August 16, 2006 ‹‹ back

What the well-tressed woman is wearing
"Paneling" with multiple colors give a multidimensional look.

This fall's tresses include the usual warm-hued suspects: copper, honey brown, strawberry blond, and brandy red.

But what you may not know is that a combination of these colors in the hair - sometimes on one strand - is what's giving layered locks a rich, multidimensional look a la singer Mary J. Blige or actress Sarah Jessica Parker.

"It's called paneling." says Wendy Weinstein, owner of Ground Zero South on Philadelphia's East Passyunk Avenue. "It's not about the bling-bling shock of one color, but rather it's taking the hair and gradually putting in panels of different colors that blend in with the natural color."

Bye-bye, streak cap.

Unlike many techniques, this one - which requires aluminum foil, a knowledge of how color blends into a haircut, two hours, and between $85 and $200 - is done in salons that cater to folks of all ethnicities.

Stylists say it's not the grade of hair that matters, but the haircut. Unlike the old days, when one colorwas streaked throughout the scalp, panels of up to three colors are added near parts and in between layers, so highlights are accented when the hair frames or are minimized when it's pulled back.

"It depends on the person," says Nyree Ellison, owner of Imago Salon in Ardmore. "I don't do any of my customers the same. I all depends on their haircut and their look.