Snow Hair Is the Icy Way to Go Platinum Blonde for the New Year

When you hear the words "snow hair," you might think of what happens when you go outside in the winter sans hat or hood, snowflakes speckling your hair before melting. Pretty, yes, but not nearly as pretty as how a growing number of salon pros are interpreting "snow hair." Colorists on Instagram are sharing photos of their clients with incredible platinum looks that blend in perfectly with wintry weather.

What sets snow hair apart from other versions of platinum blonde is the near absence of yellow. (Yellow snow is a thing, obviously, but not exactly a good thing.) While platinum is pale and especially cool in tone, it often still has a hint of beige to keep it grounded in the blonde family. Snow hair goes as white as possible, sometimes with a touch of silver, perfectly evoking snow's balance of iciness and softness.

But just because snow hair is trending doesn't mean it's easy to achieve. "If you are natural blonde it may take one to two appointments. Anything darker may take five to ten appointments," explains Olivia Smalley, a colorist in South Florida, where it can be even harder to get and maintain this look. "Between the constant sun and the hard water, blonde hair tends to turn orange. Because of this, a color so light and cool-toned is high maintenance." She says it took a year to achieve the color on her client pictured above in order to maintain the hair's integrity — and she has taken the slow-but-steady route on hair that has started every color from dark brown to strawberry blonde.

As for Smalley's technique, "A lot of times I do a full foil of back-to-back highlights to create overall lightness using Kenra Simply Blonde blue powder lightener along with Kenra Simply Blonde 30 volume developer," she explains. "Once the hair is lifted to a level 10, I use Joico Lumishine toner 9NV and Pravana The Perfect Blonde Shampoo," a purple formula that's a must-have for maintenance. If it sounds like task best left to professionals, that's because it is.

Speaking of professionals, here are some of the most beautiful #snowhair looks posted by colorists on Instagram recently — serious snow-queen inspo.

More hair-color trends to check out:

• These Are the Hair-Color Trends You'll See Everywhere in 2019

• Illuminated Brunette Is the Trendy Way to Brighten Up Brown Hair

• Dark Blonde Is the Low-Maintenance Hair Color That's Trending for Winter

Now watch 100 years of blonde hair:

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