What's New Colour Archive!

Here you can take a look back at our archives of hair color from the past few years

COLOUR FOR WINTER 2005

Introducing the new Golden Romance collection from Clairol Nice’n Easy – five golden shades for the warmer months. Ranging from medium blonde through to dark brown, there’s a deliciously warm shade for everyone.

We asked Belinda Jeffreys, Australia’s leading colourist, whose celebrity client list includes Sarah O’Hare, Megan Gale, Toni Colette and Russell Crowe, for her colour predictions for the upcoming months. “Right now haircolour is all about warmth”, explained Belinda. “Cooler ash tones don’t work as well against paler skin, so look for shades with a rich gold base”.

It seems the upcoming season is all about brunettes. “I’m seeing a lot less blondes…”, Belinda commented. ‘It’s definitely the brunettes who are leading the way. And the direction is coming from Hollywood – look at Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore, Charlize Theron and Brittany Murphy  - they were all confirmed blondes who’ve now switched to beautiful rich, brunette shades”.

The brown shades are where all the action is this season and Nice’n Easy’s Golden Romance collection offers three beautiful colours to try at home – Natural Light Golden Brown, Natural Medium Golden Brown and Natural Dark Golden Brown. “I love these new browns”, comments Belinda. They cover the spectrum from chestnut, through to mocha and mahogany. They’re a great foil to creamy skin tones which means they suit most people in Australia, and because they contain Clairol’s new ColourSeal Gloss conditioner, they’re great for the hair, making it shiny and healthy, right through the six week colouring cycle”.

Moving into the red shades, Belinda recommends looking for a brown-based shade. “Reds should be warm and tonal...” New from Nice’n Easy is Natural Lightest Golden Brown, a delicious auburn with a soft, natural hazelnut overtone. “This is a great shade for people who’ve had blonde highlights and want to move back to a more natural brown shade. The gold base in this colour will fill the bleached highlights, giving an all-over red-brown colour with natural looking variations”, explains Belinda.

If you do want to stay blonde, Belinda recommends avoiding ash blondes which feel a little cool for this time of year. “Generally, blonde shades for spring are more solid shades, which reflect warm tones of strawberry, biscuit and caramel”. The new Nice’n Easy Natural Medium Golden Blonde is a beautiful option. “This is a lovely golden hue”, said Belinda. “It has built-in highlights of caramel and honey which are softly flattering to paler skin. I’d also recommend this shade if your hair has been over-bleached and stressed. Because of its gold base, it will soften and warm your haircolour, making it look shinier and healthier”.

“Overall, these Nice’n Easy Golden Romance shades work beautifully because they’re all so wearable. Having a gold base rather than red, they compliment the skin, optically help to smooth any blemishes and enhance your eye colour” said Belinda.

COLOUR FOR SUMMER 2004

Congratulations to Dieter Mersmann of Wildlife Hairdressing in Sydney on recently being crowned Hairdressing Technician of the Year. For those of us not up on hairdressing terms that means he is not only an expert with colour and all things chemical like perms and straightening but also has an eye for what is happening in hair fashion.

Gabrielle McCarthy, editor of Virtualhaircare.com, interviews Dieter Mersmann on the latest trends in hair. Gabe: "What are your predictions in colour for the coming season"? Dieter: "For spring/summer I feel that soft pastel coppers like the Apricot tones will feature heavily along with creamy and golden blondes for those with lighter hair. If you prefer darker shades then solid golden browns. All over colours are in rather than high lights but if your preference is for less solid colours then your high or low lights should be strong chunky but of soft tones so as not to be stripey". Gabe: "What are the most requested colours or colour techniques in the salon at the moment? Dieter: "Definitely colour changes like blonde to dark or dark to blonde. People are generally changing their colour more often. This is not a problem as long as it is done professionally and keeping the hair in good condition remains the top priority". Gabe: What do you think it is most important, for a client to tell you, so that you can get their colour right for them?" Dieter: "I like to do a good long consultation and get as much information as I can from someone. Pictures really help to explain what someone wants. I also like to know about how much you want to spend as keeping a colour well maintained can get expensive as its not just about what you spend first time but every time and if you can afford it". Gabe: "What are your favourite products right now?" Dieter: "It's a new shade of colour from Goldwell which adds a soft bronze shimmer to dark brown hair". Gabe: "What are your tips for looking after your colour at home? Dieter: "You need to use shampoos and conditioners that help to keep your colour looking fresh. I love Goldwells Colour Glow shampoo which comes in 5 different shades to suit your colour. Also the new GHD Treatment Mask and Angel Tears".

SPRING/SUMMER PREDICTIONS 2004 from Emilio Cataldo of Cataldo’s Canberra. We asked Emilio, one of Australia’s most awarded hairdressers, to help us shed some light on what we will all be doing with our hair colour this summer. “Colours will be "sun-kissed" creating the natural effect of salt water and sun, but recreated in the salon to avoid the damage that sitting in the sun to create this effect would do. The colours are placed in the hair so that they look graduated, darker at the roots to light at the ends which is what gives it this natural effect”.

COLOUR FOR SUMMER 2003

If your sporting a head of beautiful highlights then sorry your 'out'. Well that's according to all the predictions right now. A solid all over colour is the look the hue, well something to suit your skin tone, if you get this wrong with an all over colour then you will know about it as it can be unflattering leaving you with dark circles beneath the eyes or blemishes that you had never noticed before. If you would like to find out more on choosing a colour to suit you then use this link.

Mick Luppiono of Luppionos in Sydney had this to say on the subject.

"Highlights are so last season. This summer we're creating solid blonde colours with the same kind of tonal variations produced by sunlight." · We all know the summer sun will naturally lighten your hair. By the ends of summer a natural blonde will have three levels of colours, darker at the roots, lighter through the mid lengths and really blonde on the ends.

At Luppinos we're using AVEDA 97% naturally derived permanent colours to recreate this sun-kissed tonal variation in the salon (and saving our clients from sun baking to create the perfect blonde.) Maintenance Tips: · Hair grows faster in summer, so be religious with your trims. Book a maintenance check every six to eight weeks.

With summer knocking on the door, some of us might choose that radical really blonde look, check out this article on what going blonde is all about!

Picture above courtesy of George Giavis, the Blonde room, Woollahra, Sydney.

COLOUR FOR WINTER 2003

Colour is the big story this winter and the colour is cool brown, with a velvety richness, think Sarah O'Hare's latest colour change, or is she a Murdoch?

With so many varieties of brown there is always one to suit your skin should you wish to try it out. The cool flavour of these browns is supplied by an underlying violet tone rather than those orange or copper browns. Don't go getting too much burgundy brown though unless you want to look like your granny. Complement this with the vast array of new violet shades in eye and lip colour and you are set for winter.

Going darker however, which is what going 'brown' means for most of us, can be quite dramatic. It's often more easily done in small steps rather than one large leap. You can easily feel too dark and hate it unlike ending up too blonde, well there's no such thing is there!

Here are some tips when changing your colour:

Going darker doesn't necessarily mean ruining the condition of your hair because it can be done using less damaging methods like semi-permanent colour. Because they are conditioner based they are good for your hair. There are also a couple of pitfalls if you try doing it yourself like ending up a little on the green side due to the effect your old colour will have, so always get this sort of colour change professionally done.

Darker brown can feel boring especially if you were very blonde or bright before but it doesn't have to be like that. Using highlights of differing shades of brown and caramel for instance, gives extra interest and texture to your style. Take small steps to your final target shade by darkening your hair gradually over a number of weeks by having retouches. This helps you to not only get used to your new look but gives your hair the chance to build up its new colour and help it last longer without fade.

Make sure that you are choosing a colour that will suit your skin tone and not drain it of life. It's possible to find out if a darker shade will suit you by simply dropping into your nearest wig shop and having a play. A simple guide is that if your skin and eye colour are very pale then darker looks won't suit. If you have dark or medium eye or skin colour, brown shades will suit.

Fade can be a problem if your hair was very dry or very light before you decided on your deeper look. Always use colour protection shampoo and a conditioner. You can even refresh your colour between applications with a matching colour tint shampoo available from many salons.

		Browns from the team @ Wildlife Hairdressing in Sydney, Australia. Courtesy AHJ.

What to ask your hairdresser for:

It's all about getting 'the look' and the trend for using shaded "under-colour" in your hair gives your hairdresser a versatile technique for use on many different types of cuts.

No matter what style you wear, this colour technique can add thickness, texture and definition to almost all hair cuts. With the move away from the short sharp 'geometric' shapes to the 'out grown' styles we have recently seen gracing the catwalks, this type of colour work adds a definate edge to what could otherwise look as if you just didn't get your regular trim.

Just so you know exactly what we are talking about, we have raided our files for images that show off this latest trend in all its variations. Always remember that certain colours suit certain people so check out our choosing a colour to suit you to find your perfect colour match.

All images above from Hair Machine Adelaide, Australia.

In this picture we have one of the most extreme versions of this look. Here a silver ash blonde is used above a blue black to turn a very simple style into something extraordinary.         Tracey Hughes at Mieka Hairdressing in Melbourne designed this look but to show us this can also be extremely subtle, the image below uses the merest variation in blonde tones which range from a beautiful vanilla blonde to a deeper caramel blonde to provide the shaded effect.
In this shorter style from Lee Preston, we have a rich chocolate brown underneath an even richer honey gold. For the shorter shapes, the added thickness provided by the darker colour really enhances the shape of your cut.
These next three images are from Caterina Di Biase of Heading Out Hair & Beauty, Melbourne. In this shot to the left, caramel highlights and a warm brown are used on top of a deeper flat brown. In these two shots, vibrant copper and mahogany reds are used on the upper layers, whilst deeper brown reds are used on the lower, giving definition to the neck and jaw line...very useful if you feel you are lacking in this area. Thinking of trying out one of these colours, then why not ask your hairdresser to log on to VirtualHairCare to check out our examples to make sure you get exactly what you want. Oh, do remember colours vary depending on your screen settings!

-----------------------

If you are bugged by those grey hairs or just want to find out how you can colour your hair in under five minutes, check out one of the simple and easiest options below:

Spring/Winter 2002

This month we are featuring the colours of Tracey Hughes from Mieka Hairdressing in Victoria, Australia. Tracey recently achieved a first at the 2002 Australian Hair Fashion Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf, becoming the first ever hairdresser to be nominated as a finalist in 3 of the award categories. Of these she won 2, one of which was Creative Colourist.

So, we thought it would be great to get her thoughts on what will be gracing our heads over the next few months.

"With cuts getting stronger and more geometric or with asymmetric fringes colours need to complement them. We will see less highlights and more colour peeping through from bench upper layers of hair. Colour will also be more dramatic and bold".

Check out the black and red image at the top of this page to get the idea of what Tracey is saying, and this look below:

Q: But what about colour tones?

"The colours we shall be seeing more of are the violet browns, and yes, the red black combination. The one thing we will be seeing less of is blonde!"

Q: When someone walks into your salon what do you really want them to tell you to make sure they get what they want?

"I want to know about their life style, do they have time to spend on their hair at home, do they need their hair to be tided back for work etc. Clients walk in looking one way but this may not be true for every day so I need to know that so that they get something that really works for them".

Q: Could you give us a tip that would help all us deal with our own hair and not have bad hair days!

"Learn to work with what your hair does naturally, don't fight it, you will be making your hair a lot easier to handle".

All pic's above from Tracey's portfolio.

Summer 2002

Alfredo Santo and The Tremayne Creative Team have given us some great ideas on what to do for 2002.

Hues:

Colours are lightening up for the summer months and blonde hair colouring is big news. Colours are not as gold as the previous seasons and are becoming more muted ads even feature pastel, frosted shades. All colours are very tonal with several shades of the one colour used to create the overall looks, this results in multifaceted, luxurious colour that moves with the hair.

Blonde is beautiful. They feature shades of blonde that are perfect for every skin tone. Miami, Sahara and Glamour Blondes feature shades of cool vanilla, pale biscuit, sand, wheat and caramel.

Reds cool down for summer with maroon and copper overtones used as the foundation for contrasting pieces of glistening gold to lighten up the look.

Brunettes are also lightening up with cool shades that shimmer with health and vitality. Tan, Velour and Suede browns combine to give brunettes a stunning signature colour.

Tremayne like to emphasise that each colour formulation is created to bring out each persons individual beauty by assessing skin tone and eye colour.

Beautifully cut and coloured hair that is healthy, gleaming and looks effortless completes the total look.

Thanks to Alfredo Santo and The Tremayne Creative Team.

Melissa How from ARTec sent us a whole pile of great tips for what's happening in colour no matter what shade we are, her catch phrase being 'Cooling Down In Summer 2002':

Blondes

"We will see a lot of multi-tonal blondes with soft ultra-lights, and colour will definitely compliment the feminine movement that is curl and wave this summer. Curl and wave making a come back, thanks to pop icons Kylie and Mandy Moore".

Brunettes

"For brunettes this summer, the focus will be on shine and condition, and texture and movement. We will see a lot of brunettes with soft wisps of creamy blonde and camel combinations, with and overall cool tone".

Redheads

"Strong reds will have a slight violet or blue violet overtone, which will cool the hot copper and fiery red tones of the winter colours".

Melissa's final tip for summer is "not to let your colour fall victim to the dangers of chlorine, UV rays and the extra shampooing that occurs after endless days at the beach and in the sun". As a true ARTec girl she maintains that the only way to achieve and maintain your colour throughout summer is to invest in an ARTec Colour Fade Prevention Program.

Email ARTec for details and tell them we sent you on: artec@zipworld.com.au

Isabell Edet at Ménage a Trois, Neutral Bay, Sydney, says "colour is all about shadows and bringing definition to cuts using different colours to create those shadows". At the salon they are using two to three colours on each client and selecting them to suit your skin tones and and lifestyle. For summer Isabelle predicts that colour trends will be towards the "radical".

Articles and notes from 2001:

Who better to ask what will be happening in colour than Alyson Schoer of BBR in Surry Hills. "Colours will be rich and velvety but still very wearable. Intense plums and garnet reds, with just a hint of gold added into them to take the pink edge off, will be the colours of the season". We also discussed a trend for blondes to be going 'au natural' after years of homage to the saying 'always a blonde'. It seems we just don't have the time for high maintenance colour like blonde any more and a simple natural look is the big request at the moment.

Anthony Nader of Raw Sydney winner of "Image of the Year 2001" for a collection of looks including one of the ones in the side column. He feels that 2001 is a return to the 80's but without the need for asserting feminine power. "Women have the power now, they don't need to dress or wear their hair that way to prove it. Colour will reflect a sexy edge, soft browns and toffees, more solid/all over colour's to work with that 80's mood"

And because we love these shots below so much, we felt you had to see them.

Thanks to:

Caterina Di Biase from Heading Out Hair & Beauty in Melbourne, Australia.

Belinda Jeffrey of Synergy Hair in Sydney, picked up the title of 'Most Creative Colourist' at The Australian Hairdressing Industry Awards, with her collection for summer depicting curl and her concept that reds are the 'new blonde'. We asked Belinda about the coming season and she told us that they will be "dark flat colour's that still shine with health and these shades should be applied to all of your hair in 'slabs' to get a two-tone effect". Belinda also had a lot to say regarding the return of straight hair which she also predicts for the season ahead. She specializes in permanent straightening, so look out for our up coming article when it's released.

From around the country we have some other excellent predictions:

Rob Hastie and Tracey Colebrook of Shibui are predicting "a year of strong bold hair colour and the return of the fringe" for 2001.

Courtesy of Shibui

Lisa Emery of top Perth salon Lee Preston Hair predicts for the coming year "bold and exciting colours" and in her words "don't be scared to see lots of colour" in 2001. "Different shades such as cool blondes with warm reds will be mixed together" she says. And yes, she is also predicting "large sections of different shades". Lisa, by the way, is one of the finalists in the 2001 Australian Colourist of the Year competition, so good luck Lisa from the team at VirtualHairCare!

Watch out though, having witnessed some of John Galliano's creations for his European spring summer 2001 collection, his hair team had come up with some far from blended highlights. Large cream, almost white swathes of hair were cleverly inserted into long straight flowing locks. These were not the skunk "stripes" from the parting of a couple of years ago, as their starting point was hidden, but they were not far off. So also look out for this trend as the year progresses.

© VirtualHairCare

Back to the What's New Main Menu