Playful pink hair color, ravishing rosé hues and jewelry-inspired gem tones are always thumb-stoppers when clients and stylists are scrolling through Instagram. But in the salon, it’s the natural-looking blondes, brunettes and reds that generally fill the books—now more than ever according to Aloxxi International Artistic Advisor Teri Dougherty @teridougherty. “More and more clients want their color to look really natural,” she notes.  Here are tips from Teri and Aloxxi National Educator Tommy Cole, @tommycolehair on how to nail the growing natural hair color trend.

USE A LIGHT HAND
Look at a kid’s hair color and what do you see? Definitely not stripes! “You never see uniformity in natural hair color,” says Teri. “So when highlighting, avoid consistent weaves. Instead, take a super fine slice, then apply half an inch of lightener, then leave out a tiny bit, then apply an inch of lightener, etc. And concentrate the color on the surface of the head—don’t jump into the interior too much. That’s not where natural lightness is found.” Tommy agrees and adds, “I like to do a combination of diagonal foils back from the face frame and mix in some babylights and some backcomb balayage when I’m creating natural shades.”

DON’T OVER-TONE
Colorists tend to overcompensate when they tone, believes Tommy, which can result in a too-drab result if they’re trying to cancel warmth. “Nowadays we’re seeing natural gold tones that play well with brunette color,” he says, “so you don’t have to add too much violet or ash. Look at the natural tones and let the color ‘breathe’ and be seen. For a natural result, I’ve been toning with the new Aloxxi InstaBoost Conditioning Color Masques. They enhance color-treated or natural hair, and you can mix them with the new, clear InstaBoost Gloss Boss to further soften the intensity of the toner.”

LOWER THE VOLUME
When lightening brunette shades, go low. “The secret with brunettes is to keep the volume of the developer as low as possible,” reveals Teri. “That way you can control the speed at which the underlying pigment is uncovered, and you can more easily control the warmth.”

CONTROL POROSITY
Porosity and damage often lead to unwanted tones in the hair. So to keep natural tones looking fresh, keep the hair healthy. “A color conditioning mask like InstaBoost helps with porosity while toning the hair,” says Teri. “I like to use it to refresh color after hair has been damaged and I definitely like to send it home with the client to maintain tone as well as condition.”

KEEP THE VIOLET OUT OF YOUR REDS
A cool burgundy can be fun for sure, but if you’re after a natural-looking red, stick to copper and gold tones. “Violet doesn’t live in natural hair color,” notes Teri. “When creating a red, I’ll combine several shades of gold, hazelnut and copper in a beachball-shape pattern around the head. I send clients home with InstaBoost Copper Cabana and Gloss Boss to keep the copper from getting too bright.”

Learn more about how Aloxxi InstaBoost can elevate your color results.