Spring has officially arrived in New York, and Katie Holmes is leading the hair-color charge on the city streets. The actress debuted a stunning new bob this week—a departure from her signature long strands—and now we have the inside scoop on the color formula that’s making it a moment.
We caught up with Gina Gilbert, colorist at BENJAMIN Salon, who crafted Holmes’s new look from start to finish—based on her clear creative vision. “Katie wanted to go lighter and brighter for spring/summer, and with the new haircut, we wanted to enhance the look with sun-kissed pieces,” Gilbert tells us. “I decided to go with the honey-colored base to bring out her beautiful green eyes, and complemented that base with a beige/champagne tone baby light. It pairs perfectly with her skin tone.”
The result is a look Gilbert describes as “a dark honey blonde, with beige champagne highlights for contrast,” finished with a root melt to keep things “dimensional and seamless.”
The secret to achieving Holmes’s effortless, lived-in color, of course, relies heavily on the technique. Gilbert shares she did balayage, the freehand painting method beloved for its natural-looking results. “With Katie’s new bob, I wanted the color to complement the cut,” Gilbert explains. “I used the balayage technique and hand-painted all of the ends to make them lighter and brighter—a sun-kissed finish.”
Besides looking striking, Gilbert offers a big bonus attached to the new color: “The grow out maintenance will be easy, because of the root melt and dimension.”
