Julia Roberts has been one of our all-time hair icons from the moment we first saw her in Pretty Woman. Those glorious, tumbling corkscrew curls sent a generation stampeding to the salon for a perm (even though Julia’s curls are all-natural), and her beauty remains just as influential 35 years later.
So don’t be surprised to see a spike in box dye purchases this week after the actress stepped into the Venice Film Festival spotlight with her hottest hair look, ever. Julia, who’s in the city promoting After The Hunt, posed alongside her castmates with a real show-stopper: the brightest, most beautiful red hair colour we’ve ever seen her wear.
Julia has, of course, long been famed for her red hair. In her Pretty Woman era, she was a darker chestnut, and over the years she’s flirted with everything from brunette to blonde, but red is the shade she always comes back to. Contrary to popular belief, red isn't her natural colour (she's revealed she's actually 'dark blonde' originally) but it's the shade that simply suits her more than anything else.
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Last year, she played around with her hair colour, going both lighter and darker, but since her return to red, she’s been steadily increasing the intensity until reaching this week’s all-time hot high for Venice. Her more sunkisssed summer iteration (seen for her latest Lancome campaign) is making way for a bolder, richer shade, proving that autumn is most definitely upon us.
And having seen Julia, we are suddenly ready for pumpkin lattes.
Her hair has been styled into soft waves to emphasise the richness and shine of the redness, and there’s been a little cut update to complement the colour. While she’s hardly veering into bob territory, her hair is little shorter than we’ve seen it recently, and seems a touch more layered around the front.
A rich, statement red like Julia’s is a shade absolutely adored by our favourite hair trendcaster, Tom Smith. He dubs it ‘terracopper’, explaining: ‘It’s a rich and intense terracotta/copper shade that is just a bit bolder than a naturally occurring redhead. This can be achieved all over as a ‘global’ colour or can be done with a semi-permanent gloss on top of highlights or balayage.’
It’s also a look we’re very much drawn to this time of year, he notes. ‘Copper and red tones tend to consistently trend around this time of year, as the autumn leaves and late summer sun inspire us to wear rich and warm tones for the cosy season ahead.’
If you’re thinking about this one as a ‘new term, new look’ switch up, you should take your skin undertone into consideration, he advises. ‘It’s great on those with fairer complexions or those who have pink undertones to this skin, as the warmth of this shade can help the skin to appear more golden and rich.’ No wonder it suits Julia so perfectly.
However, red is a shade that does need a little maintenance, he says. ‘These brighter shades tend to fade faster and so using a copper-pigmented conditioner when washing your hair will keep the tones topped up for longer.’
If it can make us look a fraction as good as Julia, count us in for the colour mask.
