The New Platinum Hair Color Trend Is Here

Aura Friedman, a colorist for Sally Hershberger has observed the rise of platinum hair. Five years ago, she transformed Korean model Soo Joo Park‘s dark brown hair into a snowy white blonde. And the rest is history. “Once that happened, so many girls started going platinum,” she explains.

“The trend has evolved in so many different ways since then,” Friedman adds. “It went from being about white to grays, and then there was this big pink craze around February. I can’t tell you how many people I pinked back in early spring.”

Now, with fall looming, Friedman says she’s starting to lean toward warmer shades of pale blonde, like champagne or flesh tones. ”I’m finding that people of all ages want to play with platinum these days, which is great, but a silver gray platinum can look really harsh, so adding warm pink or beige tones to the color softens the look up and brings out skin’s natural flush,” she explains. “It’s also gentler on hair.”

The tone here, which she describes as oyster beige, is easier on both the eyes and the hair. “It’s softer and gentler than white white,” she notes—but it still offers all of the fringe benefits. “It kind of makes you a more interesting person. All of a sudden, you’re a rock star.”

While Freidman can’t take credit for bringing Veronika Vilim (the model above) to platinum initially (“I think Guido [Palau] originally did it”), she did take over, eventually switching the coloring process from bleaching directly on her scalp to to a gentler delivery system using foils. “Hair can only take so much. Eventually, you just have to cut your losses and go short,” she says. “Plus, the foils also make it easier to control the color.”

And that’s always a good thing.

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