Dyeing for a Change

By Erica D. Rowell

NEW YORK — As the last of the fall colors fade from the trees in many parts of the country, the hoary season is poised to descend, altering moods and rendering a seasonal disaffection. But don't worry — if the blues start to creep in, fight color with color. Do as nature does and turn, turn, turn.

Corbis Two shades of supermodel Kate Moss

Hair coloring, all the rage right now, has been digging roots throughout the general populace during this last decade of the millennium. And if the traditional school of dyeing was to lighten in summer and darken for the winter, the old "formula" is certainly changing. These days, the time for dyeing is year-round.

"Tinting, tinting, coloring," New York hair-stylist Louis Licari interjects, correcting the word choice for one of the 90's more pervasive fashion statements. "We don't use the word 'dye' because it sounds sort of, ah, like we're killing it or something."

Michael Angelo (yes, that's his real name) of NYC's Robert Kree Salon agrees.

"My beauty school teacher used to tell us that 'dye' is reserved for laundry," he quips.

Whatever the moniker, hair coloring is in — and in big. And if just a decade ago the trend was largely reserved for punk-rockers and gray-fighters, today's runs a much wider gamut. Now it responds to caprices of fashion just as much as the latest skirt length.

And there are so many more options when it comes to coloring: from tinting and highlighting, to streaking and toning, to 'yes, please, I'd like a hairful of green.'

"It seems like since punk had been so exposed, it's watered down," says Kenny Clinton, from Matthew & Ingrid's Hair Salon in Baltimore. "And it's like everything goes right now."

Angelo admits that although "gray coverage" is his "bread and butter" work, there's so much more. "Blondes," he declares, "blondes galore. Highlights, natural-looking hair. Dimensional color."

AP/Wide World A splash of red at the Dior show

These days, people are using their heads more and more to make a fashion statement. As Lauren, a Manhattan-based online editor who has colored her light brown hair both platinum and near-black, put it, "I've always found it to be the best accessory."

In this gym culture of the 90s, hair style as well as physique does a body good.

"I always say it's the one quick-fix that works," says Licari, emphasizing the change in one's look. "If you think about it, if you want to exercise, go on a diet, it all takes a while. But with hair color, you can see a change immediately."

Hair Art

"My hair is dark," explains the flaxen-coifed Bebe, a regular client and friend of Tina Montalbano of Heart Salon in New York City. It's a Tuesday afternoon at Heart, and both customers of this music-industry hair stylist are sporting colored hair. Bebe goes on to say she decided to go strawberry blond a while ago and has been totally blond for about 7 years.

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