Latest Hair Color Trends

When it comes to embracing beauty trends, hair color is a tricky one.

After all, few of us would undergo a drastic change in color just to make a fashion statement. Fortunately, you don’t need to go Lady Gaga platinum to feel current and fresh.

British celebrity colorist Louise Galvin explains how it’s done.

“Good hair color should always enhance skin tone and eye color,” she says. “That means staying within two shades -- darker or lighter -- of your natural base. For example, Emily Blunt and Keira Knightley are classic English beauties who never move too far from their own color, but instead change the tone throughout the year, going lighter and brighter through the summer and then richer in fall and winter. Another example is Jennifer Aniston. Her color is always spot-on, moving from deep caramel tones in winter to honey in spring and summer, but always staying within the boundaries of her natural base.”

Here, the top hair color trends for 2011, from London to Los Angeles:

Warm Color

Just say no to ashy blond or beige-blond shades, which can make the skin look dull and gray. “Cold colors like that are not flattering to the face, especially on winter-pale skin,” says Lea Journo, owner of The Lea Journo Salon in Beverly Hills, which attracts A-listers such as Brad Pitt, Sienna Miller and Kate Bosworth. Instead, go for warmer tones: If you normally wear bright blond highlights, take them down to golden. Red hair is still on trend for 2011, but will be richer and warmer, in the strawberry or auburn family. As for brunettes, check out Journo’s client Katie Cassidy of Gossip Girl. “We gave her warm-honey highlights and lowlights that stay within the brown family, but are still lustrous and multi-tonal,” Journo says.

Hand-painted Highlights

Skinny streaks are out. What’s in: chunky highlights that vary in size and in depth of brightness, depending on where they’re placed on the scalp. It’s a look best created by a method known as balliage -- painting color directly on the hair instead of using traditional foils.

“After the client’s hair is cut, I ask her to show me how she wears it every day, how she moves with it, how she puts it up,” says Journo. “This helps me design where the lowlights and highlights should go. Since I don’t want a thick chunk of blond at the roots, I use a paintbrush to sketch the color on softly and then gradually widen the streak as I go down the hair. The strength of the color also changes, becoming brighter on the ends.” This technique is shown to best advantage on her client Ellen DeGeneres, “whose highlights and lowlights are bright and shiny and full of dimension, thanks to balliage. We could never achieve that look with foils.”

High-shine Hair

Forget the matte grunge look; lustrous, light-reflective locks that show off your multidimensional color will feel more chic in 2011. Galvin says you can achieve this glossy finish by tweaking your conditioning habits. “Apply your conditioner or deep treatment liberally to the mid-lengths and ends, skipping the roots,” she suggests. “Massage it through using your fingers -- not a comb -- and allow the product to penetrate the hair for as long as you can. When you’re ready to rinse, apply a little water to loosen the product, and then begin combing it out, starting from the ends and gently teasing out any tangles while you work up to the root. Once you’ve combed it through, rinse.”

While this system takes a little longer, treating your hair as gently as you treat your skin will leave it nourished and moisturized -- plus it will keep your hair looking shiny and healthy.

Laurie Drake is a former Vogue staffer who has written about beauty, health and fitness for Allure, Glamour, Self, Prevention, Town & Country and InStyle magazines. She has won three Gold Triangle Awards for print journalism from the American Academy of Dermatology

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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