Mushroom Magic

When it comes to sitting in the colourist’s chair, we’re pretty used to using deliciously edible connotations – like chocolate, caramel, honey and espresso – for highlights and tones. But the latest trend is for something a whole lot more… earthy. Enter mushroom hair. We spoke to senior stylist Ellie Finlay, at award-winning salon group Medusa, to find out more.

This is a really exciting trend in hair colouring and something fresh for the autumn. Mushroom hair colour is from the brown palette that, funnily enough, resembles the colours of different varieties of fungi. 

It sits on the neutral or cooler side of the shade spectrum and incorporates creamy and ashy tones that give gorgeous depth and dimension. Those with warmer skin tones and eye colour really suit this trend, and these are the factors we take into consideration when deciding which route we go down for each client.

On-trend brunettes are looking to achieve earthy, ashy tones as opposed to the rich warmer hues we’ve been seeing for the past few years. Mushroom brown is effortlessly lived-in and incredibly chic. I also recommend this shade to clients who are considering embracing their grey. It’s a great stepping stone as we introduce lighter, cooler-toned segments.

But blondes can absolutely play too. This is perfectly illustrated by Hailey Bieber’s ascent to fully fledged style icon. Her California-highlighted mane was traded in for a mushroom brown base, and beautifully blended light brown and dark blonde sections through to her light-blonde tipped ends, gaining her instant fashion points.

While this is a grown-out look, and can go without touch-ups for up to six months – making it lower maintenance in terms of salon time – keeping brassiness at bay will require some effort to keep that dream cool-toned shade.