Hair colours to try this winter

Embrace the change of the season with these trends

marie claire Contributor / August 21 2018

Colour update: Blonde

It’s time to warm up. “The latest blondes have a slightly ‘contoured’ effect, where soft golden hues and creamy, buttery blonde shades are paired with slightly darker roots,” say Monique McMahon, Colour Director at Sydney’s QUE Colour salon.

Rosie Huntington-Whitely

Georgia May Jagger

Michelle Williams

Colour update: Brunette

Rich espresso and deep chocolate strands with “burnt butterscotch gold and shadowy roots are the new brunette – but they still have a subtle pop of brightness”, explains McMahon. “These look beautiful on those with an olive complexion and dark brown or green eyes.”

Alicia Vikander

Rose Byrne

Jessica Biel

Colour Update: Red

Out: the brighter tones of last season. In: peachy, pastel, strawberry-blonde reds, says McMahon, noting that these more subtle shades suit those with cooler complexions.

Jessica Chastain

Kate Mara

Amy Adams

Whether you’re a blonde, redhead or brunette, the hot look this winter is shadowed roots with a few face-framing babylights for that cool-girl, lived-in colour
Monique McMahon
/
QUE Colour salon
Colour Director

Colour update: Black

“Ditch the ombre that had a tendency to veer toward orange and go back to sold, strong, healthy-looking colour,” advises McMahon.

Rooney Mara

Olivia Munn

Jessica Gomes

Techniques to try

The newest colouring techniques take their cues from makeup.

Contouring: This method take into account your face shape and uses colour (usually, no more than two shades darker or lighter) to spotlight and conceal features. L’Oreal Professionnel now offers contouring – visit lorealprofessionnel.com.au to find your nearest salon.

Strobing: Like hair contouring, but with highlights placed where the sun hits. A slightly shimmer gives a glowy effect.

Melting: Jennifer Lopez’s chocolate-to-caramel colour is a good example of “melting”, a skill in which colourists employ several shades to blend highlights with a base colour for a seamless melting effect.

Jennifer Lopez

Keep hair healthy to maintain your colour. Look for products that prevent early colour loss or oxidisation, and swap out your shampoo once a week for a pre-treatment, like Christophe Robin Cleansing Mask with Lemon
Monique McMahon
/
QUE Colour salon
Colour Director

Toolkit:

Extend the time between touch-ups with these clever buys...

1. L’Oreal Paris Magic Retouch hides greys and regrowth until your next shampoo

2. The cult Klorane Dry Shampoo now has natural tinted minerals for those with light to dark brown hair.

3. The chubby phenomenon is still going strong: Cover Your Grey Hair Colour Touch-Up Waterproof Chubby Pencil

 

1. L’Oreal Paris Magic Retouch

2. Klorane Dry Shampoo

3. Cover Your Grey Hair Colour Touch-Up Waterproof Chubby Pencil

For more beauty advice from marie claire, visit marieclaire.com.au

Sarah Tarca is a former neat handwriting champion whose skills involve applying lipstick without a mirror and artfully disguising 8-month regrowth. For the last 15 years she’s worked for the likes of Cosmopolitan, Girlfriend and Marie Claire as features writer, editor and beauty director, before leaving Oz for a professional vagabond life (“digital nomad”) in permanent euro summer. A beauty, travel and wellness obsessive, she currently writes for a bunch of digital and print titles both in Australia and abroad, and sometimes even posts on her blog ciaoamica.com (that is, when she’s not posting extremely belated travel pics on her instagram @tarca).