Classic blue is the pantone color of the year – what this means for hair

With last year's chosen colour harking on the comfort and buoyancy that colour gives during the world's shifting environment, this year's is all about solidarity and stability. Classic Blue is a muted, traditional and simple blue that can be translated into the hair and beauty world. "We are living in a time that requires trust and faith," says the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. " It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is expressed by Pantone 19-4052 Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on." https://www.instagram.com/p/B5q6iiog1Bv/

What the experts think about the Pantone Color of the Year: Classic Blue

"Classic blue is a tone I love especially for interior design, but for hair it’s definitely not a trend for the everyday salon client or for your chameleon clients that like to switch it up every appointment. This trend is for clients that are in it for the long haul; a client who is totally committed to this blue trend as this colour is here to stay and is very difficult to remove. Blue will stain the hair cuticle which leaves us with limited options for change. I would recommend creatively playing with ash-based tones mixing dots of black to add a more blue-based hue and create variation and dimension. This way the toner will fade back to a nice clean canvas leaving us with options to keep changing the colour up." Grace Dalgleish, Brooks & Brooks "As we come into the New Year it’s all about bright, bold crazy colour. 2020 is all about inventiveness and imagination when it comes to hair colour. Classic bright blues in particular are one of my favourite shades for the New Year and work well on dark hair to create shine and a petrol effect – it’s a really great colour to add movement to the hair. Faded pastels are also a huge trend this year, in particular faded blues, which have been all over the catwalks, faded pastel blue is a super low maintenance hair colour that provides a light blush on the hair, perfect for those who want to experiment with hair colour but don't want it to be long-lasting." Suzie McGill, owner of Rainbow Room International’s Uddingston Salon, Schwarzkopf UK ambassador and international artistic director at Rainbow Room International "Classic blue is the colour of the season and perfect for heading in to 2020 with a bang. This is a really fun trend that works well on both blondes and brunettes, by mixing a combination of blue shades together you can create a stunning blue hue and add definition to clients hair. Using colours such as cobalt, turquoise and teal together give a nice ocean-like effect however not everyone will suit this trend. It is important to take into consideration clients skin tone, lighter skin may look washed-out and darker skin will require higher contrast of colour intensity for this trend to really work." Jason Hogan, celebrity colour expert at Josh Wood Atelier "As we progress into early 2020, ‘Classic Blue’ is the trend that will be seen everywhere. A statement colour, this can be adapted to suit the individual, with shades been tailored to partner with different complexions. Working better on lighter colours such as blondes, different hues can be created to create a statement colour such as cobalt, denim and for those looking for a more subtle colour, ice blue. As always with colour, the condition of the hair should be at forefront of your mind at all times and keeping this as pristine as possible is key." Chris Williams, international colour director at RUSH Hair "One of the Pantone’s that are to be super on trend this year and that is to dominate SS20 is ‘Classic Blue’, which is such a stunning, stand out shade. I think we will see a lot of clients coming into the salons to add this shade of blue into their hair, whether it be through all over colour or by adding flashes and pieces of the colour to their hair. This shade will work amazing on blondes but for brunettes, I think we will see a lot of darker, more petrol like shades being popular, with many clients opting to incorporate these shades into balayage techniques." Carly Price, partner and head stylist at Muse of London "Bold and bright hair colour shades are super on trend and I particularly love blues for those with darker hair, as these hues are fantastic for adding shine to the hair. I think blue hair will be in high demand and with so many hair colouring products on the market now, clients are able to be more experimental with their colour. Our IdHAIR Colour Bombs come in shades Aqua Turquoise and Ocean Blue and are perfect to use to help give clients vibrant, yet healthy looking hair colour. The Colour Bombs include Keratin, allowing clients hair to feel like silk after the colouring process and they can also be used by clients as a colour refresher at home, as they can be mixed with styling products and conditioning products to keep colour long-lasting and to top up the hair colour when it starts to fade." Lyndsey Ford, IdHAIR head of education for the UK