We're Calling It: These Are the 6 Hair Colour Trends You'll See Everywhere in 2020

It's officially the end of the year [1] — the time you go from listening to "All I Want For Christmas Is You" until you cry tears of eggnog to half-pretending you finally want to start drinking more water. (We're rooting for you.) The last few weeks were also ripe with 2020 trend predictions, from makeup to nails [2] to our hands-down favourite: hair colour [3].

Whether you are itching to make a subtle change [4] or want to try something dramatic, there's a hair colour idea [5] out there for you. The biggest theme, according to celebrity colourist and Matrix [6] brand ambassador George Papanikolas [7], is "bold, strong tones with seamlessly blended highlights [8]," but there are a lot more specifics you can expect in the new year.

Ahead, we asked Papanikolas and Redken [9] brand ambassador and colourist Cassondra Kaeding [10] to identify the biggest hair colour trends [11] you're about to see everywhere in 2020. For everything else you want to achieve, we don't know — there's always AquaAlert.

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Cinnamon Swirl

One of the new year's biggest hair colour trends will remind you of cosy nights curled up by the fireplace with a hot toddy in hand: cinnamon swirl [12]. "Rich auburns have merged into Winter with a luxurious tone-on-tone finish," Papanikolas said. "The best versions have a deep mahogany base colour with cinnamon accents."

If you have dark hair to begin with, he recommends keeping the auburn colour within two shades of your natural colour. "Going any lighter than this can result in brassy tones," he said. Ditto if you have lighter hair but want to go into this ashier territory: stay within two shades. "Any darker can look harsh and inky."

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Cinnamon Swirl

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Buttercream Blonde

Buttercream frosting might be your favourite holiday treat, but it's also a huge forecasted colour for blondes in 2020. "These tones can range from light iridescent gold blondes, light to medium gold, and light to medium warm gold hues," Kaeding said. "A perk to the buttery cream and champagne blonde hair colour is that you can easily try these hues without having to make a big change."

"A perk to the buttery cream and champagne blonde hair colour is that you can easily try these hues without having to make a big change"

Papanikolas echoes the sentiment that buttery blonde will be a huge trend in the new year and suggests you bring certain instructions to your colourist for the most optimal results: "To get this colour, lift the base one shade after your highlights to illuminate the colour and give a soft golden finish," he said. Then, he recommends using purple-based shampoos at home to help maintain the colour.

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Buttercream Blonde

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Pastel Plus

Pastel hair [13] has seen its heyday(s) many moons ago, but the latest iteration for 2020 is a lot more washed out — in a good way. "As we all know, platinum carried over from 2018 and stayed strong in the early stages of 2019," Kaeding said, adding that there's only one place to go from platinum in the new year: "Pastel colours are a quick and easy change before saying goodbye to your icy blondes and dusty pastel colours like dusty rose, dusty pink, dusty coral. These are an easy way to play with hair colour without committing."

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Pastel Plus

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Smoky Gold

"One trend I'm really excited about is a smoky gold hair colour," Kaeding said. "This shade is great because you get the best of both worlds — a soft gold [14] with a dash of a cool smoky tone."

These two tones, she explained, work really well together for a multitude of reasons: "Sometimes a cool tone can give a flat finish, but with the translucency of the gold, you can achieve that shine that everyone wants. Smoky gold can also be achieved on different hair types and textures and will be seen on many brunettes in 2020."

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Smoky Gold

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Mushroom Brown

Where ashy tones in hair colour were out for the larger part of 2019, there will be a slight resurgence of mushroom brown shades [15]. "For brunettes wanting cool tones, you'll want to lift the hair past orange and then use an ash-based toner to give a cool brown finish," Papanikolas said.

The best part? Because it's created using a combination of cool and warm colours, it'll suit any skin tone. Plus, because it's subtle enough, you could ask your colourist to apply the hue all over or with strategically placed highlights.

2020 Hair Colour Trend: Mushroom Brown

2020 Hair Colour Trend: "Twilighting"

"Twilighting" sounds like something you'd get from putting Edward Cullen and Fenty Beauty's Killawatt highlighter in the same deliberation room, but it's actually a cool new hair colour technique [16] you'll be seeing everywhere in the new year.

"[It] is a brunette shade with warm undertones, meaning the colour reflects golden hues," said Schaudt. "The look is achieved by painting a few gilded balayage pieces throughout, in addition to foiled 'babylights' placed around the hairline and a couple inches into the fringe or hairline to keep it looking current but uniform. The balayage is focussed toward the back of the head and concentrated on the mid to ends of the hair to maintain a natural effect."

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