The transition from fall to winter can mean trouble for your skin (dryness) and your social life (too cold to leave your bed), but it's actually a great time for your hair. A chilly, zero-humidity climate means less frizz and more natural shine, and the current wave of hair-color innovation — face-framing highlights, glossy lowlights, and seamless balayage — means now's the best time for a salon visit.
This season, there's a fresh shade for every aesthetic, from neutrals, like smoky gold and stone blonde, to statement trends, like citrus sombré or "rogue" highlights. Scroll through for the pro's guide to winter hair color, and let it be the push you need to brave any cold front and take your good hair out every Friday night from now through NYE.
Smoky Gold
A few weeks go, celebrity colorist Cassondra Kaeding tipped us off to the trending balayage shade she's calling "smoky gold." The low-maintenance, lightly gilded hue already has a budding L.A. fanbase — Natalie Portman and Katherine Schwarzenegger are fans.
Citrus
One of the most surprising shades to break out this winter is a fresh take on fall's pumpkin pink. "Citrus shades are incoming for 2020," Reid says. "Tangerine, mandarin, burnt peach, and golden red tones — there are so many ways to wear it, and the blended pastel look is so fresh and pretty."
Deep Bronze
Colorist and IGK co-founder Aaron Grenia says that this season, he's loving a deep chocolate brunette base accented with a soft copper brown. "It's the winter take on highlights," Grenia says. "A bronze-gold infusion adds subtle dimension around the front hairline to frame the face."
Rogue Highlights
Earlier this month, we imported the "rogue" highlight trend from London, a look that UK-based colorist Bryony Cairns of Larry King Salon calls a nod to '90s feminism. "Rogue hair color is an extreme adaptation on the face frame," Cairns says. "Most commonly, the highlight is bleached blonde, but can totally be adapted to any other color, too."