Glam Slam: Hollywood’s Hottest Cut & Color Trend

I am a huge “House of Cards” fan and Robin Wright’s look, particularly her hair, which is just so chic and perfectly suited to her character.

In fact, Robin’s short, sassy ‘do is all the rage with several stars rocking the current pixie trend.

“It’s so liberating seeing these strong beautiful women who don’t need to hide behind their hair,” says celebrity colorist Kyle White, Robin’s go-to guy, who is known as “The Root Whisperer.”

“Until now there’s always been this false notion that short hair can’t be feminine or sexy and I love that women like Robin Wright and Charlize Theron are totally proving that’s so not the case,” Kyle says.

And due to the short look so many stars are sporting right now, salons have seen a spike in people chopping off their locks for fall. How does a short do affect color?

Kyle, who has also worked with Charlize, Katherine Heigl, and Mariah Carey, says “The general trend has been the shorter you go, the blonder you get, but when it’s not going to work on your skin tone, a couple of highlights will usually do the trick. You just don’t want very short and very dark.”

In addition, Kyle, who gets lots of quests for Robin’s color, says that “shorter hair is generally easier to color because it’s healthier and can handle more processing. They are just simpler and more fun to work on.”

Here, Kyle gives tips for achieving three very different looks…

Robin Wright

For women in the pursuit of looking like Robin, here is what to ask your colorist: I achieve this look on Robin Wright by doing a combination of foil highlights and balayage tips.

• Begin by weaving a fine highlight into the roots of her hair using foil.
• After the color is finished processing and the foils are dropped, we paint the ends of the hair with an off the scalp lightening agent, in order to produce those sun burst tips.
• The final step is to lock in shine and neutralize any brassy tones with an iced milk shake gloss for a sheen that brings about a naturally sleek look.

Halle Berry

If you want Halle Berry’s rich brown color, ask your stylist for the following:

• A semi-permanent chocolate brown base color. This gives to give her natural color shine and richness.
• After, sprinkle some toffee colored highlights around the top of her head. This is where the sun would naturally lighten it and adds visual interest.
• By adding those few strands of lightness will create movement, help show off the lines of the cut.
• Additionally, this prevents these short, dark cuts from looking severe and cap-like which they so often do. Rather, her hair looks rich and an attractive, warm dimensionality.

Kelly Osbourne

If you want Kelly Osbourne’s purple pastel hue, the ‘new beauty trend’, ask your stylist for the following:

• Pre-lighten the hair. For these special effects regarding colors like pink and blue, the hair must be a certain lightness before placing the desired shade over it.
• Note: The whiter the hair before placing the shade results in the level of darkness. Thus, the level of darkness of your natural color will determine the strength of lightening agent that is needed. This also affects the amount of time the lightening agent will need to be on the hair.
• For Kelly’s look – you would need an oil-based bleach to be applied for about 30-60 minutes.
• Following the application of the oil-based bleach, the lavender tint would then be applied for 30-45 minutes before.

— Ryan Patterson