The word ‘gold’ gives most clients the shivers. Gold gets a bad rap being synonymous with ‘brassy’. Gold is NOT brassy. Brassy occurs when hair is improperly lightened by box bleach, a stylist uses the wrong developer level or poor application, hard/well water on lightened hair over time, or lack of home care.
Check out Meg Ryan - Her natural curls have endless texture in an easy everyday style. Her highlights pop next to rich golden lowlights.
Icy is OUT. Yes, I said it.
Icy blonde is the lightest of all blondes, almost white with grey undertones. Icy blonde looks good on almost nobody because of the harsh ashy tone. The icy trend became popular among Gen Z because the white blonde was so unattainable. This extreme lightening damages the hair and requires tons of upkeep which makes it the worst for long hair, tight budgets or busy schedules.
Get Gilded
Golden blonde is a mix of honey, gold, and blonde tones. Honey hues look good on almost every skin tone and can be painted to compliment any cut & color.
· If you are pale/fair skinned golden face framing warms your skin without tanning. You will notice you need less makeup and feel less ‘washed-out’.
· Blue, green and hazel eyes shine when mixed with a deep golden lowlight to pick up the undertones in light eyes.
Blake Lively is the ultimate gilded girl. Her pale skin and blue eyes sparkle as a California butter blonde.
· Brunettes look best with warm caramel face framing to give visual interest and dimension to flat color.
Jessica Alba turns back time. On the left photo, she is 20 years old and a rich brunette. On the right photo, she is 40 years old and her honey-colored face framing warms her olive complexion and gives her a more youthful appearance. Her new style will grow out seamlessly with fewer touchups.
· Got greys? Grey can ashen and dull your complexion, adding rich golden pieces helps soften the skin tone.
· Short fine hair also benefits from a glow up. Jenna Elfman's pixie with contrasting highlight/lowlights add depth making her fine hair appear fuller.
Blonde + Brown = Bronde
Bronde has been trending in Hollywood and on Pinterest since the boom of balayage. Bronde is created by adding pieces only 2-3 shades lighter than your natural color. The illusion looks like it was made naturally by long days at the beach giving a youthful glow. Fewer touchups, less damage, and seamless grow outs make balayage bronde perfect for almost every hair cut and color.
Do a quick Google search for Jennifer Aniston. Since Friends she has been a bronde babe. Sometimes lighter, sometimes darker, she proves bronde is not a fad and stays on trend over time.
Jennifer's color is versatile - more blonde can be added in the summer and richer lowlights can be added in the fall. Considered as having some of the best hair of all time, Jennifer's golden blonde could never be considered brassy.
What the heck is a balayage?
Balayage, pronounced BAH-LEE-AHGE, is a French word for sweeping. To balayage, your stylist hand paints or ‘sweeps’ clay lightener on to large panels of hair to create varying degrees of lightness and dimension.
90% of the inspiration photos guests bring in are a mix of traditional foil highlighting and balayage. No longer are stylists placing foils like railroad tracks. Today’s lightening techniques allow for a combination of multiple methods making guest consultations so important.
Soon 'partial' and 'full' highlights will be replaced with half head blonding and full head transformation.