My take on 'Ombre Hair'

Dear Readers,

We might soon forget the days when girls fretted about their regrowth or their roots. Ombre hair has come to save the day.

'Ombre' is a French word for 'shaded'. So, by implication, 'ombre hair' is shaded hair, or rather, hair with multiple shades. In other words, it's simply a fancy way of describing hair that's dark at the roots and light at the ends. 

This hair trend is very low-maintenance because you don't have to touch it up frequently (you don't have roots!) This means that you don't have to worry about regrowth like I do. However, maintenance is not non-existent. Remember, your hair must be bleached to achieve the lighter ends so keep a good nourishing shampoo and conditioner handy! 

I think ombre hair is ideal for those ladies who are unwilling to dye their entire hair in one block colour. It's also a perfect choice for those who want to spice up their hairstyle and try something different without looking 'too different', if you know what I mean.

The two colours that are mostly used to achieve this look are a stunning caramel colour and light blonde. The key to rocking this trend is to choose a colour for your ends that is 3 of 4 shades lighter than the colour at your roots. Some girls I've seen have been slightly braver and chose very contrasting colours like black and red. The latter option is definitely more original but it's also very difficult to pull off.

There are hundreds of 'Ombre Your Hair Tutorials' on the internet, but I would advise you to consult your hairdresser and not to try and do it at home, especially if you're a newbie! Take a picture of the look you'd like to achieve and ask your hairdresser to recreate that look for you. Here are a couple of photos of ladies who are sporting the ombre hair trend to perfection. I tried to choose pictures that demonstrate various extents of ombre hair :)

I'm assuming that many of you might be wondering about two things. The first is whether you should skip touching up your roots next month to get an ombre look. I say, it depends. It really depends on so many factors. Firstly, it depends on the way your hair colours are working together. Does it look faded out? Is your natural hair colour black and your hair is dyed blonde? Does it look bad altogether? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then forget it. However, some can actually skip their retouching and try out this look. For once, I'm one of those lucky people. My natural colour is brown and my hair is dyed in a bright copper colour. But, for some reason, when my hair grows my roots and ends look even. I can't explain it to be honest. It doesn't look that horrible. It looks like I got bold copper highlights. I might skip my next touch up to see how it goes. One word of caution, you can't keep postponing touch ups forever. There's a limit. I say skip it once and that's it. Then it will start to look awkward and we don't like that!

The second thing you might be wondering about is whether this look is solely reserved to girls. I admit that I personally haven't seen any pictures of men with ombre hair, but you know what, I say why shouldn't they try it out? I'm really curious to see how it would turn out. Go for it boys!

-B