With social feeds spiraling into full-blown ’90s nostalgia fueled by Ryan Murphy’s buzzy series “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” — style choices of the late It Couple are trending hard.
Among them is “Bessette blonde,” the luminous, buttery hue rocked by the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in the 90s, the work of renowned color master Brad Johns.
Bessette-Kennedy, whose natural hair was light brown, went through two notable haircolor iterations during her time in the public spotlight: a warm golden beach blonde with chunky highlights, and later a sophisticated, high-maintenance bright cream.
Celebrity colorist and Schwarzkopf Professional ambassador Kari Hill holds the key to both — or at least, to the way she interpreted both for "Love Story" actress Sarah Pidgeon. Hill was tasked with transforming Pidgeon's hair for her role as the late fashion publicist and style icon in Murphy’s dramatized series.
Hill lightened and brightened Pidgeon's natural brunette locks with a technique she calls “Foiled Cashmere,” an update on ’90s blonding. It’s built on precision foiling for maximum brightness, plus bespoke gradient toning for seamless dimension and a rich finish.
The technique's foiling method mimics the tight weave associated with high-quality cashmere. Tidy precision foils are applied in a 4x4 pattern: horizontal, vertical, diagonal back, and diagonal front. Hill uses Schwarzkopf Professional’s BLONDME Premium Lightener 9+ and IGORA VIBRANCE toner.
Foiled Cashmere is a modern approach to Bessette-Kennedy’s original blonde looks, which “relied on classic hair foiling techniques,” the brand says, “not the ‘lived-in’ hair aesthetic, which has dominated our modern culture.”
Schwarzkopf is offering an official masterclass and certification on Foiled Cashmere through its free E-Academy program. It’s broken into three 30-minute modules: 1) Precision Foiling with Kari Hill, 2) Custom Toning with Kari Hill, and 3) ’90s Blowout with Tracey Cunningham.