No sooner had I touched down in Ireland this week, when I spotted them: the ginger-haired natives. I didn’t exactly expect to see them. After all, natural red heads are on the extinction list, a genetic fate due to their recessive step on the evolutionary ladder.
Not that fashion ever minded Darwin. Fiery tones of red and orange, specifically a color christened “volcanic cinebar,” by the designers at Sassoon, top talk of hair color. “On the streets or in the salon, the reds available are unbelievable right now,” Kristopher Agbayani, the new creative director at the Beverly Hills Sassoon salon, told me Friday, before I left L.A. The whole palette, actually, is inspired by the intense hues and shine of precious stones and minerals--smoky quartz, lustrous opal, shimmering diamond with a trace of sapphire. And red—be it ruby, oxblood or this odd bedfellow of descriptors, volcanic cinebar.

Of course, the bold tints serve to better showcase what’s happening in cuts, which Kristopher admits, “is pretty dramatic. It goes back to the iconic Amazonian stars of the modeling heyday. Think of the images Linda Evangelista by Bruce Weber, Peter Lindberg, Herb Ritts. Hair is very glossy, very vibrantly colored and cut in razor sharp layers. The face is opened up, exposing the eyes, the cheekbones. It exudes luxury.”

And this all melds with the ’80s flashbacks going on in the rest of fashion, from banded mini dresses to neon-hued tights and stilettos. New wave is new again.
But the supermodel is only muse. There’s a graphic, geometric shape to suit every face, a glossy, bright color for every complexion, promises Kristopher. Even those who can’t part with their long locks or find some of the slashed edges too severe can opt for softer pieces. “It’s all about the geometry and precision at even longer lengths,” he notes. “It’s energetic, confident. Modern women don’t need to hide behind the curtain of hair.”

Was he alluding to my maxed-out mane, which I’ve insisted on coloring a single shade of midnight for way too long? My once-signature electric blue streak and cropped ’do may be a thing of the past. But these new looks are something to get my head around as we cruise across this emerald land.