The transition from autumn to winter has us thinking of a particular cosy-chic aesthetic. As it gets brisk outside, the morning walk to your favourite coffee stop involves bundling up in lots of layers, with attention paid to the details: your lips and cheeks believably flushed, and your hair shiny and healthy against the lapel of your new shearling jacket.
Now, the only way to ensure that your hair — specifically, your colour — is on point before heading into the winter season is to book a December appointment with your colourist. If you’re dry on tonal inspiration, scroll through for this season’s foolproof pick-me-up shades. From rich, dark leather to creamy blonde chai, you’ll be sure to find something that feels fresh, low-maintenance, and still Zoom chic.
Dark Leather
According to colourist Richy Kandasmy, one of the best ways to keep a dark colour from feeling blah is to infuse different shades of brown together to get a dark, shiny leather vibe. “Dark leather involves diffusing a darker base into lighter warm leather tones,” Kandasmy explains of the process. “You get nice movement when you place the lighter tone around the perimeter of the face frame and bounce off the internal layers.”
Dirty Chai
If you’re thinking a variation on blonde, consider this season’s trending shade of dirty chai, a creamy beige tone — brought to us by NYC-based colourist Ryan Trygstad, owner of Mark Ryan Salon. “When you’re going into a darker blonde, you’re eliminating the over-processing factor,” Trygstad explains of why he likes this shade for autumn-winter. “We love words like ‘cool’ and ‘bright,’ but this shade is more warm and tonal, which gives it some added shine.”
Cinnamon
We’ve been seeing a few different shades of red trending especially hot this autumn, and there’s no sign of a slowdown. According to Trygstad, one of the easiest ways to approach red is with a shade of cinnamon. “You have cinnamon in your cupboard, so it’s easy to visualise that warm golden-brown colour,” Trygstad says of the exact tone. Here, we have the perfect visual of red-bronzed curls — a gorgeous variation of cinnamon, courtesy of colourist Colleen Flaherty out of NYC’s Spoke & Weal Salon.
Warm Cappuccino
Like the Zoom highlight trend we saw over the summer, this “warm cappuccino” colour play is a winterised take on the chunky face-framing highlight. “A warm cappuccino colour blends dark brown with golden honey blonde,” Kandasmy says. “The lighter tone should be applied via contoured lightening around the face.”
Wheat Blonde
Similar to the dirty chai shade of blonde, this wheat tone is the cold weather-appropriate way to approach lightening. “With a wheat-blonde highlight you get strength and movement to curls,” Kandasmy explains, adding that the key goal is dimension. “The overall effect is like a blended chestnut brown, but with flecks of pale blonde.”
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