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Need a kick to your brunette strands? Adding shades of caramel highlights to your brown hair is just the thing for you! They add definition to layers and curls, lighten your overall color, and add soft warmth to your look. You can go bold, soft and subtle, or ombre‘ to add that “special something” to your color. Color a new you by sweetening up your brown hair with caramel highlights!

Q&A with style creator, Lisa Amato

Independent Hairstylist @ Hair by Lisa in Boulder, CO

How would you describe this look?

Natural looking hair color. I love the pop of light on my client’s face. I do balayage highlights with almost all my clients. It’s a great way to go lighter without highlighting the whole head with the traditional foil highlight look. It’s also much more modern.

Any advice for someone considering it?

I would recommend this look for any of my clients who are looking for natural looking hair color with natural looking sun-kissed highlights. This is great for a client who is looking for lower maintenance highlights. Typically, clients that get balayage only get their hair highlighted every 3-5 months, depending on how fast their hair grows. This specific client gets her hair colored every 6-7 weeks for grey coverage only and I recommend every second visit we balayage to refresh her highlights. This look is best for the client who likes the depth at the root and likes a more gradual feathered out highlight. It’s not a traditional more distinctive line that a foil highlight gives which is right at the root. This look is best for our simple/natural client, who’s is looking for a beachy sun-kissed style. This technique works on all hair types/color/face shapes.

I styled her hair with Oribe Supershine moisturizing cream (my fav product!). My client has fine hair but it has little natural wave and frizz. This is a product that is good for frizz, shine, it has no hold, nongreasy. So for typical clients today only wash their hair a few times a week, it won’t get greasy. I used a round brush and finished with the same product to smooth down any flyaways and frizz.

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Because metallic has never been so in.

Looking for a new way to showcase your personality and style this year? Step out of the hair color box and into a salon to experience the shimmering metallic shades of L’Oréal Professionnel’s new Mad About Metals collection! Amethyst, Platinum and Rose Gold are your options to shake up your hair color shade.

Amethyst

Violet hair has been one of the biggest hair color trends for a few years, but it is not going anywhere. L’Oréal Professionnel has made it even more beautiful, vibrant, and shiny with their Mad About Metals Collection. It’s metal-like Amethyst result is stunning – a sure head-turner. Your colorist will need to pre-lighten your hair to get the bright result, so be sure you seek out a L’Oréal Professionnel Artist so that you get the highest level of expertise!

If you’ve been tempted by a light purple hair color, remember to use the right shampoo and conditioner to avoid color fade. We recommend the Series Expert Color A-OX collection to keep purple hair bright and healthy-looking.

Platinum

Love the look of platinum hair but hoping to pump it up a bit with a more of-the-moment metallic twist? The new Platinum shade of the Mad About Metals Collection will do the trick! As with all platinum hair colors, just be sure to invest in a quality blonde shampoo to keep your ultra-light locks from turning brassy. We suggest Serie Expert Vitamino Color A-OX Sulfate Free Shampoo paired with the Color Corrector Blondes Conditioner . These products will leave your platinum cool and bright.

Rose Gold

Rose gold is a popular spring shade for the way it instantly adds warmth to a winter complexion. The key to pulling off this color with confidence is all in its natural movement and shine. When styling, don’t weigh down the hair with excess product: use a light gel like Hollywood Waves’ Waves Fatales by Tecni.ART for control, volume and texture.

Whichever mesmerizing metallic mane you decide to embrace, be sure to also consider booking an in-salon treatment between coloring sessions. The in-salon Powermix luxury treatment and experience is ideal for restoring and boosting the intensity of your colored hair, mixed according to your hair’s exact needs.

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For high-voltage shine.

Ever wonder how your favorite celebs have the shiniest hair…ever? We’re here to let you in on a little secret: more often than not, your favorite A-listers are going for a gloss or a glaze every few weeks. Glosses and glazes-which are both very similar-help to give your hair a high-voltage shine to make it appear lustrous and ultra-healthy. Want to know more? We chatted with hairdresser and L’Oréal Professionnel Artist DJ McGinley to get the dish on glosses and glazes!

What Are Glosses and Glazes?

First things first, what are these high-shine treatments? Temporary, demi-permanent-meaning they fade away instead of growing out-haircolor that can be clear or tinted. A glaze sits on top of the hair, while a gloss will infuse itself into your strands, so the color and/or shine will last a little longer. McGinely says that glosses, especially, “are a great way to color-correct quickly, since they are neutralizers.”

Glosses for Grey Blending

“[Glosses add] shine and beautiful color, they help make highlights stand out, enhance natural color, and make the hair look healthier, ” McGinely explains. “They’re also ideal for grey blending. [Glosses] can camouflage up to 50 to 70 percent of grey and last up to eight weeks before you have to go back,” she says, “which is longer than the every 4-5 week root touch-up appointments required with single-process color.” Plus, since glosses fade away there won’t be obvious lines of demarcation between new growth and the dye.

Get Your Gloss to Last

To make your gloss last, be sure to use only color-safe shampoos so you don’t wash out any of that gorgeous shine!

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It’s the latest hair trend to hit the states, but do you have the guts to ask for it?

Ombré and Balayage were the colour techniques to ask for in 2014, but it looks like they’ve evolved into something a little more… animal themed!

According to international hair colourist at Paul Edmonds London, Jack Howard, it’s all about the Ecaille (the French word for tortoiseshell). Inspired by the rich multi-tonal colours of a tortoiseshell, it’s considered the moody sister to Ombré and Bronde.

“Golden lights are mixed with darker, richer caramel tones whilst incorporating shades of honey, amber, golden blonde and dark brown paired with gloss,” Jack told us. “Not as dramatic as Ombré but less subtle than Bronde, the best results come from working with shades that complement the skin tone – just a few shades lighter and darker than the base to avoid a colour change that’s too dramatic.”

Jack is the go-to colourist for the likes of Poppy Delevingne and Suki Waterhouse, so when it comes to A-List hair trends, he knows his stuff.

“We’re already seeing Ecaille on celebs such as Jessica Alba, Gisele Bundchen and Khloe Kardashian, but I just never had a name to put to it before now!”

Featured in Brit + Co by Cortney Clift

While ultra vibrant hair and dramatic ombre ruled 2014, we’re starting to see a shift in the follicle forecast. As we step into the new year we’re beginning to see a more natural trend attached to those tresses. The leading force toward this minimal vibe: balayage, increasingly popular highlights that aim to mimic those sunkissed highlights you got as a kid. And now, piggybacking off balayage, we’re seeing another similar, albeit darker, technique that we’re sure is about to go mane-stream over the course of 2015: introducing ecaille (AKA “tortoiseshell” in French).

With smooth caramel tones, the ecaille technique is a slightly richer and darker version of your natural color paired with golden highlights and a whole lot of shine. The look, which is already already trending in Paris, tends to also be darker at the roots and lighter at the ends – consider it a much more sophisticated version of the ombre we know and love. Pop some balayage highlights on top of this rich shade and and a gloss to keep it rich, and you’ve got this multidimensional, bombshell look.

To achieve ecaille-style locks when you’re next in the salon, here are a few pointers on what to say to your stylist:

1. Don’t ask for it by name — at least not yet. While a handful of stylists at high-end salons might already know exactly what this technique looks like, it’s only starting to really take off stateside. Instead, chat with your colorist about the style, and of course, bring a picture (or five).

2. Explain the key elements of ecaille to make the process even more clear. If you’re not sure how to translate the look into hair talk, tell them to darken the base color a bit, add signature dark pieces and gloss it.

3. Ask your colorist focus on a few bolder, face-framing pieces in the front, paired with softer, lighter painted pieces all around.

4. Ask for various tones, deeper at the roots and lighter at the ends, but be clear that while you’re looking for some gradation, you’re not looking for ombre.

5. Be sure that the tones in your hair match up with your skintone. If you are fair or pale, asks for some golden tones to add vibrancy. If you’re closer to an olive color or have a pink complexion, ask for some ash elements to give your skin a more natural, sun-kissed look.

(images via Kevin Winters/Dave M. Benett/Getty h/t InStyle)

From Jack Howard

Bronde baby Bronde. It’s amazing the coverage we are getting on this hot look this season even though we’ve been doing it for ages. It’s just the IT look and another example of beautiful freehand work.

Just remember the best Brondes always have a little Balayage around the face. It’s what connects the total look.