If there was one shade rising up the ranks as the hottest hair trend of 2020, it’s red. Blonde and brunette may have dominated the space, but finally, red is firmly having its moment in the sun. Just this week, Dua Lipa debuted a brand new, bright cherry bob that’s just about convinced us to reach for the dye.
While natural titian’s like Karen Gillan have always known what’s what, red has been building more momentum since last summer when both Rihanna and Zendaya decided to give the shade another spin. And existing redheads like Madeline Brewer and Dianne Buswell have been taking their shades brighter since the start of the year. At the SAG awards in February, Madeline traded in mahogany strands for flame red.
Top hair expert, Josh Wood, also foresaw its ascendance, when, during the AW20 Alexander McQueen show, he sent models down the runway with “hi-vis” red hair. Even better, he’s been working on a range of four wash-out glosses to deliver the red in a wearable way to suit all undertones (the most comprehensive red collection I’ve seen in my time as a beauty editor). “After 30 years of colouring hair, I know how important finding the right shade of red can be,” Josh said. “I’ve also heard from many redheads in our community who feel disappointed, or even ignored, when it comes to red at-home hair colour. I know they want the same modern, contemporary reds that can be achieved in the salon.” Especially since red is one of the fastest colours to fade.
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“This is feel good, temporary fun colour,” Josh adds. “I designed my glosses to use between colouring at home or in the salon, to refresh the vibrancy and condition of your hair colour so it can truly shine.” Cherry is a true cherry red with warm tones to suit darker skin tones and brighten existing red hair. Berry Brunette was created for mid to light brown hair for a sophisticated burgundy, berry colour. Rose Brunette is a cool rose brown, that you’d usually only find in salons – it works perfectly on mid to dark hair. And Copper Gold adds a golden warmth that’s great for dark blondes, strawberry blondes, plus natural and coloured red heads. Those are the loose guidelines, but of course you can play around with any shade you fancy. The best part is that it’s a colour treatment and deep conditioning mask in one to leave hair feeling extra glossy and nourished. Apply it all over hair, like you would a mask, leave it for 20 minutes and rinse out.
It’s non-committal, since it shampoos out after 6 washes. However, if you have lighter hair or highlights and you want to ensure it doesn’t leave any trace, you can apply a hair mask underneath your application of the gloss. This won’t affect the colour result, it’ll just protects the hair where the cuticle might be damaged and absorb more colour than you might like.
The only downside? It’s not out until July. So keep your eyes peeled. Alternatively, Lime Crime offer up the longer lasting semi-permanent Unicorn Hair Tints that fade slowly and evenly over time and L’Oreal’s Colorista Washout Semi-Permanent Dye lasts a couple of weeks.