"Just as the seasons change, so should women's hair color. Gone are the days of stripy, bold highlights. This season, hair color is all about an overall color, a more blended look. Colors are rich and bold, rather than ashy and blah, and should appear natural, as opposed to "done."
LOOK #1: LIGHT BROWN WITH GOLDEN HIGHLIGHTS (A LA KATE BECKINSALE)
One of the biggest trends for fall hair color is a beautiful brown base, with some subtle highlights woven through for shine. You don't see stripes of color; the highlights just provide overall shine to the hair. Kate Beckinsale is one celebrity who sports this look beautifully. The base color should be boosted to a lighter brown. Thin wisps of highlights are then applied throughout her hair (basically, just sweeping highlights through the hair in a natural way; no chunks of color here). The final result: a gorgeous overall light brunette that looks like it radiates gold.
LOOK #2: BORDERLINE BLACK (A LA CAMERON DIAZ)
Open any magazine, and you'll see something startling: Some of Hollywood's most beautiful blondes have crossed over to the dark side — with their hair. Cameron Diaz and Lindsay Lohan are two of the most notable new brunettes, with their newly dyed ultra-dark, almost black tresses. This is the easiest of the hair coloring processes: It's a one-shot deal. Permanent color is painted all over. When the color is rinsed, a gloss is applied all over her hair to neutralize any red that the hair color may have pulled up; the idea here is to go for a true, deep brown; no traces of red whatsoever!) and for extra shine.
LOOK #3: BUTTERY BLONDE (LIKE NAOMI WATTS)
For a long time, chunky highlights were the hottest way to go blonde. The trend was contrast, and bold blasts of blonde against a darker base. That's not the case anymore. As with our other looks, overall color is what's hot, and if you want to go blonde, you've got to go all the way. Moreover, the best blondes today aren't white or ashy tones; it's about getting a beautiful yellow, buttery blonde, like the look of Naomi Watts. (A note: the lighter your hair is naturally, the easier this look will be to maintain; if you have naturally dark hair, you may not want to go for this look). The base color is boosted up a few tones with an overall permanent dye, then thin wisps of highlights are painted back-to-back throughout her hair, leaving super, super-thin strands of hair unpainted). In the end, the color looks natural and glows, and isn't stripy and drab.
