We can’t help but notice Nicky Minaj’s rapidly changing hair colour over here at Love Hair Colour, we are constantly in awe of her ever-fabulous style but it is impossible to keep up with the SuperBass singer!

One day she’s dark with raven black locks, the next morning a vibrant shade of golden blonde and by afternoon she’s rocking a baby pink look.  This American diva certainly knows how to make a statement with her hair – even if she does cheat a little with a wig or two…or ten!

Nicky’s hair is expressive and completely reflects her personality, which is exactly the attitude we have to hair colour!  We love her daring attitude, passion for colour and show-stopping sense of style.

On her current press jaunt Nicky has become a blonde bombshell and we adore it. Her hair looks bright and vibrant – perfect for the summer months.

Get her latest look by using Schwarzkopf LIVE Color XXL Max Blonde to lighten your hair up to 8 shades, or choose another colour from the Nicky Minaj rainbow by viewing the full Schwarzkopf LIVE Color XXL range at http://www.livecolor.com

GET THE LOOK: Jessie J, LIVE Color XXL Deep Black and LIVE Color XXL Mystic Violet

Alexa Cheung, LIVE Color XXL Bittersweet Chocolate and LIVE Color XXL Max Blonde

Mila Kunis, LIVE Color XXL Bittersweet Chocolate and LIVE Color XXL Rich Caramel


As ever, the festival season brings fierce fashion fervor to those who want to stand out from the crowd. Schwarzkopf LIVE Color XXL has all bases covered; from a subtle change to a bold all-out transformation!

Many fashion-forward celebs have been spotted rocking one of the hottest trends of the moment, the dip-dye look. The two-tone, rainbow bright ombre hair trend is the perfect summer look, guaranteed to be a headliner in the festival fashion stakes. Whether you’re ready to go all out with a bold blue hue or fancy adding a vibrant red to the ends of your hair, LIVE Color XXL allows you to follow today’s trends for effortless, quick and changeable looks; giving you incredible, irresistible colour.

Fashion tribes will be in their element with this achingly hip hair trend. From Jessie J’s raven black locks, finished with a daring bright purple; Alexa Cheung’s dark bob with a dirty blonde trim to Mila Kunis’ oh-so-glossy brunette style with subtle dip-dyed ends. 

To get Alexa’s look use LIVE XXL Max Blonde on the ends of your natural tresses; go up to 8 shades lighter with Max Blonde – the blondest home-hair colour shade there is!

• Using a hair band, tie the hair up just a few cm above where you want the colour to finish – decide how much of the ends you want to colour, just the tips or are you going to make a bold statement and colour halfway up your head?

• Mix your LIVE XXL Max Blonde shade, so it’s ready to apply

• Apply the colour – Fan your hair out into individual sections, this way you will get more coverage. Also feather the colour at the top so you blend well and aren’t left with a straight line of colour

• Make sure you cover hair completely

• To get the best colour result check after 25 minutes and if your hair is not blonde enough continue to allow to develop, checking every 5 minutes for the result.  Do not exceed 45 minutes

• Then rinse off to reveal the final colour result

Show us your dip-dyes looks on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/schwarzkopflivecolorxxl

NB. The celebrities referenced in this article do not endorse LIVE Color XXL or any other LIVE brand

Holidays, sunshine, festivals – what reason could there be not to love summer? Make sure you look and feel your best for the season ahead by embracing a gorgeous new hair colour and keeping it in tip top condition through the summer months.

But beware, the summer season can play havoc with your hair condition and colour. The Sun’s ultraviolet rays can dehydrate hair, leaving it dull, dry and brittle. Combine this with sand, seawater, chlorine and hair tongs and it is no wonder locks lose their lustre. Gorgeous rich brunettes can turn a reddish, brassy colour and blonde hair can turn straw-like if not properly cared for.

Follow these tips from the experts at Schwarzkopf to protect your hair and keep your colour at its best:

1.  If your hair is freshly coloured, try not to expose your hair to harmful UV rays, as it will be more susceptible to change. Plan ahead and aim to colour your hair a week before you go on holiday.

2. When shopping for those festival outfits invest in a hat, it will protect your hair – as well as your face and shoulders – from the sun.

3. Don’t forget your dry shampoo! Get an extra day out of your hair with a quick spritz. If you do need to wash your hair use a shampoo and conditioner with UV filters. This will create a barrier against those harmful rays, which will protect and prolong your hair colour

4. After taking a dip in the sea or at the pool, immediately rinse your hair with fresh water to remove any traces of salt or chlorine

5. Be careful of using too many gels or oily styling products before heading into the sunshine. The sun can cause these products to heat up, drying out and damaging your hair

6. Maintaining moisture in your hair is a must during hot weather. Use a deep conditioning treatment to stop it drying out – and make the treatment work harder by wrapping your hair in a warm towel whilst using it.

For more tips and advice on colouring your hair, or to find your perfect shade with the LIVE Salon Style Colour Booth, visit www.facebook.com/livesalonstyle

We did a double-take when we saw photos circulating of Vanessa Hudgens sporting a new blonde hair colour, but is this dye job everything that it appears to be?

The 23-year-old actress revealed on Twitter that her lighter look is actually a blonde wig she is wearing to play the part of Candy for her upcoming movie, Spring Breakers.  We’re big fans of colour changes over here at LHC, but on this occasion Vanessa we definitely think you should stick to your signature boho brunette waves!

If you’re a brunette and you want to find out if blondes do have more fun, then we recommend having your hair lightened by a professional to guarantee an even colour result.  If you put a blonde home hair dye on top of very dark hair then you could end up with uneven orange tones instead – not very Hollywood darling!

Once your hairdresser has lightened your locks, you can always maintain your new blonde barnet using LIVE Color XXL afterwards.  Which shade will you choose?

• Absolute Platinum – for hair so bright you’ll need sunglasses
• Max Blonde – lighten your hair up to 8 shades!
• Ice Blonde – a fashionable, frosted blonde shade
• Rich Caramel – for golden tones with real warmth

Join the XXL conversation on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/schwarzkopflivecolorxxl

Undone blonde curls, rock ‘n roll inspired back-combed pleats and Sixties-style brunette crops are some of hottest hair trends to hit the London Fashion Week catwalks this month.  Here, LIVE Salon Style shows you how to recreate these fashion-forward looks:

ANTONI & ALISON

Antoni & Alison’s models all shared the same Sixties inspired crop in a range of rich brunettes and glossy black shades. Teamed with soft, natural make-up, the strong hair colours really made an impact on the catwalk.

Get The Look

• Ask your stylist for a short elfin crop with a slightly rougher finish.  A/W 2012 is not about highly polished looks so don’t be afraid to go for something a little choppier than your usual style
• The key to this look is block colour with lots of depth.  Try LIVE Salon Style in Chestnut Brown or Black, which is co-developed by professional hairdressers and colourists to give you rich results with glossy shine.

CORRIE NIELSEN

To offset Nielsen’s highland themed collection, hair was tied back into a crescent shaped buns with ‘face lace’ fretwork painted across one side of the forehead. From shimmery make-up to ‘face lace’, embellishment is a key trend for A/W 2012.

Get The Look

• Recreate Corrie Nielsen’s catwalk colours by using LIVE Salon Style in Light Blonde for golden colour with a subtle shimmer
• Pull hair back into a bun and experiment with shapes. This look requires a twist on the traditional bun but find a shape that you are happy with, then use lots of hairspray and a hairnet to hold the style in place
• ‘Face lace’ takes a steady hand and lots of practice but is the perfect way to stand out from the crowd if you feel like unleashing your inner Lady Gaga!

ZOE JORDAN

Zoe Jordan showcased a simple yet sophisticated look for her collection, with models adorning simple braids, dark eyes and rosy cheeks.  Again, the hair colour on the catwalk was a mix of natural blondes, brunette and black shades.

Get The Look

• Simple hairstyles mean that the focus is all on the hair colour.  Previous seasons have showcased bright, vibrant hair colours, but A/W 2012 highlights the beauty in natural shades.  The LIVE Salon Style range includes 20 salon-inspired shades so there is something to suit everyone’s natural hair colour
• To recreate the braids seen at Zoe Jordan, divide hair into three sections then cross them over from left to right repeatedly.  Braid the full length of your hair tightly, then use your fingers to gently tease out a few strands for that ‘undone’ look.

FELDER FELDER

Blondes were the order of the day at the Felder Felder show! The designer twins chose cascading blonde waves for their models, teamed with shimmery eyeshadow, nude lips and beige nails to complete the natural colour palette.

Get The Look

• To create the Felder Felder A/W 2012 look, opt for warm autumnal blonde shades such as LIVE Salon Style in Medium Blonde
• While damp, spritz a heat protection spray over the hair, then blow-dry until soft and smooth
• Use a styling wand to create bouncy curls throughout the hair, then tease them out into loose waves with your fingers
• Apply a mist of hairspray to hold the waves in place

JEAN –PIERRE BRAGANZA

Constrasting chic French pleats with rock ‘n roll inspired texture and backcombing, the hair was the real show-stopper of the Jean-Pierre Braganza collection.  The rock ‘n roll theme was taken a step further with muted metallic lips in a variety of gold and red shades.

Get The Look

• Dry hair with a paddle brush and divide the hair into three sections; left, right and top.
• Take sections from the left and right side of the head, then backcomb slightly to create volume.  This will give your French pleat and gives the pleat more definition.
• Gently brush the side sections back, roll into a French pleat and secure in place with hairpins
• Finally, backcomb the top section using a detangling brush and mould into a fluffy shade.  Use hairpins and hairspray to hold the shape in place
• Ash blondes and cool brunettes are key to this look so try LIVE Salon Style in Frozen Pearl Blonde or Dark Brown

JENA THEO

At Jena Theo the hair was slicked back into sleek and smooth ponytails. Natural makeup was teamed with shimmery embellishment that moved over the forehead and into the hairline.

Get The Look

• Simplicity is the key to this look.  Hair needs to be straight and flowing so use a large round brush while blow-drying, then finish with a large paddle brush for final smoothing
• Pull the hair back into a low ponytail and secure with a hairband.  Wrap a section of the ponytail around the top to hide the band and tuck in underneath
• Apply generous mists of hairspray to create that slicked-back look and prevent any flyaway strands
• Want to add that little something extra to your look? Apply shimmer dust around the hairline to give your style some sparkle!

If you’re looking to “do something different” with your hair colour check out LIVE Salon Style’s Colour Booth at http://www.facebook.com/livesalonstyle  This clever application allows you to virtually try out all 20 shades in the range.

Schwarzkopf LIVE Salon Style is a range of professional quality home hair colourants. available nationwide from Superdrug, Tesco, Boots, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Saver, Bodycare, Wilkinsons, Morrisons and all leading pharmacies. RRP: £5.99.

Louise Redknapp and Schwarzkopf LIVE Salon Style are proud to introduce The Social Salon; a brand new Facebook app where fans can interact directly with Louise and ask her for hair, make-up and fashion advice.

Hosted on the LIVE Salon Style facebook page until early March, fans can upload a photo of themselves into the Social Salon gallery app and tell Louise Redknapp why they need her help.  As the face and hair of LIVE Salon Style’s range of professional hair colours for home use, Louise will comment on a selection of entries each week, while in-built notification functions will alert each entrant as Louise replies to them.

When the Social Salon closes on 12 March 2012, Louise Redknapp & LIVE Salon Style will choose one person from the gallery to win a makeover and photoshoot day in London. The lucky winner will also star alongside Louise in national advertorials for the LIVE Salon Style brand.

Louise said: “. Sometimes you get stuck into a beauty or style routine and need a bit of advice on what other looks might suit you. I was blonde for years before I recently changed to a Chocolate Brown shade, but it has completely transformed my look!”

LIVE Salon Style is a new range of professional permanent hair colours available for home use.  Combining professional formulas and sophisticated shades, LIVE Salon Style gives you the key to salon confidence at home, resulting in perfect grey coverage and long-lasting, shiny colour. Find out more about The Social Salon at http://www.facebook.com/LIVEsalonstyle

The My Week With Marilyn star still loves her pixie crop but decided it was time to change her look by adopting a new auburn hue for 2012.   The warmer tones in her tresses complement her complexion perfectly, making her look even more radiant than before.

Changing you hair colour is the perfect way to beat those January blues, so if you want to try a new look this year find out which colours will suit you by using the LIVE Salon Style Colour Booth.  Or if you want to recreate Michelle’s gorgeous new shade, try LIVE Salon Style in Golden Caramel Blonde

What do you think of Michelle’s new look?  Tell us on our Facebook page

Want to shake up your look? Then you’re in luck because we’re giving away samples of our brand new Shake It Up Colour Foam from LIVE Color XXL!

Unique, easy to use and with a fruity strawberry scent, Shake It Up Colour Foam offers a fun way to get fabulous hair colour. For vibrant, long-lasting colour with a red-carpet-ready glossy shine; simply shake, scoop and apply!

We’ll be giving away a different Shake It Up shade to five winners every day for a whole week!  Here’s the Shade Schedule:

• Wednesday 14 December – Blueberry Crush
• Thursday 15 December – Black Velvet Crush
• Friday 16 December – Dark Cherry Bliss
• Saturday 17 December – Dark Chocolate Delight
• Sunday 18 December – Cranberry Kick
• Monday 19 December – Violet Berry Burst
• Tuesday 20 December – Red Berry Passion
• Wednesday 21 December – Dark Toffee Swirl

To enter, all you have to do is email your name, age, address and contact details to live@lovehaircolour.co.uk on one the days specified above for your chance to win a sample of that day’s shade.  It’s that simple!

Once you’ve entered, Like the LIVE Color XXL Facebook page and look out for announcements to see if you’re one of our lucky winners!

Winners will also become official Schwarzkopf product testers by writing reviews of their Shake It Up prizes for us, which could then be published right here on the Love Hair Colour blog!

Terms & Conditions

• Competition entries for each of the days listed above must be received by midnight on each specified date.
• Five winners will be chosen at random for each of the eight days.  Winners will be announced the following day on the LIVE Color XXL facebook page, for example, the winners from Wednesday 14 December to receive Blueberry Crush prizes will be announced on Thursday 15 December.
• Forty winners will be chosen throughout the entire competition.
• Each winner will receive one sample of Shake It Up Colour Foam.  Winners  agree to send Before and After photographs once they have used the product, along with a short review to live@lovehaircolour.co.uk.  Reviews may be published on the Love Hair Colour blog at http://www.lovehaircolour.co.uk
• All elements of the prize are non transferable or exchangeable and not for re-sale.
• Prizes will be sent out within 30 days after the closing date.
• No cash alternative is available.
• Mason Williams Communications will organise the prize redemption with the winner.
• Henkel Limited of Apollo Court, 2 Bishops Square Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9EY, the owner of the Schwarzkopf brand, is the promoter of the competition and reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time and to communicate the changes to entrants.
• Winners will be chosen by Henkel Limited.  The decision of Henkel is final.

As the 2011 series of X Factor came to an end on Sunday, we have to admit that we were keeping our fingers crossed for our favourite new girl group, Little Mix, to be crowned the winners – and they were!

The gorgeous foursome were only put together at the Judge’s Houses stage of the competition, but they soon won a place in our hearts thanks to their quirky-and-cute style. Tulisa’s “little muffins” managed to break the curse of the X Factor Girl Groups and we think their look has had a big part to play in this.  Not only did the girls put on amazing vocal performances each week but by mixing the latest fashion trends with their own individual styles, Little Mix created a fresh new look that girls all over the UK could relate to.

Whether you covet Jade’s big and bouncy curls or Leigh-Anne’s edgy red locks shaved on one side, there’s a Little Mix look for everyone!

Get The Look: Jesy

Jesy’s golden hair colour compliments her warm skin tone perfectly and will make her stand out in a music industry full of bright blondes.  Toffee tresses are perfect for those of you who want to tone down blonde hair during the winter season, but don’t want to commit to a darker brunette shade.

If you want Jesy’s toffee tresses, try LIVE Salon Style in Medium Blonde for a luminous golden shine

Get The Look: Leigh-Anne

Leigh-Anne came into the X Factor competition sporting natural black curls but came out of the live shows makeover process as a fiery and fashionable redhead. Quite a transformation!  We love the fire-engine red shade, and the shaven look on one side gives her a truly individual look.

If you want Leigh-Anne’s scarlet locks, try LIVE Color XXL in Real Red

Get The Look: Perrie

She’s the tiny girl with the huge voice, it’s Perrie! As the competition has progressed we’ve seen Perrie’s blonde shade evolve too, getting lighter and lighter as we draw closer to the final week.  If you’re thinking of going blonder to brighten up those dark and rainy days, then you should try LIVE Color XXL in Max Blonde, which can lighten your hair up to eight shades!

Get The Look: Jade

Pint-sized Jade loves to wear her hair in big, bouncy curls – they seemed to get bigger every week.  We’re not complaining though, we love a bit of volume here at Love Hair Colour!  You can recreate Jade’s volume by massaging got2b POWDER’ful through your roots – instant oomph!  Get Jade’s dark purple hair colour using LIVE Color XXL Shake It Up Colour Foam in Violet Berry Burst for a gorgeously rich result.

So now we’ve got the Little Mix look perfected, can we join the group now? Please?

Who is your X factor 2011 style icon?  Tell us on the LIVE Salon Style facebook page or LIVE Color XXL facebook page

We’re BIG Rihanna fans over here at Love Hair Colour HQ, and we’re not the only ones judging by how many people ask us how to get Rihanna’s vibrant red hair (Real Red is our brightest red shade by the way!).

Only very recently did Rihanna ditch the red look in favour of brunette corkscrew curls, so imagine our surprise when we saw pictures of Rihanna sporting a golden blonde bob just a matter of weeks later!  Has the We Found Love singer ditched the red and brunette shades for good?

Well, not quite…

The pop princess wore a chin-length blonde wig while filming the music video for her new single, You Da One. Rihanna has experimented with caramel tones before, could this wig be a sign of her going even blonder next time she reaches for the hair dye?

It’s been a busy week for Rihanna as she filmed her new video and also discovered she has been nominated for Best Rap Collaboration, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for February’s Grammy Awards.  We’ve got our fingers crossed for you Rhi!

Do you think Rihanna should make her blonde barnet a permanent feature or do you prefer her trademark red hair colour?  Let us know on the LIVE Color XXL facebook page