Trevor Sorbie hair story: ombre hair & style masterclass

Zara Baker visits Trevor Sorbie in Brighton to achieve this Christmas’ most sought-after hairstyle

Trevor Sorbie in The Lanes, Brighton’s buzzing shopping haven, ticks all the right boxes for the ultimate Christmas party hairstyles. Last week saw a Masterclass held in the salon, teaching guests how to achieve catwalk-inspired trends including mermaid waves and messy up-dos. The experienced team, which includes Southern Hairdresser of the Year nominee Anna Chapman, provide thorough consultations for clients, enabling you to sit back (with a glass of wine and a relaxing head massage) and be left in their capable hands.

I headed along to the salon to meet the talented Jade and Adele, who didn’t run in horror at my overstyled and over-bleached locks. Patient, friendly and fun, they helped me nail the current ombre hair trend, and rescued my hair with the right cut and products.

The Ombre hair trend
Love it or hate it, the ombre hair trend is here to stay for another season. It’s been seen on all the catwalks. long hair, short, curly or straight, there’s an ombre style to suit all. But let’s rewind a bit…

What is ombre hair?
The two-tone hairstyle has become a buzz word in hair fashion the last two years, with Hollywood A-listers including Drew Barrymore and Rachel Bilson rocking the trend to perfection. The colour, which is darker at the roots and lighter on the ends for a fuss-free ‘grown out’ look is the must-have look that’s seen on celebs, the catwalks and now the high street. Ombre hair is what perms were in the ’80s; what the ‘Rachel’ cut was in the ’90s, and what highlights were to the late ’90s/early ’00s generation. The style leaders of the ombre hair trend has to be ‘reality’ TV stars and fashion designers Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port. Whitney wore the look on season 4 of The Hills before embarking on a new career at DVF in New York City. Proving that a good style can take you places, Whitney has most recently been seen as a judge on Elle Mcphersons’s Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model (Elle has also been seen sporting the ombre trend since then).

So, if you’re after a fresh new look that’s on trend then ombre is the way to go. And the best bit? It doesn’t have to be a copy-cat style that suddenly makes you feel so trendy you no longer feel unique. The ombre look can be varied: the important thing is making it work for you.

If you have dark skin and hair, golden blonde or copper shades complement your hair and skin tone. The key is leaving the roots your natural colour, or as close to this as possible – so the grow-out phase is natural and the colour long-lasting (forget having root touch-ups every 8-12 weeks like when you have a full head of highlights. Ombre hair is so much easier to maintain! The important thing is getting it right to start with…

The lighter ends can be applied to just the tips of your hair or beginning from the ears downwards. It depends on how ‘drastic; you want the colour change to appear and the length of your hair. Wavy, textured and longer styles look great with ombre hair colour, but the look works equally as well on shoulder length styles and bobs.

I’d been a fan of the ombre look for about six months, having coloured my hair a natural dark blonde over old highlights, leaving it one dimensional and ‘flat’. When L’Oreal released the Wild Ombre home hair colours in stores September 2012, I was the first to pre-order mine and try it at home. Never one to be scared of home DIY kits, I read the instructions and off I went. An hour and a half later (it’s fiddly to do on your own hair) I was left with a mid-length ombre style, dark blonde on top, and light blonde on the ends. I constantly wore my hair wavy to avoid the ‘line’ that would be visible when a straight style was worn. The ends were parched dry from the bleaching, and in some places a very yellow shade.

However, I was pleased with the result, and I loved that my hair was three-dimensional.

This was the state of my hair when I made it to Trevor Sorbie in Brighton’s Lanes. After a patch test 48 hours before, I was left in Jade and Adele’s capable hands to make my ombre hair a perfect reality. The home kit was good, and easy enough for someone like me who changes their colour so much, but the result (read: shade) wasn’t salon professional. To give Jade serious props, she didn’t look at my hair wondering what the hell I’d been doing to it. She was probably being nice but she said the blending between the two colours was done well (I had spent a lot of time on it). The problem was, there was still too much of a ‘line’ (for me anyway) and the colour needed toning down – lots.

Now, hopefully when you visit a salon for this season’s ombre hair, you will have a blank canvas for the stylist to work on, where they can add the colours to the lengths of the hair, lightening just the ends. The hair colour I needed, in effect, was ‘backwards’ to an ombre hair colour. My ends were fine, they jut needed a toner run through to make the colour a lovely warm, golden shade. The top half on my head, however, needed a semi-permanent colour close to my natural colour, blending down to the lighter ends. A no.7 (dark blonde) was applied, a semi ensuring hair was left in top condition with lovely shine.

The right cut
The right colour wouldn’t be complete without the perfect cut. In my quest for longer hair, I had been growing out my hair with the minimum cut off at each appointment. My hair, however, had become lank and the ends dry. Adele consulted on the cut before Jade applied the colour (mainly so we would know that the colour added wouldn’t be redundant if the ends were then cut too short). What did arise was the need for a few highlights around the front section as so much of my grown-out fringe would be cut to shape the face and get rid of the dry ends.

Easy on the GHDS
It seems that over straightening and curling had taken its toll on my hair, frazzling the ends, particularly those around the face. As Adele pointed out, it’s the sections we go over the most when styling at home as it’s easy to reach.

Like many, my GHDs are my old faithful. Even with creating waves, I use my GHDs as they are the perfect size for wrapping the hair around and creating loose waves. The problem? GHDs heat to their maximum temperature (200+ degrees). Unless your hair is extremely thick and coarse, this amount of heat is not necessary. It’s wonderful in achieving a sleek and straight look that will hold but for every day use, it can dry out the hair too much. For an alternative, Adele suggests a hair wand, where the hair is simply wrapped around and held in place for a few seconds (no clamping and frazzled ends). I’d always been quite nervous about these as the hand has to be extremely close to the hot wand. Adele made it look so easy but if you choose to use a wand at home, get one with a heat protective glove! The great thing about a wand is the temperature control: if your hair only needs 160 degrees, then that’s all the heat you need to apply. As another alternative, look into Remington’s new Keratin products (Christmas list!): the hair irons and curlers work with your hair, adjusting the heat depending on the moisture of each part of the hair! Genius.

Back to Trevor Sorbie and my nearly complete cut: dry ends gone, layers cut in for movement and a fringe that could be worn swept to one side or straight down the middle. Adele and the rest of the team know about making a style work for the client; it’s no use having the latest hair style or a funky bob if you know you won’t be able to cope with the upkeep yourself.

Products are also recommended, depending on the colour and condition of the hair. I walked away happy, having purchased a new batch of Kerastase Resistance Bain de Force shampoo and condition, which is great for weakened hair, helping to build up the protein. As Jade points out, it’s like when you would follow the right diet or take a supplement to boost your health and wellbeing – your hair needs the right products too. After these bottle are used up, my hair will be stronger and I can switch to a different shampoo such as the Trevor Sorbie Beautiful Blondes Golden Blonde shampoo, which helps protect colour and keeps hair soft and moisturised.

I left Trevor Sorbie, finally achieving the look I’d been craving and I was getting my hair into tip-top condition to boot.

Masterclass
I have never been one for backcombing, thinking it would damage my hair more than ever, but a hair masterclass held at the Trevor Sorbie Salon last week taught me how to style, without the damage. Fergal Doyle created a mermaid plaited look with volume and un-kempt roots with a neat finish (see photo). The plaits also showed off the ombre style to perfection. I didn’t want to take this one out, having found a perfect look for Christmas parties and the big day itself.

What more can I say? I was inspired. Go along and be inspired too.
Trevor Sorbie, Nile Street, Brighton, 01273 220007, www.trevorsorbie.com
If you can’t get to a salon, check out their website for ‘how to’ tutorials on top looks including adding volume and the low-slung bun.