If you are looking for a subtle way to turn your hair colour, this one is for you. Your hair won’t excessively hurt, what’s more? Here’s how you can recreate the famous ‘Rose Brown Hair’ look.
This year’s hair color inspo has been flooded with from mermaid-like highlights to ultra-violet and negative space Balayage. However, there’s a specific hue that the nation couldn’t get enough of, and its success still shows no signs of slowing down in the New Year too. 2021 is officially the year of rose brown hair, and I’m chomping at the bit to try it.
What is Rose Brown Hair look?
So, what exactly is rose brown hair look? In a nutshell, it’s rose gold for brunettes – touches of blush interwoven across a brown foundation. Australian stylist, Thi Thao Tu, the man behind the movement, told Allure, it includes a mix of bleach, Olaplex treatment, and brown and red dyes. Its success has skyrocketed since its debut in spring as well as stirring up a storm on Instagram, according to Google’s Year in Search survey. It was also the most searched for hair color in the UK. If you are a brunette searching for a discreet way to change the color of your hair, your quest is over.
How to get Rose Brown Hair?
There’s a lot of ways to achieve the look. Hannah Gaboardi, colourist at Salon Sloane, tells me she favors going free-hand with Balayage, leaving a warm brown root and painting towards the ends in pink and caramel tones to create a high-shine metallic finish.
Balayage is also, in addition to ombré and highlights, the technique of choice for fellow pro and colourist at Jo Hansford, Shannon Lewis. It’s a super versatile trend that, when it comes to customizing it to almost every brunette, gives her plenty of choices.
Is it detrimental? To get the pink tone you are after, it depends on how much lightening is necessary. The lift involved, however, is typically not huge, Shannon tells me, and it can be used with Olaplex or L’Oreal Professionnel Smartbond to protect the integrity of your strands. She also recommends asking your colourist to give you a color gloss or conditioner to take away with you afterwards. Using a sulphate-free shampoo like Jo Hansford’s Everyday Shampoo, £17, Conditioner, £19, and a good hair oil like the brand’s Illuminoil, £29, can also help keep your ends hydrated and safeguard the vibrancy of your color.
Olaplex is a go-to of Hannah’s as well. And, you don’t necessarily need to use bleach in her opinion to make hair blush. “The majority of the colours are toners and semi-permanent which can be mixed in with Olaplex to give you extra shine and protection.” A good leave-in treatment like Sisley’s Regenerating Hair Care Mask, £60.35, is worth its weight in gold in her experience, for keeping your hair in good nick afterwards too.
Don’t Forget!
If your hair’s particularly damaged, it could be worth also adding Olaplex’s new No 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo, £24, and No 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner, £24, to your regime. Designed to repair fractured hair bonds while you cleanse and condition, they help extend the good work done in the salon to your bathroom.
The rose brown hair look can be tricky to master, so is probably best left in the hands of a pro. However, that being said, it is possible to recreate the look at home. “There are so many at-home hair kit dyes you can choose from, but my favorite at the moment is L’Oréal Paris Preference, £7.99,” says Hannah. “It has easy instructions on how to achieve the look, lasts for up to eight weeks and also covers greys.”
So there you have it, your go-to guide for getting rose brown hair either in a salon or at home. Versatile, eye-catching, relatively easy to recreate and not overly damaging to hair. It’s easy to see why it has become the hair color of the year. It’s going to be hard for another to take its title.
