Ask The Experts: Celebrating Brunettes May 9, 2019 11:00
Many hairdressers (and their clients) see brunette as a one dimensional colour but we know there is more on offer for our dark hair clients
Known in the industry for her extensive background in training and education, as well as being a Master Stylist at Morgan & Morgan Hair Collective since 2001, Jennifer Morgan @jennifer.morgan.hair is the go-to girl with any colouring conundrum and her passion and skill set are enviable in the hairdressing community.
So in this blog we ask her to give you everything you need to know about creating the brunette result that will flatter you best
Brown is brown, right? Over the years I have developed a signature style of colour work…there is definitely a ‘Morgan’ type of redhead, blonde or brunette
To me, brunettes are always about adding in a second or even third reflect and making sure there is some subtle variance in the level of colour. It creates richness, texture and a sultry sexy edge, but it also creates dimension to the colour so it never looks flat. Dark hair can easily look ‘wig-like’ and heavy but by adding a few subtle touches its easy to bring life to the hair.
Pick your Product
My first choice, always, isVibrance when I am creating a brunette shades. We have such amazing technology available to us now and my personal favourite is in this ammonia free range that allows me to customise the formula with the lowest strength of developer. Whether its for grey blend or a subtle shift in tone, when staying level on level, going deeper we can create beautiful rich tones that stand up to sun, active life styles and daily styling without showing its age. No matter the shade, colour is only going to shine if the hair does!
Create Texture, Not Blonde
So many times I see brunettes loose their identity because of highlights. What starts out as a few subtle highlights and ends up a year later looking like a brassy blonde. What is sexy about brunettes is the depth to their hair, but sometimes that depth can hide texture and movement looking solid and heavy. That’s where a few highlights come in handy. It’s also why the Ombré technique is so popular with brunettes, because it has a blend of depth at the base with soft natural looking lightness and texture through the ends. On brunette hair, the ideal is one dark for every light. For my signature brunettes I love creating texture with ‘light effect’, not lightness to create shadows within the hair.
Embrace the Warmth
All dark hair will natural have natural pigments of auburn, chestnut and gold. This is how it is supposed to be…this is how nature intended it and any colourist who promises you no warmth is fooling you and themselves. With the exception of black, all brunettes need the warmer tones to look alive. Don’t get me wrong, the is a big difference between rich warm sexy tones like chocolate, teak, coffee, caramel or honey and the unpleasant raw result of a colour gone wrong. In the hands of an expert colourist, these naturally occurring natural reflects will make your dark hair come alive
New Technology = More Artistry
Hair colour technology is moving forward so fast that things we could only wish for five year ago is now in our hands. For almost my most of my 30+ year career, when highlighting dark hair we had three choices – use powder lightener (bleach), go just one or two levels lighter or fight the brassiness – and all three left a lot to be desired. But, now with new technology we have hair colour ranges like the Fashion Lights and Blonde Me, that in one step can take someone from dark brown hair to caramel highlights that don’t make her brassy and that we can see without using a lightener. That means that for colourists, we can produce amazing, consistent results leaving the hair in great condition.
For more brunette inspiration just click here
