, scattered throughout blonde. To go bolder still, try blue or green streaks.
Great hair colorists know how to accent a hair design for a super-stunning effect. Start with a hair cut you like, then have your hairdresser add a flash of hair color on the focal point of the cut. If your bangs are outstanding or if you have undercut graduation, ask your hair colorist about using a lighter or darker hair color in these areas, or even a shade in a different color family. Black-on-blonde has been a trend for a while, but lavender and aqua are options, too. Or, simply combine red with brunette—the look is exciting but the shades blend better.
Many of today’s hair cuts can be styled different ways, which suggests convertible hair color that changes every time you re-style your hair. For instance, get a more conservative hair color on the surface to work with the way you usually part your hair. Then add a bolder shade that will show up when you part your hair in the opposite direction. You can also get color that reveals itself when your hair is worn up.
The more artful the application and the bigger the hair color change, the more likely it is you’ll have to head to a hair salon. Never try to go from black to blonde or back at home.
Particularly stylish are the new rule-breaking, contrasting hair colors that mix up warm and cool shades on the same head, If your skin tones are warm, you can get cooler high lights added, as long as they’re positioned about an inch away from your face. Because mixing up warm and cool tones demands an artist’s eye, it’s best to look for hair color-specialty salons for looks like these. In fact, any time the hair color change is a big one, you’re better off with someone who does hair coloring all day, and leaves the cutting to someone else in the salon.
If all this sounds exciting but you don’t have the budget—or the nerve—to go for it, modern technology comes to the rescue. Clip in human hair extensions in any shade you want for temporary high lights, or try out some of the affordable human-hair wigs and extension systems that are found in beauty supply stores. You’ll be able to have any exciting hair color shade change you want—for a day or a month. When you’re ready to switch back, you’ll have skipped the potential damage that frequent hair color changes can create. The dazzling, daily possibilities of clip-in extensions just might make a faux hair collector out of you!
Hair Color Idea article courtesy of Harris Publications
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