Autumn Colour Trends

Shades of Autumn

Siobhan Haug, International Artistic Director for Toni & Guy and the current British Colour Technician of the Year, looks at three key looks from her winning collection, which reflect this season’s colour trends.

ROMANTIC RED

This look has a sensual, modern feel. It uses colour placement to follow the contours of the model’s face. The look is finished with a dark, romantic swirl of colour bending around the outline of the model’s face, exaggerating the bends and draping through the hair.

The model’s porcelain skin has a peach undertone which supports the warm shades within the colour, creating an enhanced glow against her skin. The depth and texture of colour make her hair appear fuller and more detailed.

THE TECHNIQUE

The roots were coloured with a tone that combined copper and deep red. The underneath was colour blocked to add strength to the silhouette. Using a wide textured weave, tones of magenta and purple were overlayed and separated with bendy rollers to divide the woven colour.

EMERALD GREEN

These emerald curls are deep, twisted tunnels of lightreflective tone. The curls feel luxurious and well-conditioned. To create light reflection and maximum shine, I was inspired to go darker and deeper with the hues of green.

Greens are often matte and less light-reflective, however, by working with a vibrant direct dye I achieved maximum shine and longevity.

THE TECHNIQUE

I used pivoting triangular sections to add depth and light in equal parts. I used a low-oxidant developer with the pre-lightener to provide a gentle lift that would support the green and then a quasi-permanent to add shine and gloss to the curls. The toner was done in two parts; firstly to neutralise the orange undertone in the hair and provide the beginning of a green base.

This look was inspired by designer Ricardo Tisci’s autumn/winter collection for Burberry. I used elements of inspiration from Tisci’s clothing and recreated it within the model’s hair. For example, her velvet black hair forms a dark silhouette underneath the eccentric details of gold. Then sleeves of colour-blocked tones fall through the lengths of the hair, finishing with black fringing underneath the steps to outline her face.

The symmetric graphic steps are the focal point of the cut, I really wanted to play with colour to unbalance that symmetry.

THE TECHNIQUE

I worked with a vertical section on the model’s left side, and a vertical section plus the top half of the fringe on her right. I parted each section horizontally, working from the bottom to the top, blending pre-lightener all the way through the ends. On the model’s right side, I blended one inch away from the root and incorporated the top layer of the fringe. On the opposite side, I took the application lower and applied a deeper tone. Once an even lift was achieved, I coloured everything with gold toner. To encourage a blended feel, I dried the hair and then re-toned the blend areas using a slightly deeper version of the first toner.

“I really wanted to play with colour to unbalance that symmetry” QUICK QUIZ

Which designer’s autumn/winter show inspired the Dark Velvet look?:

A Ricardo Tisci

B Vivienne Westwood

C Stella McCartney

D Victoria Beckham

Answer: A