The weather outside may be frightful, but your hair doesn't have to look the part. Celebrity colorist Jason Backe of the Ted Gibson Salon in New York has worked with stars like Anne Hathaway, Ashley Greene, and Christina Ricci, and now he has a few words of advice to share with us. So if you're feeling a bit uninspired with your hair color, let Jason guide you in the right direction.
Transformers star Isabel Lucas has taken her hair to a lovely espresso shade, but instead of going all-over dark brown, she's added some very blond strands peeking out from under the sides. Conventional wisdom suggests that you should put your biggest highlights at the front to brighten up your face and give your hair fullness, but do you think Isabel's way of going about it works?
Ombre hair is one of the biggest hair color trends in years, showing up on stars like Rachel Bilson, Drew Barrymore, and Sarah Jessica Parker. But if you can't make it to the salon, here's how to do ombre highlights at home with box color. Stylist Jennifer J shows you how to give yourself ombre highlights, step by step. Watch our video for her secrets on how to get this dark-to-light look at home!
Don't consider yourself craven if the idea of highlighting at home is daunting. There's a lot to take into consideration, and coloring yourself can be scary. Thing is, though, highlighting at home isn't hard, it saves you tons of money, and it gives you a lot more control over the size and placement of your streaks. To help you get great results, colorist Kelly Van Gogh has tips for getting gorgeous color on your own. Just keep reading.
About once a month, I make a stop at the beauty supply store for a few essentials. Among my many visits, I've come across plenty of goofy-looking, yet functional, finds. Remember those ear condoms from a while back? Well, hold on to your hats, and check out even more peculiar-looking beauty finds now.
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Love highlights, but aren't so fond of the upkeep? Then look no further than the ombré effect that's popping up. The latest star to join in on the trend is Jessica Biel, who showed off a darker base color, complete with golden blond strands peeking out from the ends, at a photo call for The A-Team in Madrid earlier today. 
Ashlee Simpson and Rachel Bilson have also been wearing the graduating style as of late, with Ashlee explaining to us the reasoning behind her newer dip-dyed look. It's no wonder stars are flocking to salons to get the style. Not only is it easy to maintain (since roots are encouraged), but depending on the variation of colors you choose, it can also appear either subtle or intense.
Ali Larter's enviable blond highlights take center stage in the August issue of Lucky magazine. And it's thanks to the clever techniques of Redken Creative Consultant For Color, Tracey Cunningham.
To get a similar effect, first have your colorist highlight your hair. Then, ask him or her to tone the lightened portions by using the following formula: equal parts of ammonia-free clear glaze and violet toner. (Tracey used Shades EQ Crystal Clear Glaze with 09V Platinum Ice.) These formulations combined will not only help lock in shine and counterbalance unwanted orange or yellow hues, but are gentle on hair that's just been bleached.
We've all been there before: going the DIY route with highlights, only to be faced with a head of scary streaks. But colorist Kelly Van Gogh, who has worked with A-listers like Cindy Crawford, says there's a fairly easy fix.
"Get an allover semi-permanent color that's two shades lighter than what you are naturally," Van Gogh says. "Apply it over the botched highlights to tone." If your highlights are too brassy, choose a semipermanent tone with a violet or blue base (look for "cool" instead of "warm" on the box description). Of course, Van Gogh adds, some things are best left to the pros. "For major color changes or full-head highlights, go to a color specialist in a professional salon," she recommends.
This is the time of year lots of people go in for expensive highlights designed to make them look like they've been spending all their time on a beach somewhere in the Carribbean. For those of us who can't cough up the money for that kind of thing, though, there's a pretty sweet at-home trick to help us get pricey-looking highlights at home: Just braid before you color.
First, section your hair off into three or four tight braids starting from the scalp. Then paint your lightener on the top side of the braid, leaving the underside untouched. The result is shimmery, natural-looking highlights. You can also use a colored hair glaze or demipermanent hair color to get more prismatic hair without committing to the bleach.
If you're looking to do something different to your hair color but don't want to spend a lot of money, colorist to the stars Marie Robinson has some advice. A few weeks ago, Anne Hathaway requested shades of gold and caramel to help add dimension to her brown color, and you can achieve a similar look yourself.
Marie went to work applying a semi-permanent color, as she notes, Anne "doesn't have any gray and just needs shine with shades of gold warmth." If you have medium to light brown hair, Marie recommends Clairol Natural Instincts Hair Color in Chocolate Crème ($9). Then, to add more dimension with caramel accents, her secret is to highlight hair using the same technique she used on Sienna Miller's golden blond hairstyle.
