THE CORPORATE CUTIE: It may be all business from 9-5 but after hours, you can unleash your wild side and turn a versatile cut up a notch into something edgy, sexy, and fun! Your key cuts are: Versatile layers, Graduated bobs, and Sharp angles.
HOSPITALITY GALS: Your hair may take longer to style, but as a hotel concierge, hostess, or nightclub owner, you want to look as good as your posh clientele! Your key cuts are: Volume, Trendy color, and Pieced-out pixies.
SERVICE SIRENS: Whether you’re walking the beat as a cop, teaching a class, or tending to a sick patient, your job calls for no-fuss hair that is either short enough to stay out of your face, or long enough to pull back. Your key cuts are: Short crops, Pixies, and the Lobs.

The hottest shades of Blonde, Brunette, and Red take a turn for the softer side in 2016. Whether you’re ready to make a dramatic change, or just want to update your existing hair color, 2016 will see the long-awaited return to softer, more natural shades across the Triangle. The past few years have given rise to hair colors with a bold feel; featuring graphic lines of demarcation and major up keep. However, the severity of traditional ombrés, platinum blonde, jet blacks, and dip-dyes confines hair into very limited color parameters in look. Black hair will get a much needed update and redheads will finally have some fun. I believe that hair is a canvas to paint on and that no two clients are the same. There’s also a shift from the flat, blunt colors of last year to more fluid colors. We are moving forward from harsher locks into something softer, hence the name “Sombré,” a softer ombré. The fun part is that this effect can be used on clients with any hair color. These are more sophisticated renditions, blending colors together seamlessly. The extra depth and dimension these colors provide give your hair movement, which makes it look healthier and shinier. Platinum blonde has been having its moment of glory for the past few years, but the stark, high maintenance shade is falling out of favor. Icy, cool blonde will be phased out with wheat-like, soft-beige tones and golden honey shades. Another option is going “Bronde”-the ideal combination of brown and blonde tones that is perfect for darker haired clients seeking a lighter hue and for blondes who want something darker without going fully brunette. Having gorgeous hair has never been easier for brown-haired beauties. For darker hair tones, the Sombré technique is the way to go. I love this effect as it works for my brunette clients since you’re simply warming up your color and adding radiance to your skin with understated, sun-kissed highlights. You don’t need to feel obligated to stay in your color family either. You can add caramel, honey, or red-gold (rose gold) highlights to your hair to wake up and revive your look. Sombré is about getting away from the drastic ombré. I paint the highlights firmly underneath and on the mid-shaft to the ends. My clients will still visually read as having dark hair, but it has much more interest on medium to light brown. I add more highlights around the face and throughout and always glaze brunettes with bronze tones. Sombré is perfect for brunettes who want change but not commitment. Now let’s spice things up by ditching uniform shades of red. As most redheads know, the most pressing concern of having flame-colored hair is keeping the color true to itself. Cooler shades of red can turn brassy; while deeper or brighter shades fade pretty quickly. Because of this, red hair needs to be refreshed on a regular basis. However, you can add longevity to your hair color by having your colorist mix both warm and cool tones of red. I recommend combining the tones by having the deep, velvety reds melt into coppery reds. This color combination is perfect for those who can’t decide whether or not they want to be violet red or a copper red, utilizing the sombré effect here can help achieve the combination of all spectrums of reds.