Flames Hair Color & Styles
From long orange locks to a red and yellow mohawk, fired-up hairstyles are always on the verge of becoming the next big thing. Even during drab seasons when black clothing rules the runway, you'll find the avant garde shock in fire-inspired hairstyles. Does this Spark an idea?
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Classic Flame Colors
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Representations of flame are often based in uses of yellow, orange and red. Combinations of these colors evoke the idea of fire, even in a simple plaid pattern. Neon versions of orange, red and yellow are commonly used as an all-over color, though a more realistic and dramatic choice would be searching for the right ruby red to mix into yellow and orange to tone them down. Plain and simple, if the bottle of color happily announces that your hair will glow under a black light, avoid it.
Observe a true flame and you will see a thin base of black with a prominent layer of blue leading to the yellow-white tip. Icy blue and platinum white can be added in for a thoroughly accurate representation of a freshly-struck match head, though this look only works with certain styles and color applications.
Deep reds, orange blondes and black are readily available in permanent colors, though brighter tones and blues are difficult to find outside of temporary or semi-permanent colors.
Short Cuts
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Short cuts are well-suited to flaming colors because of their upward sweep and practical edge. A shorter hair cut with flame colors is easiest to maintain, in that it requires less color per application, and the style is rarely worn in uniform fashion. In a mohawk or liberty spikes, the colors can blend or bleed into one another and no one would know that your style was less than perfect. As a flame is not perfect in divisions of color, a messy short cut could be the most accurate representation there is.
Geometric styles with blunt ends and severe angles are better suited to chunky color applications. Alternating stripes or color-coding sections of a geometric style will play up the depth and dimension of the cut.
Consider, though, that blue would not be a welcome addition to a short flame style that is based around yellow, orange and red. As most blues are semi-permanent at best, the color will bleed with each rinse, and turn a hot style into a mucky brown mess.
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The Ombre Method
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Ombre is the new tie-dye when it comes to fashion. The French translation for shadow or shade, ombre is a great way to show off the variations of flaming color. Ombre coloring works best on long straight hair, or a short cut such as a mohawk and requires some precision during application and wearing.
When working with long hair, each panel of hair can be dyed a different color to achieve a subtle shading at the ends. The colors can also be layered on the hair in succession, working from lightest to darkest. Unless your color is permanent or you can apply a sealant to each shade, be cognizant of the fact that the color can run, and your red-at-the-roots look may become reddish-orange all over.
Dyeing hair in an ombre pattern is also a great time to throw in the blue and black tones of a real flame, once again being sure to have black and blue at the end portions of your hair.
Lighting Up with Highlights
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If you're a natural redhead, adding fire tones through a highlighting or foiling process can be the way to go for dimension and depth, as the colors will often suite your skin tone. For the rest of us that aren't so lucky, it's imperative to start out with a flattering base color. A deep auburn, warm brown or jet black will suit almost everyone.
Once your base color is decided, go wild with foils, patterning one color after the next. It would seem that to get a random look, the color of each foil also needs to be random, but a repetitive pattern of application will guarantee an all-over wild style.
Additions and Accessories
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Of course, you may not be able to pull off a fire-based cut and color at the office. When you're looking for a bit of spark to punch up an otherwise normal look, consider adding a few strategic pieces of clip-in hair in your color of choice. If that's even too much of a stretch, add a set of orange and red ribbons to your styling tools. In the case of fashion, it's best to avoid being matchy-matchy and decking yourself out from head to toe in orange and red to match your new hair art. A bracelet, a belt or even shoelaces will suffice as an accent piece.
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