The Ultimate Guide to Picking the Right Shade of Blond For You

This icy hue is the lightest on the blond spectrum and may take the most work to maintain, but it pops in photos.

The Tip: “That Swedish white blond is still one of the hottest trends for blondes this season. I love that iridescent shade as seen on Poppy Delevingne,” says Paul Edmunds colorist Jack Howard.

The Technique: If you’re going for a cool tone, avoid using the word “ash” or “ashy,” notes Suite Caroline owner Lena Ott. “When people emphasize ashiness, what I see is that their colorist is overtoning them and they don’t feel blond enough.” She recommends using “cool blond” terminology instead.

Howard says the quickest way to determine whether you prefer a warm vs. cool tone is to see what kind of jewelry you like. “If you prefer silver, then you’re going to prefer cool or neutral tones, and if you like gold, generally you’ll prefer warmer tones,” he says.

The hue is not nearly as light as platinum but more buttery than white, and it looks great on everyone from Kate Hudson to Ciara. It adds a sunny brightness without the constant maintenance of white-blond.

The Tip: “To refresh the golden tones and overall sheen and luster of your honey-blond hair, I recommend returning to the salon for monthly glosses in between highlight appointments,” Kelly Lin, cofounder and hair colorist at Salon SCK in New York City, previously told POPSUGAR.

This warm color, as shown on Beyoncé, works well on natural brunettes or darker blonds who want to keep color appointments to a minimum of every six weeks.

The Technique: Golden blond looks fantastic when created via balayage, and you can pop the ends a bit more for a more natural effect. Sally Hershberger colorist Dana Ionato creates a natural look by painting a “V” shape on the hair in small sections. She explains her technique of “working my way up from the nape of the neck toward the front of the head, working with the shape of the head.” This leaves a chevron-shaped piece of base color at the root, lightening gradually toward the bottoms. She leaves sections in between each highlighted piece to avoid saturation.

This natural-looking hue, as seen on Gisele Bündchen, incorporates dark blond, brown, and lighter blond shades intermingled for a natural, beachy effect. “I’ve found that most celebrities sporting ‘bronde’ are within two shades of their natural color,” Howard says.

The Tip: With this shade, nomenclature is something to keep in mind. Says Ionato, “Bronde can be a dark blond with few blond highlights, or a brunette with a ton of blond highlights.” Make sure to communicate whether you want to be described as a blonde or a brunette if this is your shade of choice.

If you are blond but have a desire to go red, then there may be a solution. A strawberry blond, like Jessica Chastain’s color, blends the two hues flawlessly and is a great “training red” to find out how you’ll look in the shade.

The Tip: Strawberry blond is very popular, but it can be tricky to nail down the exact shade you’re looking for verbally. Ionato suggests bringing at least two photos with you to your appointment and being careful with your word usage to ensure you get the hue you want.

The deeper blond hue treads the line between warm and cool, featuring faceted tones of light and dark.

The Technique: Colorist Rona O’Connor says to usher in some sunshine by either softening the overall color by lifting it one shade from roots to ends to bring out the natural warm undertones, or your colorist can balayage the crown with simulated sun streaks to give the look of sun-kissed hair. “I usually do this with my favorite go-to blonding cream by Goldwell instead of bleach for a softer, natural look,” she says.

Ciara’s slightly deeper blond hair echoes sea sand with lighter and darker tones woven throughout. It is typically created by blending a base color with highlights.

The Tip: When going any shade of blond, you want to tell your colorist about your maintenance plan. “You don’t want to use any shampoos with tints and tones on your own because it could drastically ruin what you have,” Ionato says. She likes to make custom conditioners for her clients infused with hints of shades they’ve already got in their locks. “That way I can prescribe to them the best way to achieve and keep that love going for long periods of time,” she says.