Hair Color
Canada’s own Celine Dion has been a beauty and fashion icon for three decades. From wearing a backwards white tuxedo blazer to the 1999 Academy Awards to donning a gold brocade suit during her Vegas residency, she has become a symbol of strong, feminine style. When it comes to her mane, Dion has tried everything from dark brown hair to a platinum pixie, but in recent years she has settled on a flattering shade of caramel—the perfect middle ground between her natural dark brown hair and an eye-catching blond.
Her secret? She uses L’Oréal Paris hair colour, naturally. Her product of choice is L’Oréal Paris Excellence Crème, a permanent hair dye that covers 100% of stubborn greys and promises rich, natural colour. The formula is non-drip, which means you won’t have to clean your floor after your monthly hair colouring sesh. It also features a triple-care system that primes your hair so you’ll get a gentle application and even coverage every single time. L’Oréal Paris Excellence Crème comes in over 35 shades ranging from light cherry auburn to ultra-light ash blond, which means it’s got you covered for whatever hair colour ideas pop into your head. And if you want Dion’s look, go for her exact shade: D7. It’s a medium-dark-brown hue that suits a wide variety of complexions and is in line with the hair colour trends for 2019—many of which are utterly natural but better.
The tool kit
1. One or two boxes of L’Oréal Paris Excellence Crème. If you have long hair, always have two boxes on hand just in case.
2. A towel and clip
3. Cream or petroleum jelly
Celine Dion’s hair colour at home: A step-by-step guide
You’re all set to get Celine Dion’s personal shade in your very own bathroom. Leave an hour or two free in your schedule for prep, colour processing, washing and drying.
1. Prep your hair and skin: Start off by brushing through your hair to get rid of any knots or tangles. It’s also a good idea to apply a small amount of the conditioner that comes in the box along your hairline around your ears, neck and temple to prevent staining your skin and to stop the dye from dripping.
2. Protect your clothes: Clip a towel around your shoulders to protect your clothes. Better safe than sorry!
3. Mix your colour: Put on your gloves to protect your hands from staining. Take the tip off the Developer Crème and remove the applicator cap. Next, pierce the opening of the Colour Crème tube with its cap and squeeze all of the contents into the Developer Crème bottle. Put the cap back on the Developer Crème and, with your gloved finger over the open tip, shake the bottle.
4. Apply the pre-colour serum to your ends: Dry, damaged ends are more prone to breakage and tend to absorb more hair dye than healthy roots do. By massaging the pre-colour serum into your ends, you’ll protect them and ensure even coverage. Once you’ve applied the serum to your ends, wait two minutes before moving on to the next step. Do not rinse.
5. Start with your roots: Using your mixed bottle of hair dye, begin applying colour to your roots and massaging it into the strands. It often works best to start at your part and move outward until you’ve covered your entire head at the roots.
6. Process the roots: Leave the hair dye on your roots for 20 minutes. If you have stubborn greys that are resistant to colour, you can leave it on for an extra 10 minutes.
7. Pull the colour through: Now you can apply colour to the rest of your mane. Be sure to saturate every section of hair, and don’t miss any spots; check with a handheld mirror if you can’t tell. By pulling the dye through, you’ll refresh the rest of your hair and ensure that it’s even. Leave it set for another 10 minutes.
8. Rinse and protect: Fully rinse your hair in the shower, sink or tub to remove all of the hair dye and then apply the protective conditioning treatment. Leave it on for two or three minutes, rinse and then gently towel-dry your hair.
9. Style as usual: Just remember to apply a heat spray or cream like L’Oréal Paris Stylista #Blowdry Heat Protective Primer to your strands before blow-drying, curling or straightening to protect your colour.
You’ve now achieved salon-level caramel-brown hair—in Celine Dion’s personal shade, no less—at home. To keep your colour looking fresh, wear a hat in the sun and repeat the process when your roots become noticeable—likely every four to six weeks if you have visible greys.