The dark arts may have kept the celebrity colourists busy of late, but with spring just around the corner an A list blonde explosion isn't far way. Nothing says summer like a halo of highlights, the quintessential fashion accessory for the alfresco lifestyle.
High spirits
High-end highlights will give a boost to fair and fine, mousy and monotone or lacklustre light brown locks. A generous scattering of skinny bleached strands two or three shades lighter than your natural base tone (particularly through the top sections and around the hairline) will create a brilliant blonde effect and illuminate the complexion. Creative Director of The Headmasters Group, Zoë Irwin comments, 'Cool clear blondes are the most on-trend right now, à la Selma Blair.' At the opposite end of the spectrum, British Colour Technicians of the Year 2006, Newcastle-based Gary Hooker & Michael Young (of Hooker & Young) say, 'We've had lots of requests for Cat Deeley's colour, a multi-tonal mixture of summer blonde, butterscotch and vanilla. Our favourite highlighting technique for the season is to combine thick and chunky slices with small skinny highlights at random to create very natural looking colour.'
Blonde ambition
But whether you yearn for Kate Moss's rock-chick brand of blonde, Giselle's luminous golden mane or Jennifer Aniston's luxe multi-tonal slices, it's best to work within a realistic framework. Generally, if you're fair haired with an ivory complexion you can choose from either the cool and warm colour spectrum with impunity. If your skin has pink tones you're best sticking to the ash blonde and vanilla family. While creamy, yellow-tinged skins suit warm golden shades. Brunettes wishing to hit the highlights trail will find that the most flattering option is to focus on having them placed judiciously around the face. Stick to rich colours such as honey and golden blondes for a sun-kissed look worthy of a mini-break to St Tropez. Redheads can ring the changes with the subtle addition of pale or bleached highlights.
Light source
There are lots of methods for applying colour in-salon over and above the classic foil technique, with increasing emphasis on a more freehand approach including smudging, sponging, brushing and stippling. However applied, highlights add colour, depth and texture, making hair three-dimensional as never before. Toni&Guy are dizzy about Peek-a-Boo Blondes – an edgy take on traditional highlights. There's a 'blonde specialist' installed in every one of their salons around the country, bespoke blonding in the shape of glints and glimpses and hidden panels of colour. At Headmasters salons in London and the South East, (www.hmhair.co.uk) the colour services menu includes Tissue-Lites. Originally developed for discerning Parisian women, using special tissues instead of foils, this application technique allows for the delicate blending of colour between highlights for a more soft focused impression. At appointed L'Oréal Professionnel salons, (call 0800 072 6699 or www.lorealprofessionnel.com) as part of the Shinelines portfolio, lines of colour are applied horizontally as opposed to vertically with an artist's paintbrush or even a shaving brush to create the Blonde Shimmer Gloss effect.
Box of tricks
Having hair highlighted in the salon is an expensive process, due to the time and skill involved, although on a positive note the effects last two to three months. However, there's a wealth of off-the-shelf kits to choose from. Colour veterans and virgins alike will love L'Oréal Paris Couleur Experte, £10.99, in 18 sumptuous shade combinations (comprising a base colour and harmonising highlighter). Garnier Multi-lights Kits, £4.99 each, likewise create permanent lighter tones with a few strokes of the applicator brush. And Tints of Nature Highlights, £9.99 from Herb UK (01590 613490 or www.herbuk.com), is an ammonia-free conditioning permanent highlight kit.
Golden rules
Shade sorceress and Clynol International Colour Ambassador, Lisa Shepherd, shares her hot tips for highlights:
1. Go for multi-tone highlights so that your colour has more of a natural look.
2. Blonde actually does fade! Maintain your highlights using blonde enhancing shampoos.
3. Highlighted hair can become porous - use a weekly treatment to help restore condition.
4. Top up your parting on every other salon visit, this will prevent over-colouring and is more cost effective.
5. Never overlap your colour applications - this is what causes over-colouring and subsequent damage.
Golden wonders
Products to keep your highlights blonde, bright and beautiful.
L'Oréal Professionnel Lumino Contrast Radiance Shampoo for Highlighted Hair, £8.50, and Radiance Masque for Highlighted Hair, £11.75 (0800 072 6699). Both contain ingredients that automatically select the highlighted areas and affix themselves without weighing down the sections of uncoloured hair. Alberto VO5's Absolute Blonde range, from £2.19. With Fade Defy™ technology this range protects, perfects and brightens. The Natural Source Hi-Shine Blond & Shine, £7.95, www.beauty-republic.com. This accelerates the lightening effects of sunlight on the hair as well as accentuating natural shine and highlights. Andrew Collinge Highlight Enhancing Salon Conditioning Treatment, 99p, www.andrewcollinge.com. A lavender-tinted deep conditioner to help protect against unwanted build-up that can dull and darken blonde.
