In an effort to reduce damage, I haven’t colored my hair in a really long time. In fact, I chopped off a literal foot of largely color-damaged hair last year, pledging not to touch it again so my hair would stay healthier. And then Katie Holmes had to come along with her jaw-droppingly beautiful new highlights and bam. I suddenly find myself with one hand on my keyboard typing this story and one hand on my phone, ready to break all of my promises to myself and call my colorist.
Holmes, who has made super-long, tousled yet lustrous waves her go-to look for years, never doesn’t have enviable hair, but there’s something about how her color currently looks at Paris Fashion Week that made me actually gasp. The perennially stylish stage and screen actor attended the Zimmermann runway show wearing the palest yellow wide-leg trousers and trench coat—an expensive ensemble I know I’ll never own myself. But the hair? I might have a shot at replicating that color.
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“Katie Holmes currently has a rich, dimensional brunette hair color,” says Luis Perez, color designer at Julien Farel Restore Salon & Spa in New York City. “Her shade typically falls within a deep chocolate brown or warm chestnut spectrum, often enhanced with subtle highlights for depth and movement.” Though, at the moment, there are seamlessly blended yet higher-contrast areas of creamy brightness that—I’m sorry, hair—I’m just gonna have to try for myself.
If you’re jumping on that bandwagon with me, first of all, yay! Welcome! Second, Perez recommends asking your colorist for a deep brunette base shade with neutral or warm undertones, and soft, face-framing caramel or chestnut highlights for dimension. A demi-permanent gloss will maintain shine and richness.