The latest hair colour trends for 2023 and how you can pull it off

Developed by make-up and hair artists, the signature Primience hair colour range incorporates S-hyaluronic acid – a highly moisturising agent that is found in high-end skincare products – to infuse your strands with hydration while enhancing the vibrancy of your hair colour.

Just as make-up formulas help enhance your skin’s radiance, this cream dye helps bring out your hair’s natural shine too. It contains an exclusive Duplex Penetration-Enhancing agent so that pigments penetrate deeper for more vibrant and longer-lasting colour.

The Ultist line offers a dazzling range of 50 colours with up to 13 levels of intensity to suit your hair type and personality. A neutral grey base controls the red and yellow undertones in Asian hair to achieve a truer colour.

Powered by Color-in-Core technology, dyes can penetrate deeper for a more solid shade, while preventing protein denaturation at the roots and creating a hydrophobic veil to help your hair bloom with brilliant colour.

To help you find your new start and best style in the Year of the Rabbit, check out these trendy hair creations by local hairstylists from Shiseido Professional’s Beauty Creators – an online community comprising top hairstylists from across Asia – inspired by the Autumn/Winter 2022 Collection Season Style Book. The stylists also share valuable tips on how you can own these looks in the New Year.

Featuring dimensional ombre colours with ash and beige that enhance Asian skin tones, stylist Denton Koh from District 19 employed the popular Airtouch Balayage Technique using colours from Ultist to create this feminine wavy style that is simple yet elegant. He recommends this no-fuss hairdo for “modern and busy women who are conservative but still crave something different”.

Denton’s Tip: Add more depth to your look by increasing the intensity of the lighter shades for greater differentiation.

For a dramatic entrance, go bold with a blunt cut and an eye-popping colour frame. Using Ultist Indigo Blue, Cyan and Clear colours, stylist Deslyn Koh, also from District 19, intentionally chose these cool shades without warm pigments. She used Shiseido Professional’s colour creams because “not only are they gentle on the scalp, but they can also be applied on damp hair after pre-lightening, which greatly speeds up the colouring process”.

Deslyn’s Tip: To adopt this hairstyle for a corporate setting (and not freak out your boss), you can tone down the loudness of the colour with strategically placed inner highlights.

Inspired by the wavy tentacles of a jellyfish, this cute cut with blunt bangs features slightly tilted ends to add texture and volume to a short style that’s suitable for the office. For a sweet and soft look, stylist Gene Niu from You Are My Sunshine used Primience Pink for the bangs while applying Ultist Creamy Peach all over to bring out the pink. Meanwhile, a dark base is added to the hair tips for contrast.

Gene’s Tip: Maintain vivid colours with a leave-in hair treatment like Shiseido Professional’s Sublimic Wonder Shield, as it helps to keep hair UV-proof while extending the life of the hair colour.

Using the air-touch technique (which utilises air instead of the traditional teasing and backcombing) to achieve a seamless blend of colours, this flowy mane of waves features cool lights melting into a dark base. The contrast enhances texture and movement for a more voluminous look. Stylist John Wong from Miracle Hair Studio used Charcoal Grey from Ultist. “It can fade from grey-ish tones towards nice beige hues, which go really well with Asian skin tones,” he says. “This technique also allows us to keep 60 to 70 per cent of one’s natural base colour, so your hair won’t look too colourful for the office.”

John’s Tip: Apply a hair mask at least once a week. It not only helps to nourish chemically treated hair but also improves the absorption of colour at your next appointment.

Designed for someone who’s playful and confident, this colourful look is a refreshing study of creative contrasts. Inspired by Japan’s autumn and winter scenery, stylist Kenzo How from Revival Hair Gallery combines pink and green tones to emulate the hues of leaves on trees while expressing the connection between land and sunlight. “I hope to bring a sense of freshness with each of my creations,” he says.

Kenzo’s Tip: Before deciding on colours and styles, talk with your hairstylist to make sure you are both on the same page about how open or conservative you are about trends and colors.

Marrying both a strong and soft look, this flashy blonde mix of curls and straight hair lets you unleash your creative side. Using yellow dip dye from Primience to make a dynamic splash, Blonde & Pastel’s stylist Richard Tan designed this funky hairstyle for someone who works in the creative industry.

Richard’s Tip: For a sharper and leaner look, add layers to the hair on each side to lengthen your face.

This sassy style features chunky ash-grey highlights on the hair ends with deep blue at its roots. This bold combination using Ultist colours creates depth, texture and movement with a choppy effect. Stylist Sean Ng from Maxx Salon says that a striking style like this would suit someone with an artistic edge about them or someone in corporate management who has a strong personality.

Sean’s Tip: Blue hair looks great on all skin tones and can even help enhance the eyes. For post-colour care, he recommends the colour shampoo and treatment from the Shiseido Professional Sublimic Luminoforce range that helps repair coarse strands, followed by the Sublimic Wonder Shield.

Shiseido Professional hair colours Primience and Ultist are available exclusively at Shiseido partner salons. To find a salon near you, visit www.shiseido-professional.com/en-SG.

To keep up with the latest hair trends, follow Shiseido Professional’s Instagram page.

Photography: Ruiliang Ong
Makeup: Ginger Lynette
Fashion styling: Keith Png
All outfits are from Urban Revivo, except the outfit for “Long Layers Ombre”, which is from Pinko and Bluebell Singapore.