Red is the blazing hot trend in hair color this season. Longtime redheads Christina Hendricks, Florence Welch and Karen Elson stand out with an almost angelic glow of gorgeous color framing their faces. And hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear of some celebrity – such as blonds Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively or brunet Rihanna – switching to a ginger tinge. The color makes a bold statement, and whether someone spent a few hours in a colorist’s chair or was naturally blessed with red tresses, the punchy hue is as much an attention grabber as any bold accessory.

“I’ve always thought of red as a state of mind,” says Marie Claire magazine beauty director Ying Chu who adds that only 2 percent of the world’s population has naturally red hair, though many adopt the color for its striking qualities. “The color portrays a fiery, seductive, standout personality. One can hardly blend in the crowd when sporting it – think Florence Welch, Julianne Moore, Lucille Ball.”

L.A colorist Vanessa Spaeth at the Andy Lecompte Salon in West Hollywood has observed a stronger demand for red hair in the last few months. Spaeth says a few of her clients were inspired by the crimson-wigged models who walked in Mulberry’s spring-summer 2011 runway show last fall.

“Those red wigs had my fashionista clients in a frenzy,” she says. “The fear of red is being washed away.”



© 2011, Los Angeles Times. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.