Sand Art Hair Is the Color Trend of the Moment and It Is Mesmerizing
Whether you like crazy-colored hair or not, this is amazing.
Rainbow Hair Is Over. This Is the Hair Color You Need to Be Wearing Now.
Meet opal.
Instagram @Auracolorist
If you're done with silvery-gray hair and My Little Pony-esque, bright rainbow strands, you might want to take the latest color trend for a test drive. Take a look at opal, a blend of pearl and light pinks, blues, greens, and purples — or a more muted version of all the trends you've been seeing on manes lately.
In a recent interview, colorist Aura Friedman from Sally Hershberger's Downtown Salon told Pop Sugarhow she achieves this gem of a hair color: "First, Aura lightens the hair to a pearl hue (the shade just before you reach gray). Then, she layers on bright colors. The result is a washed-out version of the sand art look." And boy, is it beautiful.
Here are more examples of the mother-of-pearl tress trend:
Why I Went Gray — on Purpose
Life's too short for boring hair.
Two things I've always dreamed of: living in New York City and having cool hair that would make me stand out. So when the opportunity to move to the Big Apple popped up two years ago, I immediately jumped on it and kept my eyes open for hair inspo. I'd already tried ombré, even raven black tresses. But this time I wanted to make a statement, and #GrannyHair was seriously trending.
I had some reservations, of course: Would I still feel sexy around my husband? (After all, people spend tons of money to get rid of grays.) Would I, a marketing strategist, be taken seriously by clients? But silver foxes like Kylie Jenner, Hilary Duff, and Rihanna pushed me to book an appointment with hair wiz Lena Ott, owner of NYC's Suite Caroline Salon, which I follow on Instagram.
Thanks to my previous adventures in color, my dark hair (now close to my natural brunette hue) was weak. To avoid frying it, Lena bleached and toned it steely blue three separate times (each took 60 to 90 minutes from application to wash). Five hours later, I was ready for the big reveal.
I. Freaking. Loved it! It was the perfect shade of silver with a hint of turquoise at the ends. My hubs was totally into it (he actually bleached his hair a few weeks later), and my clients either gave rave reviews or chocked it up to "something creative types do."
The maintenance, however, was another story: violet-based shampoos and conditioners, weekly antibrass masks, monthly salon touch-ups (which cost about $300). Eight weeks in, I was over it. Instead of chasing silver, I started playing with new hues. I tinted my hair teal before a Caribbean vacay. And when that faded, cotton candy pink.
Today I'm expecting my first baby … as a brunette. My #Granny phase may have been fleeting, but that's the cool thing about hair color: It's an easy way to express yourself, and you can always go back — the Pinterest and Insta pics are proof you took the plunge.
A version of this story was published as "I Went Gray ... On Purpose" in the September issue of Cosmopolitan. Pick up the September 2015 issue on newsstands or click here to subscribe to the digital edition!
