Four Key Spring-Summer 2016 Colour Trends

By Jenny Pelter, Technical Director, Westrow Artistic Team And Franchisee, Westrow Street Lane

Effortless

Effortlessly coloured hair, in a palette of earthy natural tones, was showcased at both Versace and Valentino's S/S16 shows. Soft warm blonde tones were fused on to a background of a natural warm light brunette and baby lights were added in sections of freehand balayage. The overall result was reminiscent of a girl who has a carefree attitude towards her hair, but also wants a hint of colour, to enhance her natural look.

Ice Pastels

Cool toned pastels were seen on the catwalk at Louis Vuitton. It's a trend that has been around for a while, but changes slightly every season and this time we're back to icy shades of mauve, purple and pink. Products such as Kebelo BONDAGE, which safeguard the condition of hair during the colouring process, allow stylists to push the boundaries more and more, when it comes to colouring our clients' hair. It's very exciting as what was unattainable in the past is now becoming more achievable. We're able to pre-lighten hair, while keeping it in amazing condition, which allows us to colour hair in these pale cool pastel hues and to change the colour frequently, without compromising the quality of the hair.

Glitter

Over the last couple of seasons we've seen hair coloured with chalk, colourful thread sewn in to hair and glitter pens used on the parting. Now the fun factor comes by way of brightly coloured glitter and sparkly sequins. Models at Ashish shone brightly, with random sections of hair painted with candy-tone glitter. Festival-goers will no doubt enjoy trying this fun new trend. My top tip would be to fix sparkles in place with gel and hairspray.

Contouring

Contouring will be a big hit in S/S16; it's all about the enhancement of face shapes, bringing out your best features and playing down the areas you want to hide. By lightening and darkening pieces of hair around the face you can create the appearance of different shapes, soften harsh angles or create sharper features. Darker shades hide and blend areas, whereas lighter shades highlight areas, drawing the eye towards them. For example, a triangular face shape, with a very narrow chin, can be darkened through the top of the hair, with lighter pieces added to the jawline, to make it appear wider. Someone with a narrow face shape can be given darker roots, with fine, lighter pieces added around the face, to give the appearance of a fuller face. Contouring will be a key trend because the technique is adapted to each different face shape, so it really does work on everyone.