This Spring and Summer, There’s Something for Everyone!

Rihanna goes back to black...

If you’re feeling bored with your cut or color, now is the time to consider a change. Spring is always a time of renewal, when we think about spring cleaning, changing up rich fall and winter colors for lighter, brighter spring and summer colors, going shorter, going lighter, adding highlights, cutting bangs. It’s a transformative time of year, and there is no one trend that dominates. For every Emma Stone who decides to go blonde again, there’s Rihanna who decides to go back to black.

But with that said, here are some of the looks we’re seeing repeated over and over in the magazines, on the style blogs, and on celebrities…

Krysten Ritter's baby bangs

BANGS: Baby bangs, blunt bangs, soft and wispy bangs. Whatever your bang, it’s one of the easiest ways to make a major style change yet still maintain the length of your hair, which so many women are loathe to let go of completely.

Actress Krysten Ritter has some of the most flattering baby bangs we’ve seen – they’re edgy, a little rock-and-roll, very urban, and a bit retro, too, especially paired with her black hair. 

Baby bangs at Versace

The trick with very short bangs is to be sure they don’t look as if you cut them yourself – or worse, that a three-year-old cut them while you napped, like the model from the Versace Fall 2012 runway.  This is when you want to consult your stylist and get a professional opinion about whether they’re the most flattering bang for your face, and then have them cut professionally to be sure they avoid the dreaded “kindergarten” look.

Blunt bangs at Marni

Blunt bangs are another style that isn’t the easiest to pull off – the heavy geometric quality isn’t flattering to every face shape, and they can be severe. They also tend to grow out very quickly, and are not easy to maintain yourself, necessitating frequent trips to the salon. 

Blunt bangs at Elie Saab

You’ll notice that both examples of this look are from the Fall 2012 runways (Marni and Elie Saab) and not real life; they flatter a model’s more exaggerated bone structure. Again, this is where a stylist’s expertise comes in; if they’ll look fabulous on you, your stylist will tell you truthfully.

Nicole Richie's wispy bangs

By far the most flattering bangs are soft fringes, or wisps. Seen here on cuts, colors, and face shapes as diverse as Nicole Richie’s softly layered golden shag, Alexa Chung’s ombréd brunette bob, and Florence Welch’s flame-colored waves, they’re versatile and can be worn piece-y, pushed to the side, or down. 

Alexa Chung's piece-y fringe

Florence Welch's soft fringes

It’s hard to go wrong with this style of bang, and they accentuate the eyes and well-shaped brows, hide a high forehead, bring balance to a disproportionate face, and are a great way to cover an aging forehead.     

January Jones' graduated bob

Emily Blunt's graduated bob

BOBS: The bob is one way to still feel like you have length while losing a lot of the weight from your hair, often freeing up more texture, trimming away damaged ends, and depending on whether it’s a “lob”, a graduated bob like those of January Jones and Emily Blunt, an asymmetrical bob like Ali Larter’s, or a cropped and sideswept bob like Cameron Diaz’s, it’s a cut with a lot of vitality and movement that offers plenty of styling options.

Ali Larter's asymmetrical bob

Cameron Diaz's cropped bob

Exposing the neck is a very elegant look, it creates height, and it is also cooler as the weather gets warmer and more humid. 

PIXIES: Actresses Michelle Williams and Ginnifer Goodwin have single-handedly made the pixie a go-to haircut again. 

Michelle Williams

Ginnifer Goodwin

More and more women are coming into my salon requesting truly short hair, and even more surprising is that they are maintaining it, not trying the style out and starting to grow it in immediately. 

Ruby Rose

Here’s Ruby Rose with another variation on the pixie, a bit more edgy than either Michelle or Ginnifer. The other advantage to these pixie cuts is that you can experiment with color and risk minimal damage since the hair is so short and grows out quickly.

Ashlee Simpson

RAZORED CROPS: Razor cutting is back in vogue, and it is being applied to cropped styles as varied as those shown here on Ashlee Simpson, Morena Baccarin, and Jennie Garth. 

Morena Bacccarin

It creates tremendous texture and allows the hair to literally be pushed into a variety of styles, with minimal product. 

Jennie Garth

It’s another styling option for the hot months, yet it looks sophisticated and fashion forward, and never too innocent.

Allison Williams 

Christina Aguilera

LONG LAYERS: No matter the season, long hair never goes out of style. Women will brave heat and humidity without ever considering a shorter cut. 

But layered looks are definitely trending, which remove weight around the perimeter and often through the interior, creating texture and movement, and adding interest when the hair is styled into a casual or formal up-do. 

Lily Aldridge, layered ombre

Jessica Biel, darker and layered

The variety can be seen by looking at the pictures of NBC news anchor Brian William’s actress daughter Allison, Christina Aguilera, Victoria’s Secret model Lily Aldridge, and Jessica Biel. It all depends on you hair’s natural texture, density, and level of damage.

COLOR, COLOR EVERYWHERE: Color is a temping way to freshen and brighten up your look for the coming months, but it also means a commitment to taking extra care of your hair. 

Emma Stone, back to blonde

Jessica Chastain, a richer red

Whether you go blonde (Emma Stone – sorry to see her lose the red!), blonder (Cameron Diaz), redder (Jessica Chastain), darker (Jessica Biel), back to black (Rihanna – much improved!), or try color blocking (Miranda Lambert) or ombré (Lily Aldridge and Alexa Chung), you need to conserve the vitality and condition of your hair.

Miranda Lambert's ultra-flattering
color blocked blondes

The more you color, the more you condition. The more your hair is exposed to the summer heat and the elements, the more you condition. The more your hair is exposed to the chemical in the pool or the salt water at the beach, the more you need to condition. You’ll wash your hair more during the summer, and if you color your hair, it will fade faster. Glazes will help protect your color and keep your hair brighter and shinier for longer.

Even if your hair isn’t color-treated, switch over to a pH-balanced, sulfate-free shampoo, and ask your stylist for a recommendation on the right conditioner for your hair. And leave-in conditioners are wonderful for everyone to help protect your hair when you are outdoors enjoying the beautiful weather. Treat your hair well, keep it hydrated, rinse out the salt-and pool-water, deep condition it as often as your stylist recommends, and it will look healthy and beautiful all through the spring and summer.

    

Until next week, ciao…

2011 Hair Trends: Color, Braids, Bangs, Bobs, and Bling!

Candy-Colored Hair: Dianna, Katy and Kate

As 2011 comes to a close, we take a look back at some of the most popular hair trends, and the celebrities who sported them for all the world to see. While the rest of us went quietly about our lives with the same cuts and colors, we didn’t have to dodge the paparazzi, and for that we can all be thankful!

  

Candy-Colored Hair: Or, if we’re honest about most of what we saw, we’ll just call it Kool Aid-colored hair instead! On the whole, it simply was NOT appealing, as proven by Dianna Agron and Kate Bosworth, who both looked as if they waited until their parents weren’t home and dip-dyed their hair in Kool Aid. It just doesn’t look appealing. If you want to do something like this, you need a professional, not a home dye job. Look at the difference between Katy Perry and the other two. She may be wearing a funky haircolor, but it looks professionally done, healthy, and well-colored. Check out our blog post from November 10, “Bobbing for Color.” THAT’S what playing around with funky colors should look like!

Temporarily Red: Blake, Drew, and Scarlett

Seeing Red: This year, we saw requests to “go red” surpass those to “become a blonde.” It’s a tough, demanding haircolor, but if you’re thinking about becoming a redhead, now is most definitely the time. But it cannot be stressed enough that a change like this really must be done professionally. There are so many shades of red -- cool reds, hot reds, warm reds, red-reds, which you can see just by looking at Blake Lively, Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson – that you need an expert to choose the right shade for your skin tone. And because red haircolor is most prone to fading, a professional will do a “double dip” to make your new color last longer, as well as recommend the best products to extend the life of your new red-hot look. 

On Top: Gwen, Reese, and Jennifer

Topknots: It is refreshing to see a clean, classical look like the ballerina topknot come back into style, but with a bit of a twist on each celebrity’s version. We especially liked Gwen Stefani’s, with that edge of messiness to soften its perfection. Those strands falling around her face are sexy, just like she is, and just go to show how really casual and do-able the topknot actually is. Reese Witherspoon’s is very neat and the most formal, and Jennifer Lopez’s has just a little bit of imperfection, and they all work perfectly. 

Let's Be Blunt: Rose, Nicole, and Sandra

Blunt Bangs: Blunt bangs can be a very attractive and dramatic (think of Anjelica Huston or early Cher) signature look, but you have to really want them and prepared to live with them, for they can also be very severe. In earlier blog posts, we commented that we didn’t like them at all on Rose Byrne, whose delicate face was overpowered by such a heavy fringe. When Sandra Bullock surprised celebrity watchers by showing up with them at an awards show earlier in the year, opinions were mixed, but she has much stronger featured and a longer face to balance them out. Nicole Ritchie wears them most successfully here, because hers are not really as blunt. They’re cut at a graduated angle, have some wispiness to them, and don’t overpower her face.

Braided Ladies: Shakira, Nina, and Stacy

Braids: Braids are back in, but they’re not as neat and clean – like Nina Dobrev’s or Stacy Keibler’s – today as they were in earlier trends. Even Shakira’s is rather neat. Lately it’s fishtail braids and messy, homemade-looking braids that were all over the runways this year. The irony is that there is a method to making a good, casually controlled, slightly messy braid, and it takes a hairstylist to do it.

Ladies Who Lob: Julianne, Emily, and Brooklyn

Long Bobs: May we refer you our December 16 blog post, “Which Lob Do You Love?” Both Emily Blunt and Brooklyn Decker were featured, and Julianne Hough was cut for space, but not for her great cut.

Hair “Bling”: Hair jewelry, hair accessories, and then there’s always the fascinators! These jeweled hair accessories are a way to add glamour to a look without resorting to the usual necklace/earrings pairing. 

Hair Jewels: Kate, Jessica, and Emma

In fact, you’ll notice that Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, and Emma Stone have all foregone necklaces, and if they are wearing earrings, they are small or very delicate. In the case of Kate and Jessica, both pregnant at the time, it allowed them to spotlight a glowing décolleté in a strapless gown. In spite of the jewels involved, all of this “hair bling” has a slightly Bohemian feeling that juxtaposes beautifully with their formal gowns.

It has been a wonderful year in fashion and beauty (mostly good, and some trends we hope will expire at midnight on December 31^st), and we expect nothing less for 2012! Have a safe and happy New Year, and we’ll be back next week. Until then, ciao!