Opal Rainbow Hair Is the Dreamy Dye Trend You Need to Try

What happens when you mix the gray hair trend with rainbow color? Opal. Yes, the new trend in hair color pulls inspiration from the sea (which makes sense because #mermaidhair is a thing). An opal stone is a mix of pearl and iridescent pinks, blues, and purples. So of course, this paint job created by Aura Friedman at Sally Hershberger features metallics and pastels.

First, Aura lightens the hair to a pearl hue (the shade just before you reach gray). "It could either be prelightened to a platinum or pale yellow or it can be painted with heavy highlights and prelightened that way," she explained. Then after toner is applied, layers of color are added. The result is a washed-out version of the sand art look. "For me an opal or any iridescent color has these nuances of color with very subtle hints of the greens and the pinks," she said. "It's not a 'come and slap you in the face' kind of color."

Aura came up with the idea for opal years ago when she was experimenting with pastel colors. "Opal is my birth stone, and it's one of my favorite stones, so I started doing it on wigs a long time ago," she said. "I actually did one for Lady Gaga, but we ended up not using it." The key to getting this look is layering. The colors should look different from all angles — like an iridescent gemstone.

"[It] is not just one color. It's different colors from root to end and those different colors sit on top of other colors," she explained. "It reflects a different color every which way you look at it. If you tilt it one way you see more of the pink, and if you tilt it another way you see more of the green."

There are many different variations on the iridescent hair trend, from mother of pearl to oil slick. For the daring ladies who already went gray, it's an easy way to refresh your silver strands once they've gone yellow. Want the look? Keep scrolling for photo inspiration to give your colorist.