I Tried Gingerbread Latte Hair, and Now I'm a Spice Girl

I started out with some seriously faded, brassy hair that once was a beautiful medium-brown hue with ombré golden highlights. Since I had not had a trim or color appointment in about six months, it was definitely time to upgrade my hair, especially with the upcoming holiday festivities.

To embark on my new warm-hued, latte-haired journey, I turned to my trusted hairstylist Patrick Kyle at the Nexxus Salon in Tribeca. Not only is Patrick unbelievably kind, but he also does the locks of pop star Zara Larsson, which explains why her hair always looks gorgeous.

While I am anything but famous (or musically talented), Patrick has a way of making everyone who sits in his hair feel genuinely special and cared for. Despite being pretty neurotic about my hair, I completely trust this man with my locks. After showing him the coffee-inspired photos, we started our hair transformation.

I had already had my hair lightening from my last visit, using a technique Patrick calls "foilayage." This is like the popular balayage technique in which a lighter colored dye is painted on the hair to create gradual and natural-looking highlights. With foilayage, the hairstylist uses foils in addition to painting the hair, so he or she can better control how light the hair gets.

Since my hair was already lightened due to my past highlights, Patrick got right to dyeing my hair. He coated my hair with a mix of EQ Redken dye called Apricot 8WG Warm Gold and 5 Gold.

He worked the dye through my strands while I envisioned my new, moodier hair. Although the hair dye looks ultra orange in the photos, it's important for hair-dye newbies to know that the color of the dye is not the exact hue your hair will come out like.

After rinsing the color from my hair, Patrick introduced me to Nexxus's latest line, Keraphix, which will be available in January. It's designed specifically for hair damaged by heat, bleaching, and coloring. Using a protein blend that combines black rice extract with keratin, collagen, and elastin, the products restore elasticity to the hair and make your strands look healthy again. Considering my ends were starting to feel like straw, I welcomed this strengthening line into my life.

Patrick coated my hair in the Keraphix Damage Healing Hair Reconstructing Treatment ($15), which can be applied in the salon and at home. When utilized by a hairstylist in the salon, he or she blow-dries it into your hair to lock in the protein. At home, it can be easily used as a five-minute treatment before washing it out. Those with severely damaged hair can apply it up to once a week, but for my slightly bleached hair, Patrick recommended once a month. My strands are still silky soft almost a week later and after two washes, so I'm looking forward to adding this treatment to my routine.

After getting a quick cut and blowout, my mane was transformed from the former dead brassy brown to a deeper warm-brown hue reminiscent of coffee and gingerbread men.

The result of Patrick's work is a dark java hue with subtle auburn highlights that both looks natural and warms up my olive undertones. As I headed back to the office, I looked forward to the compliments on my new, festive hair color and felt like a totally new woman.

Even after the holidays are over, I'm going to keep celebrating my love of gingerbread latte hair for months to come.