What is it about the Fall and Winter months?!

It never fails!

Come September and through the fall and winter, there's the call for deeper, richer hair color.

I call it a Depth Charge.

Even the blondes can feel it. They still want to be blonde but now they want more dimension. They might stretch their appointments out a little longer to let their roots come in if the grey isn't in there yet.

Or they ask about lowlights.

What's that about?

I think there are a few components to this phenomenon.

For one thing, summer sun (yes, even just that week on vacation at the beach) has lightened your hair through the summer. It's been a natural process and you don't notice it all at once so your eye has had time to gradually adjust.

You might not even notice until I pull up a lock of hair, holding the ends beside the roots to see the difference.

And while the sun has been lightening your hair, it has been darkening your skin tone.

Maybe you have a fab tan.

Maybe it's a more subtle effect

But come autumn, your skin tone changes again and that summer color just looks a little-

Off.

I also think it has to do with the condition your hair is in by the end of summer.

You see, while the sun has been lightening your hair, it (along with beach and pool water among other environmental factors) has been opening up the cuticle of your hair -much as bleach does. The visible result of that process is that your hair no longer reflects light as well as when it is healthier. It may also have a greater tendency to tangle. It may feel rougher touch and be less pliable when styling. These are all indications that a series of conditioning/strengthening treatments are in order but also-

Richer tones tend to look healthier.

Then there's the change in the color around us. Think of the colors that surround

us from September through Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even the colors of nature as the foliage shifts and prepares to shed. Everything around us goes steadily warmer and richer. It's an instinct to harmonize with our environment. Those cozy, intimate colors start to show up in our wardrobes and it's only natural that we want to shift our hair color as well.

Why fight it?

Change can be a very, very good thing!