With melting hues and popping shades, 3D effects and throwback finishes, hair colouring gets even more exciting than ever before. Whether you are seeking some change in your WFH routine or looking forward to pepping up your spirits for the upcoming festivities, here’s how you can add more colours to your life.
Drop into a supermarket for some grocery shopping and you are welcomed by blooming hues in the fruits and vegetables shelves. Stroll into the woods and you have lush tones all around. Walk by the sea and you will be overwhelmed by the mystique shades… Whether it is nature’s bounty or genius of human creation, colours are the most rewarding of all visual perceptions. Little wonder then that the discerning eve always chose to be more vivid than her monotone counterpart! She’s handpicked the most stirring tints in nature to gratify the femme fatale in her. While the seasoned cherries and wines inspired the palette for her cheeks and lips, charcoal shades rimmed her smoky eyes. And what about her locks – black is beautiful? Aah, come on! Although our sweet grannies are always eager to give away a dozen handy tips to achieve jet kaale kesh, our bold and experimenting babes love to spring up a surprise in the mane. And why not! High five for the Hairtastic girl!
While hair colour helps you cover your greys smartly, it is an effective way of accentuating the texture and style of your locks. You may choose to do it yourself or go for professional help. We bring you a complete ‘style guide’ to colouring your mane.
Best of the Shades
What’s your kinda shade? Caramel, honey or wine? Is it gold because your favourite Hollywood diva was spotted wearing the same in a Pg 3 pic? Or is blue because it’s your lucky colour? Well darlings, stay clear of this casual approach when it comes to colouring your hair. You surely don’t want to be a comic relief for your colleagues the next day of your experimentation!
Skin tone serves as an important guide. “When choosing the right hair colour refer to your skin tone – whether you’re warm or cool toned and then stick to the same family. Here’s a simple way to find out your skin tone. Check your wrist in normal sunlight. If the veins on the inside of your wrist appear blue, then you are cool toned and if they appear greenish, you are warm toned,” informs Shilpa Jain, Celebrity Makeup Artist, Trainer & Stylist. “If you have warm golden yellow undertones in your skin, then opt for colours which have warm overtones like mahogany, copper blonde, chestnut, auburn and golden brown hair colours. If you are highlighting your hair, go for cinnamon to copper colours. Never choose golden as it will make your skin appear duller. If you have pink-white undertones, cool overtone colours will look good on you like golden brown. If you are fair complexioned and already have a tinge of brown on your hair, then go for red streaks which will enhance your look. People with darker skin tone should go for dark red or some blonde streaks. Do not use burgundy or brown,” she advises.
Mayur Ramchandra Bathe, Technical Educator for RUSK in India feels, “Hair colour should also be chosen depending upon the hair type. Curly hair is very sensitive and therefore such hair types should stay away from bleaching. Ombre hair colouring techniques, highlights within two shades lighter than natural hair colour etc. look fantastic on curly hair and add depth and dimension. For wavy hair, thick highlights that are painted on rather than foiled, look beautiful and add depth to the hair. It can create a two-toned effect that adds texture and movement to the hair. The biggest mistake women with thin hair make is to opt for a single colour all over. It will only flatten and emphasize the straightness of the hair without any dimension and will make the hair look dead. A few highlights around the face and the crown of the head not only accentuate the natural colour of the hair but also helps to frame the face. If the hair is cut in layers, adding edgy highlights will help emphasize the razored layers and will add bounce and movement to the hair.”
Make Your Own Mane Statement
Think of colouring styles and what comes to your mind — streaks of high contrasting hair strands? Well, hair colouring is way beyond such random streaking. But there’s no denying, it’s lotsa fun! Melts, pops, 3Ds and throwbacks — now you can give a host of special effect to your tresses!
“It’s always fun to be creative with funky hair colours without the long-term commitment like permanent colours. Ask your salon for a POP service added to your haircut and blow-dry. It also works on chemically treated and coloured hair,” advises Shilpa.
“This year, cut, colour and style is a modernized nod to the trends of the 60s and 70s. A big trend currently is colour melting which is basically an Ombre effect with highlights. Instead of applying highlights from root to tip, two or three colours in the same colour family are blended from dark, at the roots, to light at the ends. This is fantastic, because even when the hair grows out, there isn’t a stark difference between highlighted hair and natural roots,” explains Mayur.
“Melting can take you naturally from your natural colour to a beautiful highlight. This is also a huge trend among celebrities,” informs Shilpa.
Colour popping is another big trend. Pastel hair colours, bright shocking ones, painted in eye popping colours brings in an element of fun in your styling. The colours last for 10-12 washes and so you are not stuck with that bright one up there! “Stacking effect of colours can also be created on the same strand without any colour bleeding. If one has layered hairstyle, a great idea to incorporate bright colour pops is to colour 1/4 inch of the tips to add a unique dimensional effect. Icy blues, purples and pinks are a great way to make a style statement,” feels Mayur.
One for Every Festive Occasion
Now that should set your imagination soaring. Most Indian women would believe that traditional outfits leave very little scope for hair colouring. But our experts beg to differ. “We are very lucky in India as we experiment with so many different hairstyles with our ethnic wear. From braids to up-dos and fishtail, highlighted hair looks Ombre or balayage with a single streak of a bright colour, looking fantastic with such hairstyle,” opines Mayur.
Mayur suggests chunky highlights if you are styling your hair in a braid. For half-dos, you can simply curl their hair in large sections and put in a ponytail on the side with some flower or accessories. For this look, he proposes beautiful Ombre or colour melting effect in hues of gold and caramels depending on the natural hair colour.
“If you are planning to put your hair up in a tight bun, avoid highlights as they will stand out. If your hair is going to be pulled back into a messy bun, one can go for a dual-toned hair colour that is perhaps one to two shades lighter than your base colour. Messy buns will always leave a few stray strands framing your face, and multi-dimensional hair colour will look fantastic. ”
| Bold Hues for Shock & Awe |
| Honey, caramel, chocolate and burgundy Deep browns and chocolates (Soft textures, 3D colours and a throwback finish) Shades of blue (Suitable for any hairstyle and can be subtle or shocking as you prefer. With shorter bobs or mid-length hair, one could go in for an overall tinge of deep navy blue which catches beautifully in the light and looks best on very dark hair. The other option is to go for super subtle cobalt blue tints on the ends of textured strands for an edgy look.) Inputs from Mayur Ramchandra Bathe, Technical Educator for RUSK in India |
| Hair Dos: It’s best to apply colour before washing the hair as the natural oils help protect the hair from the chemical ingredients in the colorant. To maintain your hair colour, you need to regularly visit your salon for the touch-ups to give your colour a boost and cover any greys. Use a colour protecting shampoo, conditioner or masque to ensure the longevity, radiance and shine of your hair colour. Makeup Dos Dark Brown Hair: Apply makeup colours that include plum, burgundy, red or metallic hues. For the eyes, apply metallic toned eye shadows like copper, bronze or gold and dark eyeliner and lots of mascara covering all your lashes. For the lips go for burgundy or burnt reds. Light to Medium Brown Hair: Light brown complements practically every colour so you have the entire palette from beige, earthy to bold. Go for coloured eyeliners like blue or green, pink blush and pretty pink gloss to your lips. Black Hair: Smokey eyes go well with black hair. Apply mascara generously to complement your smokey eyes. For your cheeks, apply a subtle pink blush-on and stick to nude colours for the lips. Blonde Hair: Stick to warm honey tones like peach, pink, gold and champagne. For the eyes, apply shimmery glitter eyeshadow, brown eyeliner and black mascara. Go for a peach blush-on and a shimmer peach lip gloss. Inputs from Shilpa Jain, Celebrity Makeup Artist, Trainer & Stylist |
The article was originally published in Plan Your Wedding magazine.
