Huffington Post: Gina Rivera on Men vs. Womans hair at Choice Awards

Just as I thought, the women on the red carpet at the Country Music Association Awards went with subtle, soft colors and natural layering. Carrie Underwood was beautifully emblematic of this strong trend with her baby blonde locks and big, open waves.

But the men… wow! This is where the action and variety were at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Chase Bryant was rockin’ his mohawk. Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line was working a great David Bowie look. Lots of guys had great beards, namely Keifer Thompson of Thompson Square, Chris Young, and John Carter Cash.

Of course, at the CMAs, guys wore cowboy hats, including Garth Brooks, Clay Walker, and Dustin Lynch. Granger Smith and Kane Brown donned baseball-style caps.

The men seemed to make more of a statement with hair than the women this year with more variety and looks, long hair, short hair, mohawks and classic cuts, too. Steve Martin showed us again how great gray hair can look on a guy.

The women’s hair was gorgeous, but we’re still waiting for a big shift in trends. There were so many blondes at this event, including Jewel and Kellie Pickler. Jewel and Underwood wore their blonde color with a dark base. Miranda Lambert wore hers with some fuchsia-blush on the ends, very subtle, soft blending.

Karen Fairchild and Kacey Musgraves were among the dark brunettes, very nearly single tone coloring, a bold, beautiful look.

What so many had in common was the single-tone coloring or coloring with very subtle highlights and transitions. What I wasn’t expecting was an ombre, but young singer Danielle Bradbery pulled it off beautifully, brunette to blonde ends, with a pretty dramatic transition at the shoulders.

I love to watch the hair at the CMAs because these styles often become trendsetters. The CMAs come in the fall, right as the Holiday season is getting started, a time when we’re naturally transitioning to fall-winter colors and we see a lot of new strong trends emerge.

Cheers to the cowboys and cowgirls! As always, be open to change.