You know what comes with a new season? An easy excuse for a new hair color. We favored lighter tones in shades of cream soda and Champagne all summer long, but for the rest of the fall and winter, we're doing fallayage.
"'Fallayage' is all about adapting your balayage to complement the seasons," explains Francesca Dixon, senior creative colorist at Hari's in London. "Inspired by autumnal tones, fallayage incorporates seasonal hues of copper, auburn, and golden browns to give a dimensional, warm, and voluminous result." (It's also, as you might have noticed, a very good pun.)
The balayage technique, which originated in France, is done freehand — as opposed to using foils or a highlighting cap — which delivers natural-looking highlights throughout the hair. The lightened-up effect is a summer standby. Fallayage is done using a similar method, but with a fall-friendly overhaul. "Rather than toning it out completely, fallayage is about revamping your summer balayage," Dixon tells us. "By adding in lowlights matched to your natural color, it breaks up blockiness often created by natural lightening from the summer sun."
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The update is all about adding definition back to into the hair, and opting for the season's most flattering colors to complement your skin tone. But because summer can leave hair sun-ravaged, damage control should be your top priority. Dixon recommends asking your colorist about L'Oréal Professionnel's Luo Color for your lowlights — the shades are perfectly true to color and won't grab onto dark or green tones — and the brand's Dia dyes for tone-on-tone color. The ammonia-free, semi-permanent formula won't lighten the hair, but it will warm it up while keeping it glossy, healthy-looking, and strong. Then, you can use a color-depositing conditioning treatment, like the Davines Alchemic Conditioner in Copper, at home to maintain the temporary color and keep it fresh. Fallayage works on all textures and colors, just make sure you head to a colorist who understands your hair for the best results.
So as you're warming up your wardrobe with extra layers and thick knits, be sure to work some warmth through your hair color, too.
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