Good Housekeeping March 22, 2021

Good Housekeeping

Hair

25 Stylish New Summer Hair Colors You Have to Try This Season

Whether you're a blonde, brunette, or redhead, your new summer shade isn't far off.

The days of laying out in the sun with some lemon juice spritzed on your head may be long over (which your hair thanks you for, by the way), but the urge to get a fun, new hair color for the summer never goes away. Whether you're hoping to get a salon-level dye job at home or go in for a professional coloring, summer is the perfect season to go out of your comfort zone and try something new. So for all of the blondes, brunettes, and redheads out there — these new summer hair colors will get you in the mood for sunshine, warmer weather and long nights. As for finding the right products to treat your color-treated hair, check out the Good Housekeeping Institute's recommendations for the best shampoos and conditioners.

"Twilighting"

This celeb-beloved style adds warm, golden highlights to the ends of naturally brown hair. Hair stylist Karissa Schaudt calls it "twilighting," and Jennifer Garner pulls off the look seamlessly.

Brick Red

Red hair will reign this summer. Take a page out of SZA's book and go for an all-over cinnamon shade. These warm tones are perfect to match the climbing temperature.

Money Piece Highlights

From vibrant, daring face-framing pieces like FKA Twigs to more subtle blonde shades, money piece highlights are all the rage. This hair color trend is when two face-framing pieces on either side are highlighted to accentuate your features.

Chunky Honey-Toned Highlights

This summer, chunkier highlights that blend seamlessly into the rest of your hair (like Beyoncé's)are a great way to lighten up your style. Keep your roots dark to make this look ultra low-maintenance.

Hazelnut Brown Hair

While Taylor Swift is known for being blonde, recently, she's ditched lightened locks for a more earthy brunette tone. Hazelnut hair, or brunette hair that veers blonde, will be everywhere this summer since the color is so versatile.

Multi-Dimensional Jet Black

Inky black hair takes on new life this season with tons of dimension and gloss. It's easier than it seems for black hair to fall flat, and this look does the exact opposite — H.E.R.'s long, midnight locks are the star of the show.

Soft Buttery Blonde

This summer, it's all about soft styles that accentuate your natural features. A shiny, buttercream blonde like Anya Taylor-Joy looks sweet and feminine but maintains sophistication.

Cool Brunette

Keep your brunette hair color cool-toned like Rosie Perez. This color looks natural, but lighter brunette tones add tons of dimension to create contrast.

Dark Purple

For a long time, the only way to recreate Nicole Richie's striking violet hair is by first bleaching away your natural color. But now color depositing conditioner like Overtone can give you bright color on dark natural hair — if only for a few washes.

Dark and Glossy

Light for the summer? Not always — a shiny, almost-black color like Mila Kunis' looks healthy and natural in the summer. If you're dyeing your hair at home, stay within the two shades rule — for a natural look, don't go more than two shades darker or lighter than your natural color.

Deep Auburn

You don't have to be born with red hair to rock with crimson shade. Zendaya's dark burgundy is the perfect way for those with olive skin tones to try out red hair.

Barely-There Babylights

Jessica Alba's subtle, caramel highlight are a great way to lighting up your hair, without straying too far from your natural color. For natural, subtle highlights like these, ask your colorists for "babylights" (or achieve the look at home with the help of YouTube tutorials).

Two-Toned Hair

Bleach blonde at the top, dark brown at the bottom — Dua Lipa is serving major hair inspiration. Giving the bleaching aspect of this trendy look, we'd save this one for the professionals. As after any hair bleaching, be sure to deep condition and apply hair masks afterwards to keep your hair from drying out.

Sandy Blonde

The Crown's Olivia Colman gives us a crash course on how to lighten up gracefully. Subtle brown lowlights give Olivia's platinum pixie some natural dimension.

Chocolate Highlights

While most highlights you see are blonde and caramel, those aren't your only options. In fact, some cool-toned, chocolate brown lights on dark brown or black hair add some dimension to your hair without looking unnatural. Take Padma Lakshmi's multi-tonal tresses as a shining example.

Dark Honey

Blondes tend to go blonder in the summer — but hang on before you grab the bleach. A rich, honey shade like this one can add warmth to your complexion, like this style Toni Collette has. For this look, ask your colorist for "honeyed highlights."

Copper Brown

Falling somewhere between chestnut and true red, Zoey Deutch's coppery auburn shade is a great way for brunettes of any complexion to change up their hair without straying too far from their natural shade. To achieve this look at home, try a few washes of Overtone's Ginger Coloring Conditioner on hair that is not already color treated.

Dirty Blonde

Rachel Brosnahan may be known for the dark, raven locks she sports as Midge on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but she's naturally a blonde! This dirty blonde shade looks just as natural as the dark brown we're used to seeing on her because it provides contrast against her ivory skin tone — girls going blonde, take note: platinum isn't always the way to go.

Vibrant Red

"Summer is all about bright and vibrant colors!" says celebrity stylist and #Mydentity founder Guy Tang. He thinks bold yellows and fiery reds will start popping up, but if you want something more understated, try to match Madelaine Petsch's red hair.

Bright Blonde

Carrie Underwood's ACM Awards style is making us want summer to start now. "As spring and summer get closer, people are going to lighten the colors they have now by a few shades," says Danielle Lint, expert colorist at Warren Tricomi Salons. "We'll be seeing bright blondes with baby highlights."

Ombré

Lauren Conrad knows a thing or two about maintaining fresh and flirty locks — and this dramatic look is just that. If a total platinum look is too bold for you, then try Conrad's version with a brunette to blonde gradient.

Dark Roots

If you're a natural brunette like Ashley Tisdale (yep, she went blonde for High School Musical!), you can still lighten your locks without bleaching your hair. A subtle gradient, like Tisdale's, will give you a summer-friendly buttery blonde while still staying true to your natural roots (literally).

Caramel

If you want to take your brown locks up a few notches without going for a complete overhaul, add subtle caramel highlights like Chrissy Teigen. But don't worry about maintenance: You can use a scarf, bandana, or wide headband to cover overgrown roots.

Rose Gold

All that glitters is actually rose gold. Lean into the latest color trend by adding subtle rosy hues into your blonde hair for a fun summer look, inspired by model Iskra Lawrence.

Bronde

Perfect for women with naturally dark hair who want some levity, this "bronde" style softens a dark base with honey tones (look at Halle Berry!). If done correctly, this hair looks sunkissed and natural — and isn't that what summer hair is really all about?

Neutral Blonde

See how Nicole Kidman's hair and skin tone seem to blend together? It's not an optical illusion — that's the effect of neutral or nude hair.

Blorange

Not quite blonde, not quite tangerine, "blorange" is a pared down way to transition into a rainbow hair style. Plus, it's essentially the color of sunshine, making it the ideal summertime shade. Emma Stone matches the shade to her eye makeup.

Babylights

If you kind of want a change but are weary of the upkeep, babylights are the solution. Think of them as micro-brighteners: They are thin, strategically placed highlights just a shade or two lighter than your natural color. Reese Witherspoon's babylights look effortless.

Strawberry Blonde

Most accessible on the orange spectrum is strawberry blonde, a forever summer favorite. If you're a natural redhead like Amy Adams, a round of blonde hand-painted highlights makes it look as if you're wearing a halo.

Pearlescent

Inspired by the shimmering neutral shades of the ocean's prettiest jewel, pearlescent hair (a.k.a. opalescent hair) is a cool style that works for virtually any shade of blonde. Be prepared for some extra time in your colorist's chair, though — they have to strip the hair of warmth to get to Michelle Williams' level.


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