Sun-Kissed Hair: The Ombre Hairstyle

One of the most popular hairstyles that we saw last year (2011) was the ombre hairstyle, which is the sun-kissed surfer look. The natural sun-kissed hair women would get by being in the sun for long periods of time (which is why it is a surfer look) is what has made this hairstyle popular. Today, women want beauty products and hairstyles that are more natural looking, and this is why the ombre style is popular. Advances in hair coloring have made it possible to make your hair look like you have that natural sun-kissed look. The ombre style (for the natural look) is when the hair has darker roots, and then gradually gets lighter as it reaches your tips, but today there are many ways to wear this look.

With the natural ombre look, you will have a lighter shade of the same color as your roots going down to the tips of your hair, but you can also have a dramatic look with really dark roots and extremely light tips. For example, you can have dark brown hair and to get the ombre look you can have golden-brown highlights placed in the mid-section of your hair and down. Also, you can have the lighter color at your roots while the darker color gradually gets dark on the way down, so it is at its darkest at the tips. An example of this would be blonde at the roots, and then light ash brown in the middle gradually getting darker to ash brown at the tips. You can go dramatic with this style, such as if you had blonde hair at the roots and went with a light red down to the tips. If you want a natural ombre look it is best to stay within the same color range, such as if you have dark brown at the roots stick with a lighter brown at the tips.

This hairstyle can be tricky to do by yourself, and having a stylist color your hair may make it look more natural than if you did it by yourself. You may need your roots dyed when you go to the salon, but if you just want to go off of your natural hair color than you can do that. To get that gradual downward color fading (or darkening depending on what you want) the stylist will use a technique called “balayage,” and this where they will free hand the dye instead of using foils. The ombre effect is usually completed in two steps the base color is first and then highlights are added to clean it up.