Back to Your Roots

July 2006 Special Advertising Section

Put down the clipping of Kelly Clarkson’s two-tone American Idol hair color. Step away from the bold highlight/lowlight disparity. Words like “chunky,” “stripey,” “streaky,” and “high-contrast” will be used against you in the hair color court of public opinion, since “natural” is the new buzzword.

When it comes to hair color trends, a Twin Cities jury of expert hair colorists has unanimously come to a verdict: The unnatural-looking chunky stripes in extremely contrasting shades are over. Light blonde streaks over a dark brown base are toast. And for most stylists, it couldn’t come soon enough. “The dramatic light on top, dark underneath look is old and tired,” says Denny Kemp, owner of Denny Kemp Salon in Minneapolis. “I liked it at one time, but for everyone I talked into it, I’m trying to talk them back out of it. That’s the process now.”

You can almost hear Mi Shaun Schmidt-Schwab, owner of the Beauty Room in Minneapolis, shudder at the mention of high-contrast highlights: “They haunt me,” she says.

The Hair and Now
Today, stylists are steering their clients toward a less cringe-inducing way of coloring: natural, healthy, and low-maintenance—which is not to be confused with boring, staid, or serious. “You can have definition and subtle highlights—without the chunkiness—that still give you a brighter difference in color,” Schmidt-Schwab explains. “People are letting their hair be the way it’s supposed to be, healthy and super shiny, which is the natural reaction after all the harsh coloring and flat-ironing the hell out of it.”

Karen Nace, director of education for Nexxus Beauty Products in Santa Barbara, California, also credits an overall lifestyle shift toward natural, healthy living for driving the trend in authentic hair color. “When someone is looking for a healthier diet or more organic ways of living,” she says, “then they want everything in their life to be natural. So subdued colors and highlights have become a big trend in color as a result of people getting into that organic, better way of life.”

Color wise, that means clients aren’t straying too far from their native hues. Instead, they’re embracing natural tones that compliment and give depth to their base. For summer, that means blondes are going for an all-over sun-kissed look, mixing honey and golden tones into lighter shades for a combination of colors that implies a day at the beach rather than a trip to the beautician. Redheads are leaving behind the darker tones and lightening up with strawberry streaks that take the edge out of a color more suited for fall and winter.

And Molly Aldrich, a master color technician at Juut Salonspa in Wayzata, isn’t buying the idea that blondes have more fun or redheads are sassier this season. “Don’t forget about the brunettes!” she says. “Rich, dark color with warm tones of brown and caramel are beautiful. They are giving blondes a lot of competition this summer.”

Regardless of the color, the stylists agree: Extreme, high-contrast color is so last season, while embracing your natural color (even if you haven’t seen it in a while) is here to stay.

For men, the trend is a little more toned down. Covering gray hairs with their natural color is about as adventurous as they are willing to go, but even that is a step in the right direction, according to Schmidt-Schwab. “I’m doing a ton of gray reduction on men and it easily takes ten years off.”

Those reluctant to dabble in hair coloring appreciate Schmidt-Schwab’s baliage technique, in which she freehands the application of the color (rather than foiling) for a more natural color effect—one that men can easily play off as their own.