Sun-Dappled Brown
Alexa Chung
• Combine ash brown color with subtle highlights for this beachy, low-maintenance look.
Shampoo
Emma Watson
• The brown shade comes first, then the highlights. "Apply them immediately after the color," says colorist Marie Robinson of New York's Marie Robinson salon. "Dip a clean mascara wand into the lightener and pull it through a few random strands near your face, all the way to the ends."
• The brown shade comes first, then the highlights. "Apply them immediately after the color," says colorist Marie Robinson of New York's Marie Robinson salon. "Dip a clean mascara wand into the lightener and pull it through a few random strands near your face, all the way to the ends."
Treatment
Gisele Bündchen
• If your hair is naturally light brown, highlight only regrowth every three to four months; if you need to dye the base brown (for covering gray, for instance), touch up the roots every four to six weeks, again coloring only the new growth.
• If your hair is naturally light brown, highlight only regrowth every three to four months; if you need to dye the base brown (for covering gray, for instance), touch up the roots every four to six weeks, again coloring only the new growth.
Conditioner
Charlotte Rampling
• You really only need a few highlights around the face. More not only look unnatural, they're also higher-maintenance—roots show right away.
• You really only need a few highlights around the face. More not only look unnatural, they're also higher-maintenance—roots show right away.
• If you're covering gray, it's tempting to let color stay on longer than the directions say (how hard can brown be, after all?). But don't do it.
Touch-Up Kit
Touch-Up Kit
California Blonde
Amanda Seyfried
• "Highlights should be strongest around the face and on your ends—it's more natural," says Redken consultant Tracey Cunningham of L.A.'s Byron & Tracey Salon. Paint those areas with highlighting cream first, let it sit for one minute, then add a few more highlights to the rest of your hair.
Sun Protection
Highlighting Kit
Cameron Diaz
• Always leave some of your natural color showing. If highlights get too thick, you end up with obvious-looking regrowth; about a quarter inch wide or less is ideal.
• Always leave some of your natural color showing. If highlights get too thick, you end up with obvious-looking regrowth; about a quarter inch wide or less is ideal.
• Yes: Blonde can turn green in chlorinated water. "If you're swimming, soak your hair in fresh water first and comb conditioner through to the ends," says Erin Bogart, colorist at New York's Sally Hershberger Downtown.
Conditioner
Conditioner
Peggy Lipton
• Touch up every six to eight weeks, only on new, unlightened hair. If you bleach already-bleached hair, it gets really damaged.
• Touch up every six to eight weeks, only on new, unlightened hair. If you bleach already-bleached hair, it gets really damaged.
• If your hair starts to look brassy, a shampoo with purple tones will fix it.
Shampoo
Shampoo
Dark & Glossy
Anne Hathaway
• Choose a slightly lighter shade than what you imagine you want—it's easier to add more color later than to try to strip some away if it turns out too dark.
• Sulfate-free shampoo is incredibly helpful in preventing fading—color will stay fresh for significantly longer.
Shampoo
Shampoo
Rachel Bilson
• "Cool chocolate tones are best for fair skin, but women with darker skin tones should go for warm chestnut," says L'Oréal Paris consultant/colorist Johnny Lavoy.
• "Cool chocolate tones are best for fair skin, but women with darker skin tones should go for warm chestnut," says L'Oréal Paris consultant/colorist Johnny Lavoy.
• Fading color (this can happen just on the ends) is best addressed with a clear or colored gloss, says Lavoy. Not only will you get more shine, better texture, and healthier-looking hair, but any shade differences because of the damage will blend in easier.
Hair Gloss
Hair Gloss
Treatment
Ali MacGraw
• Root touch-up kits are particularly easy to use with this type of shade—the earliest you might need one is a month to six weeks.
Touch-Up Kit
Touch-Up Kit
Vibrant Red
Isla Fisher
• Use your actual hair shade to pick the right color: Blondes should go for strawberry blonde or light copper, whereas someone with medium brown hair looks best in auburn or a deeper copper.
• Always do a color test. "The back of the box is not enough to go by," says Minardi. "Depending on your hair, results vary wildly."
At-Home Color
Julianne Moore
• Be especially careful if the hair you're working with already has color in it. "Doing red at home on previously colored hair is very tricky," says colorist Beth Minardi of New York's Minardi Salon. "If your hair has been bleached, go to a salon."
• Be especially careful if the hair you're working with already has color in it. "Doing red at home on previously colored hair is very tricky," says colorist Beth Minardi of New York's Minardi Salon. "If your hair has been bleached, go to a salon."
Shampoo
Conditioner
Claire Danes
• Since reds are most prone to fading in the sun, styling products that contain UV protection make an enormous difference.
• Since reds are most prone to fading in the sun, styling products that contain UV protection make an enormous difference.
• Retouch roots every four to five weeks, applying color only to virgin hair.
Treatment
Treatment
Platinum Blonde
Gwen Stefani
• All-out white-blonde is a lot of work, the experts insist—and work that, in most cases, is best done by a professional. "Platinum is the one truly high-risk shade," says Sharon Dorram-Krause of New York's Sharon Dorram Color at Sally Hershberger/color director for Nexxus. "Done wrong, it can cause serious damage and even scalp burns—not to mention terrible color."
Hair Gloss
Agyness Deyn
• Platinum works best on shorter hair, since it's trimmed often and thus in inherently better shape. Longer hair is more damaged hair.
• Roots really show; if they bother you, you'll need them touched up in three to five weeks.
• Platinum works best on shorter hair, since it's trimmed often and thus in inherently better shape. Longer hair is more damaged hair.
• Roots really show; if they bother you, you'll need them touched up in three to five weeks.
• You won't be able to take much in the way of other treatments (say, keratin straightening or even hot curling irons).
Treatment
Treatment
Erin Fetherston
• Shampoo less often, and use the gentlest products you can.
• Shampoo less often, and use the gentlest products you can.
• Purple-toned shampoos and conditioners, as well as those infused with chamomile, help brighten blonde shades.
Shampoo
Shampoo
Conditioner
