Hair Color Today: Ombre

Ombre the hottest trend in hair color today, what is it? Where do you get it? Keep reading and let us show you the way.


Whether you want subtle and soft or bold and daring, there is an Ombre for you. Ombre is commonly confused with and said to be a form of Balayage and I'm here to show you the difference.
Balayage is a french style of highlighting the hair to give it that natural sunkissed look using hand painted highlights on the top layer of the hair to create the effect. While the Ombre is a transitional look. Ombre literally means "shadow" in french, it is also used to describe a transition which is exactly what the Ombre is. Ombre hair color will transition from a dark warm brown or blonde into a lighter tone of the same shade, usually about 1-3 levels lighter depending on how bold of a statement you would like to make.

Here we have Jessica Biel with a mild version of the Ombre

 Jessica Simpson has a more bold version of the  Ombre. 

Hilary Swank's Ombre (see top of page) is a very subtle version of the Ombre. You can see the hair color transitioning from a dark warm color to a lighter warm color. This isn't just done with brunette, its done with Blonde's as well. As seen below on Whitney Port from The Hills and The City.

This is a style that seemed to have spawned from the "enduring root look" that had a very shot stint before the Ombre made its break through into the beauty scene in the last 1-2 years, although it has been around for quite sometime now. And with it being very versatile style, it can be customized to your taste by adding single strand highlights throughout or by designing it to your own natural tonal family. Here is the beautiful part, this look actually SAVES you money. Are you sick and tired of having to go to your colorist every 6-8 weeks (though I know most of you go every 10-12, I get it times are tough) and have your base color and highlights touched up everytime? Some may just do the base color and highlights every other time, but at the end of the day you end up paying for both the color and the highlights on a regular basis. Well the Ombre is a look that lasts, the service can be found for $105+. Be sure to Google salons in your area, salons that specialize color and are extremely familiar with the Ombre look. This is a look that if not done right, shows that its not done right. Here is how it saves you money... The Ombre or transition in the color itself does not have to be touched up every time you head into the salon, the based color is touched up anywhere from 3-5 visits, I have personally seen people go 6-7 months without a touch up and the color looks amazing. You only need to touch up your base color, and every so often have a gloss done through the mid-shaft and ends to keep up the Brilliance found in the shine and dimension. If you have an ombre customized with a few balayaged highlights, you will need to touch those up a little more often, but I am sure the cost could not be that much greater.

Here is something fun for you... the Reverse Ombre. The Reverse Ombre is a new trend that is slowly catching on. Will it fully catch on, maybe I personally think its a cool take on the original Ombre. In this type of Ombre the color fades from light to dark, and in the case of affordability if you are not a natural blonde you will have to touch up your highlights or whatever lightening method used to get the base color on a regular basis, my suggestion, if your hair allows it a high lifting blonde to achieve the base color of this look, its easier to touch up than foiling and usually is the same cost as a root touch up. If your hair is too dark for a high lift blonde than a bleach and tone at the roots may take less time than a heavy foil job. Below, Jessica Simpson has perfected the Reverse Ombre... but what will it look like with roots and how often does she have to touch  it up? Keep that in mind before you run to the salon and have this service performed.

I hope this has intrigued you to maybe find the Ombre look that's right for you, give you the fashion forward hair that is accepted in virtually every work place and every event. It is a hands down absolutely gorgeous look whether you want it soft or bold, original or reverse.


I wanted to add one last photo for you to see, the photo below is what balayage or a form of balayage looks like. I will not dive to deep into the technique today, but I thought a little tease my pique your interest.