5 Hair Colour Trends That Take A Cue From Pop Culture

Anthropology majors know: whether you like it or not, pop culture saturates everything we do. It pervades the clothes you wear, the shows you watch, and, yes, even the hairstyles [1] you screen shot off Pinterest [2] and bring in to show your hairstylist. It's the zeitgeist of any given time period, which makes the ultimate source of hair colour inspiration [3].

"The best thing to consider when thinking about hair trends is to look at upcoming movies and music that are coming out, and celebrities that people are obsessed with.

"The best thing to consider when thinking about hair trends [4] is to look at upcoming movies and music that are coming out, and celebrities that people are obsessed with," said Stephanie Brown [5], hair colourist at IGK salon [6] in New York City. "All these things have a definite influence over what will be happening in hair colour [7], hairstyles, and fashion." So when Zendaya showed up to the Emmys with a bold copper hair colour, you know that's going to be a colour a lot of people will want for the next few months to come this Winter."

You needn't seek out the magazine racks or individual Instagram feeds for inspiration, though. Ahead, Brown breaks down the coolest hair colours [8] you'll be seeing everywhere this season — on celebrities, yes, but also on you.

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Copper

Hair Colour Inspiration: Zendaya [9]

In Spring, after Lady Gaga [10]'s debut in A Star is Born copper hair [11] saw a huge spike in popularity across Hollywood. Now, it's making a (slightly darker) comeback: "This neutral copper colour we've been seeing on Zendaya and up-and-coming singer Donna Missal will be a big trend — it's bold but also wearable," said Brown. "It's a brown copper with a gold copper gloss to have that bright shine in the sunlight."

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Copper

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Dark Gold

Hair Colour Inspiration: Lizzo [12], Shay Mitchell

"For dark, almost-black brunettes, add an almost-gold undertone in the hair," said Brown. "The blue-black that was popular last year won't be so popular this year. Warmer hair is more flattering for most skin tones anyway, rather than those ashier tones, but be careful to not go aubergine, which is more of a purple, so make sure your colourist doesn't add red to the hair."

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Dark Gold

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Nirvana Lite

Hair Colour Inspiration: Miley Cyrus [13], Kristen Stewart [14]

Kurt Cobain's hair circa 1991 was everything you'd expect from a rockstar at the time: cool, unkempt, but sexy at the same time. The 2019 version hits that last point, but is a little more put-together. "Charlie's Angels IS coming out and celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Kristen Stewart ARE wearing a golden pale blond colour with a dark root, almost like Nirvana blond but not as dramatic."

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Nirvana Lite

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Pops of Colour

Hair Colour Inspiration: Billie Eilish [15], Cynthia Erivo

No, Brown doesn't think people will be walking around with green Lite Brite-inspired roots and black ends quite to the extent as Eilish, but "I do think people who like to play with their hair will start to do versions of this," she said. :The reason most people won't be doing this is because it's a hard colour to accomplish, but people will probably start with platinum hair and do the roots one colour and leave the ends platinum, or do a fun pastel colour on the ends. Or if you have short hair, a bold teal green like Erivo's is the obvious take on this look."

Winter Hair Colour Trend: Pops of Colour

Winter Hair Colour Trend: "Greige"

Hair Colour Inspiration: Gigi Hadid, Amanda Seyfried [16]

No time for upkeep? No problem. "For lower maintenance blondes, look to Gigi's her flaxen colour," said Brown. "It's almost greige — think golden beige, but also ashy. I am noticing a lot of blond clients wanting to achieve this look."

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