Strobing was one of our favourite, non-terrifying beauty trends from 2015. Instead of the sometimes sharp and heavy lines of contouring, strobing focussed on adding soft, pearlescent light to the tops of cheekbones, the Cupid's bow, and anywhere else the light would normally hit for a radiant, lit-from-within finish.
But, that was 2015, and to stay relevant, one must adapt. Just like contouring stopped being just for cheekbones as tan contouring and hair contouring all became a legitimate things you could do (or at least hashtag), hair strobing is now blowing up the beauty hot list.
Popularised by A Listers like Gigi Hadid, hair strobing is the perfect way to give your 'do a new year twist AND flatter your features - read on for more...
What is hair strobing?
The principle of hair strobing's similar to that of the makeup technique. Your stylist will place slightly lighter pieces of hair around your face where the light would naturally hit, and to make the most of your features - for example, lightening the hair near the temples will help make your cheekbones pop and your eyes look brighter.
Usually, it's using colours only a few shades lighter than your natural colour - in case you had any worrying mental pictures of chunks of weirdly bright hair thrown in - the desired effect is of a naturally sunkissed, healthy finish that's undetectable.
How to do DIY hair strobing at home
Strobing's similar to balayage, which is free-painting colour onto the hair for a flawless finish (more on that here) in that it's often done without the use of foils. The good news? That means it's not impossible to do at home, and plenty of home kits will be able to help you get a natural-looking finish. Johnathon Long, Clairol's colour ambassador, gave us some pointers on free-painting colour at home - namely, "for the best results, use a crème formulation that allows precision application. It's less likely to run and streak as some gel colourants have a tendency of doing."
Johnathon also told us, “It’s good to have a few hair grips to hand so that you can apply colour with more precision and target specific areas that you want to lighten. I’d also recommend a barrier cream such as Vaseline to apply on skin and avoid any staining."
When it comes to choosing the right shade, pick something that's not miles away from your natural colour - "Always keep the shade you go with only up to 3 shades lighter to your existing tone, to guarantee the most natural looking effect.", was Johnathon's advice.
Which A Listers are doing hair strobing?
The trend's been hugely popular with the Victoria's Secret set, thanks to the natural, sunkissed finish it gives. Gigi Hadid's a fan, as is Cara Delevingne, Suki Waterhouse and Jourdan Dunn - considering that all these girls give us hair envy on a regular basis, this is enough to get us booking a morning in at the salon.