There may still be a chill in the air, but there’s a clear forecast for spring hair: It’s coming undone. As relaxed silhouettes, bright colors and textured lightweight fabrics paraded down the New York fashion runways, hairstyles also unwound -- think the disheveled glamour of Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively and Sienna Miller. 

“This spring, you’re perfect in a cool pair of jeans, a simple shirt and a beautiful jacket,” says Jeanne Yang, who styles the likes of Keanu Reeves and Katie Holmes, with whom she also designs the fashion line Holmes & Yang. “Your hair should have the same vibe -- like you’re pulled together, but not trying too hard. Nobody wants to look like they’ve just sat in a salon for an hour.”

Hair is getting shorter, cut in long layers just below the collarbone or at the shoulders. Beverly Hills stylist Byron Williams, who tends to the tresses of Selena Gomez and Eva Mendes, has been chopping flowing hair to 2 inches below the collar bone for an “edgier, fresher” take on surfer-girl sexy. Still, says, Lori Morris, senior editor of American Salon magazine, “There’s no big haircut of the season. Curls are relaxed and wild, and ponytails are loose and messy, as if you’ve just played tennis for an hour.” Jamal Hamadi, a favorite stylist of Kirsten Dunst, says come spring he’ll start with a shoulder-length cut that has jagged ends for more natural texture. “You want to look like a messy child,” he says.

Want to get a jump on spring hair? Here’s how to achieve what will be the season’s big four hair trends: 

1. Loose Waves
For this surfer-girl look, start with day-old hair that has some texture and body to it. Dampen your wavy locks with a texturizing spray, then scrunch random pieces while you blow-dry with a diffuser. If your hair is straight, wrap 3-inch chunks around a large-barreled curling iron. Finish with a light-hold hair spray.

2. Messy Braids
The look: braids with attitude. Spritz hair with a texturing spray, then part to the side, letting loose strands fall around the face. Gather hair into a slightly-off-to-one-side ponytail. Braid loosely and secure with an elastic band. Cover the band by winding strands of hair around it. Fasten stray strands with a bobby pin.

3. Textured Ponytails
The ponytails that bobbed down the spring runways were a bit less sleek than usual. With the tails textured and a little bit wild, they were a fetching mix of control and chaos. To get this new hair trend, smooth your hair with a dab of gel, and then brush it into a high ponytail. To texturize the tail, flat-iron hair and then mist it with sea-salt spray. Pull clumps apart for that cool, unkempt, out-at-the-club-till-4 a.m. look.

4. Hot-rollered Hair
For sexy tousled waves, wind haphazard sections of your hair into hot rollers. Leave in for five minutes, then remove and fluff the curls with your hands. If the waves are too voluminous, lightly brush. Place a dab of shine cream onto your palms and work onto the surface of your hair, then mist with a light-hold spray. “I wore hot rollers in my hair as I drove to a wedding,” says Yang. “When I got there, I pulled them out and headed to the party. Everyone kept telling me my hair looked fabulous -- little did they know I’d just styled it in my car!”

When it comes to embracing beauty trends, hair color is a tricky one. After all, few of us would undergo a drastic change in color just to make a fashion statement. Fortunately, you don’t need to go Lady Gaga platinum to feel current and fresh.

British celebrity colorist Louise Galvin explains how it’s done. “Good hair color should always enhance skin tone and eye color,” she says. “That means staying within two shades -- darker or lighter -- of your natural base. For example, Emily Blunt and Keira Knightley are classic English beauties who never move too far from their own color, but instead change the tone throughout the year, going lighter and brighter through the summer and then richer in fall and winter. Another example is Jennifer Aniston. Her color is always spot-on, moving from deep caramel tones in winter to honey in spring and summer, but always staying within the boundaries of her natural base.”

Here, the top hair color trends for 2011, from London to Los Angeles:

Warm Color
Just say no to ashy blond or beige-blond shades, which can make the skin look dull and gray. “Cold colors like that are not flattering to the face, especially on winter-pale skin,” says Lea Journo, owner of The Lea Journo Salon in Beverly Hills, which attracts A-listers such as Brad Pitt, Sienna Miller and Kate Bosworth. Instead, go for warmer tones: If you normally wear bright blond highlights, take them down to golden. Red hair is still on trend for 2011, but will be richer and warmer, in the strawberry or auburn family. As for brunettes, check out Journo’s client Katie Cassidy of Gossip Girl. “We gave her warm-honey highlights and lowlights that stay within the brown family, but are still lustrous and multi-tonal,” Journo says.

Hand-painted Highlights
Skinny streaks are out. What’s in: chunky highlights that vary in size and in depth of brightness, depending on where they’re placed on the scalp. It’s a look best created by a method known as balliage -- painting color directly on the hair instead of using traditional foils.

“After the client’s hair is cut, I ask her to show me how she wears it every day, how she moves with it, how she puts it up,” says Journo. “This helps me design where the lowlights and highlights should go. Since I don’t want a thick chunk of blond at the roots, I use a paintbrush to sketch the color on softly and then gradually widen the streak as I go down the hair. The strength of the color also changes, becoming brighter on the ends.” This technique is shown to best advantage on her client Ellen DeGeneres, “whose highlights and lowlights are bright and shiny and full of dimension, thanks to balliage. We could never achieve that look with foils.”

High-shine Hair
Forget the matte grunge look; lustrous, light-reflective locks that show off your multidimensional color will feel more chic in 2011. Galvin says you can achieve this glossy finish by tweaking your hair care habits. “Apply your conditioner or deep treatment liberally to the mid-lengths and ends, skipping the roots,” she suggests. “Massage it through using your fingers -- not a comb -- and allow the product to penetrate the hair for as long as you can. When you’re ready to rinse, apply a little water to loosen the product, and then begin combing it out, starting from the ends and gently teasing out any tangles while you work up to the root. Once you’ve combed it through, rinse.”

While this system takes a little longer, treating your hair as gently as you treat your skin will leave it nourished and moisturized -- plus it will keep your hair looking shiny and healthy.

Photo Credit: Getty Images