Cloud Dancer: How to achieve 2026’s colour of the year
Cloud Dancer: How to achieve 2026’s colour of the year
A lot of the hairdressers we talk to are seeing a clear shift in what clients are asking for. Loud statements are giving way to softer, more intentional transformations. Enter Cloud Dancer, a colour shade that perfectly captures the collective desire to slow down, reset, and reconnect with understated beauty. According to Jane Wanniaratchy our Head of Education, Cloud Dancer, 2026’s colour of the year reflects the ongoing quiet luxury movement. Reinterpreted as a platinum blonde, it’s refined, wearable and timeless, offering calm confidence rather than high-impact drama. This is colour that enhances the hair rather than dominating it, ideal for clients craving elegance with ease.
How are hair professionals embracing Cloud Dancer?
Cloud Dancer is a diffused off-white blonde, softened with pearl and beige undertones. Its strength lies in versatility. Think micro-highlights, soft babylights, or a veil of brightness through mid-lengths and ends. By adjusting warmth or coolness with hair toners and glosses, the shade can feel light and airy in spring and summer, then richer and more cocooning through autumn and winter. Sheer, buildable placement allows stylists to refresh the look seasonally without committing to a full recolour.
Making Cloud Dancer Work for Every Client
Not every client wants a full transformation, and Cloud Dancer works beautifully as an accent. Subtle face-framing pieces, money pieces, or fine internal highlights introduce the trend without over-commitment. On darker bases, a softer lift blended with natural tones keeps the result bespoke and flattering, never stark.
A New Take on Grey Blending
Cloud Dancer is also ideal for modern grey blending. Instead of masking greys, it works with them, diffusing contrast and creating a seamless, luminous finish. Pearl and ash-beige tones soften regrowth and turn grey coverage into a deliberate design feature, empowering clients to embrace their natural evolution.
Elevating Existing Blonde Trends
Already working with Scandi or champagne blondes? Cloud Dancer enhances both. Used as a toner overlay, it refines brightness, softens edges and adds an ethereal finish. For champagne blondes, it lightens the look without stripping warmth, striking the perfect balance.
Product Recommendations
To achieve and maintain Cloud Dancer tones, Jane recommends sheer, high-shine blondes and pearl-based shades that allow precise customisation without over-pigmenting. Here are her favourites to achieve this shade:
Pair with professional glossing and bond-supporting products such as purple shampoo and toning conditioners such as the Olaplex blonde range to ensure longevity, shine and hair health, essential when working with pale, luxury blondes. Her favourites to maintain this glossy shade are:
