When it comes to hair color, low-maintenance and natural-looking are what’s hot right now.
Balayage, which was developed in France in the ’70s but really caught on three or four years ago, continues to be ultra-popular. Unlike the “chunky-skunky” highlights of a decade ago, balayage gives a more natural, sun-kissed look. “It’s a huge trend,” says Debbie Bartko, co-founder of Static Hair in White Plains. “The color starts subtle at the roots and brighter on the ends.”
Hernan Prada, owner of Hernan Prada Hair, which has just opened a new location in Bedford Hills (the original is in Scarsdale), says, “We perform the European version, using a comb for application. Our technique lightens hair naturally, using a lightener and only ammonia-free color.”
While some say that ombré (in which hair is darker at the root and blends lighter at the ends) is on the wane and that the more subtle sombré is not far behind, both are still offered, and requested, at most salons. Regardless of the technique—whether balayage, ombré, sombré, baby-lights, ecaille, or color-melting—the goal, says Prada, is the same: “natural-looking, multidimensional color.”