By: Sarah Kester
If your Instagram has been full of colorful selfies the past couple of years, that’s no coincidence; it’s simply the pastel hair trend that has been found on the heads of people all around the world, including beauty vloggers, social media influencers, and even some celebrities (Taylor Swift has been rocking some gorgeous pastel shades lately).
How to Achieve the Pastel Hair Look
As much fun as this hair color trend is, some hair stylists do wish that more people understood that you can’t just add pastel to dark hair and expect it to magically work. “Unless you have a natural light blonde color, your hair will need to be lightened or bleached to a pale, almost platinum shade before applying the pastel color,” explains Meg Esposito, a hair color expert, to Lively.
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In fact, if you do not go blonde first, she says that the color will not come out pastel. Instead, it could come out muddy or not even show up at all. “You can achieve the right pastel shade with an all-over process or some people choose to refrain from that much damage and just lighten and color ‘accent pieces,’” she shares.
Because of this, it’s not the most recommend style by colorists since it requires a process that can be damaging to the hair. Don’t forget, there’s the time and money that goes into the upkeep afterwards.
But if you’re a fan of following changing hair trends, incorporating pastel pieces to your hair may just be your next move. Kelsey Haywood Lucas, the beauty director at Girls’ Life and author of Best Hair Book Ever!, tells Lively she’s seeing more pastel colors on the 2019 runways, such as Marc Jacobs’ spring show. “Baby blues, light lilacs and pinks are definitely here to stay.” Other trending colors popping up include dusty copper, antique gold, and buttercream.