Buttery suede blazers in chocolate brown, tobacco and beige are everywhere you turn right now. And it's this latter shade that has inspired the “suede blonde” hair colour trend for winter, says Harriet Muldoon, blonde specialist at Larry King's London salon, who coined the phrase.
When you take a closer look at suede, you can often see a more neutral base colour underneath the dye and this was what Harriet set out to recreate.
“Suede blonde has** mineral, earthy tones,” she explains, adding that a good reference to add to your mood board is Margot Robbie. **“Blondes often want to be warm but not too warm. When it comes to this hair colour, it's about keeping the top a clean neutral and warming up the ends. So you've essentially got a combination of golden and cooler tones together to give you that suede-like texture.”
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What to ask your hair colourist for:
As mentioned above, key to this look is the mix of warm and cool tones. But there are two further considerations. The first is to ask your hair colourist for a ‘smudge’, says Harriet – the technical term for softly blending and connecting the roots and highlights together with gloss.
“This year, there's a trend for people wanting to have more colour on the roots again [as opposed to just balayage] but they don't want their highlights to look obvious," she notes. "Suede blonde is about layering toner at the root so you get a natural beige colour and you can't see where the highlights start."
In terms of the hair colour to ask for, Harriet recommends a combination of ash and gold to get that perfect neutral suede tone. “The main tip is, don't lift the highlights to white," she says. "By having a slightly darker root base, the ends look brighter and you also get plenty of dimension.”
How to care for suede blonde hair
Shuttling moisture into the hair is always a consideration when you lighten your strands. A hair mask or lightweight oil are good options – we love Typebae G4 Hydra-Gloss Treatment Mask, with strengthening ceramides and avocado oil, and Larry King Spoilt For Choice Hair Oil.
Instead of leaning on purple shampoos to restore brightness, Harriet also recommends adding the L'Oréal Professionnel Metal Detox Shampoo into your routine as it lifts away the heavy metals in tap water that can dull hair and make it look brassy.
