By Alyssa Kolsky Hertzig, Allure Magazine
I'm certainly no stranger to coloring my hair, but no matter whether I've lightened, darkened, or highlighted over the years, I've pretty much always stayed safely in the medium-brown arena. But, then last week, Lauren Conrad posted a photo of her newly-colored pink, turquoise, and blue-tipped hair. And you know what? I. Couldn't. Stop. Thinking. About. It. Suddenly, between LC and the pink-streaked models at the fall Prabal Gurung show, I was obsessed with the idea of dyeing some end pieces of my own hair pink. But did I dare? Would it look good? How would I pick the right shade of pink? And most importantly: Could a real person (who has to go to work at a real office) actually do this? Luckily Kristin Ess, the amazing L.A. colorist behind Lauren's dye job, was ready with some answers.
Can a non-celeb get away with this look? The colored-ends effect is surprisingly "teacher/ bank-teller friendly," says Ess, because you can disguise it if you need to: "When Lauren was leaving the day we colored her hair, I asked her put it up in a bun, and you could see no color whatsoever."
How do you choose the right shade of pink? Here's one time where you don't have to worry about picking a color that flatters your skin tone. After all, the goal with this look isn't about appearing natural. "With Lauren, there was never any talk of whether or not these colors would match her skin tone because there's just nothing natural about hot pink or electric blue," says Ess. "It's like asking what shade of Magic Marker would look best in your hair. Pick whatever looks prettiest to you."
Do you have to consider your base color? Definitely. If you're blonde, you're pretty much good to go. But if you're a brunette like me, things get a bit trickier. "If your hair is really dark or even red, I highly recommend asking your colorist if they think your ends can reach a light blonde," says Ess. "Do a test strand. If your hair lifts to a light blonde on the ends, you'll be fine. If it won't go past orange or dark yellow at the tips, you may want to reconsider because it's like adding orange or yellow to the bright color and that can dull it down."
What if you end up hating it? "If you do just the ends, you can either get a haircut to take those two to three inches off the ends, or simply color them back to your own natural color," says Ess. "When Lauren and I took the plunge, we discussed the 'You only live once' and 'We can always dye it back' scenarios. You've got to have fun."
Okay, I'm convinced. I'm doing it. I can always dye it back, so why not have a little fun, right? But what do you think? Do you like Lauren's new hair color? And would you ever go pink (or blue, or teal) yourself?
