Root and Holler - Alexis M. Johnson

THE RADAR | BEAUTY
Prolong that summer
glow with these
made-for-coloredhair products
Kiehl’s Sunflower Color
Preserving Deep
Recovery Pak utilizes
sunflower seed and apricot
kernel oils for the company’s
first collection of color-specific
hair care. The added UVprotective filter slows dullness
from sun exposure.
Root and
Holler
Hollywood’s summer
blondes make peace with
their dark side
| By Alexis Johnson |
| Photography by David Waldorf |
42 | Angeleno | July 2009
“California beach blonde” is the
holy grail of highlights. And with
the recent onslaught of celebs like
Gwyneth Paltrow, Erin Wasson and
Madonna all showing more than a
little root, the crusading style is utterly
au courant. “Around award season, I
started seeing pictures of Cameron
Diaz and Jessica Biel with 6-inch
roots. The ‘fade’ has now become
the most current and sexiest thing in
hair color. My Midwestern mother
can’t get over the fact that people are
paying top dollar in Beverly Hills to
look like they haven’t touched up
their roots,” says Chris McMillan
colorist/stylist Chase Kusero.
Diff used highlights dispersed
throughout darker regrowth is not
only seashore chic, but recessionfriendly, given that time between
big-buck touchups is increased.
Some clients are going three to
six weeks longer between foils,
notes Stuart Gavert, co-owner of
Bev Hills’ Gavert Atelier and the
colorist for the fi lm Twilight. His
own spin on the grown-out look
(which he dubs “twilights” after
the movie that inspired them)
are “unhighlight” highlights that
texturize hair with meticulously
placed foils, starting about 5
millimeters from the part and
slightly back from the hairline.
This mathematical approach to
color allows regrowth to occur
seamlessly. Says Gavert: “We’re
starting to see the end of highlights
as we know them. We are having to
stretch them out, giving more time
in between visits. Few people have
plain blond hair anymore.”
For the artistically inspired,
there’s balayage, the increasingly
popular, hand-painted highlight
treatment (versus traditional foils).
Starting at the root, often with just
a strand or two of hair, the highlight
increases in width—and bleachedout color—as it moves toward the
ends, mimicking the way the sun
naturally lightens hair. Given the
look’s no-fuss attitude, “it’s easy to
maintain,” according to balayage
expert and Christophe colorist
Fabrice Henssens, a lifetime surfer
and the scion of the salon’s legendary
hairstylist. “It grows out really well
with no line of demarcation and ends
up looking better as it grows out.
You spend less money and less time
visiting the salon, leaving you with
more time to spend at the beach!” A
Giovanni Organic
Hair Care is
introducing
Colorflage—a
color-specific
series of shampoos
and conditioners
infused with goji
berry, apricot and
rosehip—intended
to prevent fading
with a protective
UV complex.
Combat damaged
hair (too much
sun, sand, salt and
chlorine) with
Number 4 High
Performance
Hair Care’s
Reconstructing
Masque, which is
100 percent vegan
as well as gluten,
paraben and
sulfate free.
ERIN WASSON AND MADONNA PHOTOS COURTESY OF PATRICK MCMULLAN; PRODUCT PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRANDS
DYE-HARDS Clockwise
from left: Erin Wasson
and Madonna flash
some regrowth, while
Fabrice Henssens’
balayage makes hair
look beachy chic.