For a long time, stars and their stylists have been a source of techniques to hide bad hair days, poor haircuts, and hair that is a little too dirty. Now there is a new trick to disguise those roots that have grown out just a bit too much…say it’s deliberate!! Cited as “ombré” hair color, the look can be achieved by both experienced and novice hair color users alike. Stars like Shenae Grimes, Erin Wasson, Alexa Chung, Lauren Conrad, Fergie, and many others have already adopted the style for it’s low maintenance and carefree look.

For those of us who already lighten our hair even a bit, the process is simple: let your hair grow out! You might want to enhance the effect a little while your hair grows by lightening the ends slightly. Lauren Conrad took it to extremes and bleached the ends of her hair, creating a gradation from a light brown to a baby blonde at the ends. For those with virgin hair or who want to achieve the look on color-enhanced hair, schedule an appointment with a colorist and ask for highlights beginning around ear length in order to achieve the desired gradation. The highlights should be a little staggered in order to make the color appear more natural.

Regardless of how you decide to achieve the look, you have to preserve the integrity of the colored hair so that the transition from natural color to processed color is seamless. Cleansing your hair should be done with a shampoo for colored hair, which are gentler upon fragile processed strands. Conditioning should be done with a rich, moisturizing conditioner with extra saturation towards the ends, where hair is driest. A restorative masque should also be used upon processed hair once a week to replace any moisture that is lost between conditionings. In addition, try to refrain from brushing hair when wet (a wide tooth comb is advised instead) and brush with a natural boar bristle brush, which is gentler upon strands and distributes natural oils more evenly. While this may seem like a lot, these simple steps will keep your new color silky and beautiful. {WhoWhatWear}

Above, the cover of Lauren Conrad's latest book, Style

The former The Hills cast member has also tried her hands on fashion designing. In 2007, Conrad designed her own clothing collection called the Lauren Conrad Collection, financed by MTV and Tangerine promotions. Subsequently, in the fall of 2009 she produced an exclusive line for departmental store Kohl’s, called LC Lauren Conrad.

Conrad’s growing list of achievements is indeed impressive. At only 24, the former reality television star, fashion designer and author has a good number of accomplishments under her belt – 2 fashion lines, 4 books and a burgeoning bank account. According to Forbes, Conrad is currently raking in a healthy income of $1.5 million annually.

Yet, looking past these statistics, we aren’t sure if she can be exactly considered a “success”. Sure, based solely on financial indicators, Conrad is certainly doing very well for herself. And though it’s easy to look at Conrad as another person who’s just famous for being famous, she does seem to be putting real effort into her endeavors.  But a look at the bigger picture suggests all is not as rosy as her bank account would suggest.

Last year, the New York Times reported that Conrad’s first fashion line – Lauren Conrad Collection, will be taking a hiatus until 2010 with hopes that the line will go overseas. According to LC (as she is sometimes affectionately referred to by fans) herself, she would like “to give it (Lauren Conrad Collection) a whole new feel,” before continuing, “but that requires us to take a few seasons off.” {New York Times}

Above, Lauren Conrad runway show

Conrad may like to refer to this break as an effort to take the collection away from public eye and improve it so that it comes back stronger. But this doesn’t remove the fact that the Lauren Conrad Collection was far from a spectacular success. Back then, fashion critics and fans alike complained that the line was overpriced. Casual dresses which were likely targeted towards her teen fan-base sold for upwards of $100. In a telephone interview, she admitted that the collection “wasnâ€t as accessible and affordable as I wanted it to be.” {New York Times}

So when news of her new book Lauren Conrad Style first broke out, we couldn’t help but wonder if Conrad is really the right person to turn to for style advice. She may have designed two clothing lines, but with celebrity fronted fashion labels, it’s often difficult to determine if the celebrities themselves do the designing, or merely just put their names up on a label while other people do the “dirty” work. Lauren Sherman over at Fashionista.com seems to think so too.

It may be premature for us to judge the book before it has even hit stores, so we’ll withhold a final verdict, but we can only applaud  Conrad’s determination to become more than just a reality television star.

Say what you will about her [less-than-impressive] runway shows, but the girl clearly has a sense of personal style, through which she emphasizes the importance of putting effort into dressing for yourself: a lesson which translates well to a broad audience.

Following on the heels of her lower-priced line for Kohl’s is Lauren Conrad Style, a book (with a fall 2010 release date) which will serve as a guide for everyday women who would like to emulate Conrad’s California-cool look.

We love that Conrad sees style as a personal investment, and her friendly accessibility is ideal for reaching out to women who want to be stylish yet are otherwise intimidated by the bells and whistles in the big scary world of fashion.

Read the full story {StyleWatch via People}