**Books trip to the hairdresser, stat**
Remember when hair contouring was all the rage and we realised that the tricks we use on our face also work incredibly well on our hair? Then we had layage, a more precise way to create sunkissed hair. And now the 2016 make-up trend of strobing has been applied to our locks - and it's definitely going to be a game changer. Welcome to the world, Hair Strobing. Make-up strobing, as you may recall, is contouring without the darkness, illuminating without the shadows, and it's exactly the same for your hair.
The technique was developed by the team at the Andrew Jose salon on London's Charlotte Street, with colourist Nalan Derby carefully drawing a personalised hair map for each client, zoning the areas to be lifted or given depth - for example, lightening the hair around the eyes, to lift the cheekbones and brighten those peepers.
'Creating hair colour is not a one size fits all concept,' Nalan says. 'As there are so many different shades and tones to choose from, a bespoke and tailored colour may not be an instant thing. Your perfect colour quite often evolves from a series of journeys – which is why it is so important to create an individual path for each client. It is a process that is done together and follows an in-depth consultation.'
Similarly to contouring, hair strobing highlights where light would naturally hit the face, and adds a glow to those areas, so that strobers can draw attention to their best features, and complement those they're not too fond of with contrasting colours.
The salon uses colour that is two shades darker or lighter than clients' natural hair colour, creating a wave of light that makes hair colour pop and gives locks a glossy highlighted look that frames your face.
'Your natural hair colour and skin tone must be considered when choosing or changing your colour, which ensures your new shade complements your features,' Nalan says. 'Reflecting beauty, life and lifestyle, is also so important.'
The colourist highlights celebrities such as Gigi Hadid, Perrie Edwards and Cara Delevingne as key strobing celebrities who have got the trend down, highlighting their best features in the process.
'Jourdan Dunn has the perfect bronde, her blonde to brown ratio is the perfect balance,' Nalan says. 'The honey tones bring out her amazing complexion and she has it light in all the right places. Suki Waterhouse, a hair muse for many, has a natural looking shade that begins as a dark blonde and opens out in to a youthful and creamy blonde at the ends. It's a soft and natural way to incorporate lighter tones in to the hair, and this balayage technique keeps hair healthy and glossy while the contrast against her darker eyebrows really makes her eyes look big and striking .
She also loves Cara's look, saying her blended colour 'gives her a slightly angelic look, but it also draws focus to her famous brows which stand out in contrast to her lighter hair .'
'Gigi Hadid is a fantastic example of cool and effortless colour that lights up the face and makes the features pop,' Nalan adds. 'Her highlights are more piecey than the blended balayage we have seen over the last few seasons - it’s just the right balance of light and shade to perfectly illustrate how the strobing effect can lift the face.'
So after we've had our strobing done, can we just leave the salon and rock our look straight away? Absolutely, it's a versatile and wearable look, says Nalan, but she adds that 'the key to ensuring longevity of colour is all in the aftercare'.
She recommends the Salon Science Swiss Grape cleansing system, available from Boots, as 'the perfect partner for hair colour' as it contains potent antioxidants, which bind to the hair surface and help to revitalise and strengthen damaged or colour-processed hair.
Right, we know how we're going to switch up our hair look this Christmas...