It happens to all of us: One day, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror on your way out the door and just can’t believe how much you don’t like what you’re seeing. The blonde that made you feel beachy and carefree five years ago doesn’t look quite right—so what to do about it now?
George Papanikolas, celebrity stylist and Matrix ambassador, has the perfect solution. Nothing’s wrong with the way you look, you just need a talented stylist to tweak it slightly and brighten up your face again! Your beauty routine is always evolving and so should your hair color, whether it’s dark brown or red. Papanikolas is breaking down the best hair color for every age and exactly how to ask for it.
The Best Blonde Hair Color For Every Age
In Your 20s: Low-Maintenance Rooted Blonde
Need beautiful blonde but not the maintenance routine? Papanikolas has you covered.
“My clients in their 20s love the depth at the root because it's much more low maintenance and it's much better on their budget,” he says.
When brass starts creeping in between appointments, try Matrix Total Results So Silver Purple Shampoo to keep those highlights shining bright!
In Your 30s: Experimental Blonde
Feeling adventurous? Now is the time to play around with your hair color and explore.
“My blondes in their 30s, I usually tell them to push the envelope. This is their chance to play with tone, to go lighter, go brighter. See how far they can take it. My advice for women in their 30s is play with warm and cool tones. See which one's most flattering and which one really brings out your best features.”
In Your 40s: Healthy Highlights
By 40, you’re ready for hair color that’s functional as well as exciting.
“My advice to my more mature blondes is use a single process for gray coverage and then do highlights every other time. By doing that you're not highlighting your hair every single month. You're getting your hair a break in between but you're getting the gray coverage that you want.”
The Best Brunette Hair Color For Every Age
In Your 20s: Sunkissed Highlights
“Girls in their 20s are usually on a budget, so sunkissed highlights are a really great way for them to go because it only needs upkeep about once or twice a year. I think the sunkissed look works really well for 20-year-olds because it just accents the hair, gives them a fashion accessory, makes it playful and fun.”
In Your 30s: Bold Brunette Balayage
By your 30s, you’ve done enough experimenting. It’s time to invest in something really good.
“Women in their 30s usually have a little bit more money in their budget. They also start getting grays, which means they're going to be spending a little bit more time in the salon which allows them to have something that requires a little bit more maintenance on their hair. Women in their 30s could definitely push the envelope. I think going with a little bit more high contrast definitely gives it some edge.”
In Your 40s: Healthy, Shiny Brunette
At 40, it’s all about investment. Papanikolas is a big believer in gorgeous, healthy-looking hair at every age.
“Women in their 40s, I really like to give them a sophisticated look but that doesn't mean it needs to be boring.The key thing for women in their 40s is making sure their hair has lots of shine. Shine is associated with youthfulness, so youthfulness makes you look young and vibrant.”
The Best Red Hair Color For Every Age
In Your 20s: Vivid, Realistic Red
Redheads have the most fun of all, so why not experiment?
“We first started by lifting her roots to this beautiful copper, but we already had some really browned out ends. So I had to go in and lighten those up while the roots were processing. Then I went back and finished the whole thing off with a beautiful vibrant copper gloss to just give it a really even, vivid, beautiful tone.”
Hang onto that vibrant copper between appointments with the help of Matrix Total Results Keep Me Vivid system, specially formulated for high maintenance colors.
In Your 30s: A Range Of Red
Copper isn’t the only shade on the color wheel—what about auburn?
“For my clients in their 30s that want to be redheads, I always tell them, you know, be a little bit more experimental, try more vibrant coppers, maybe a little bit deeper auburns. There's a lot of options as redheads that they can play with and whether you go cool or warm, you know, your skin tone is going to dictate what's going to be best for you but there's a lot of fun options for them.”
In Your 40s: Coverage With Vibrance
At 40, choose a hair color that will light up your complexion!
“For my clients in their 40s that want to be redheads, this is a great option for them because they're already probably going to be coming into the salon for great coverage, so why not make it fun with a copper, auburn? There's so many beautiful colors in that family that are really complimentary that each skin tone.”
Looking to upgrade your hair color vibe? Use our salon locator to book an appointment with a stylist near you.
