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There are so many gorgeous shades of blonde to choose from! From white and platinum blonde to dark butterscotch and ash blonde, you can create tons of different looks with these shades. See which blonde color best suits you and get some color ideas in our jam-packed guide!
How Many Shades of Blonde Are There?
- There are lots of shades of blonde with 15 core shades
- Choose from warm, cool, or neutral blonde shades
- Pick light, medium, or dark blondes to suit your skin tone
If you tried to number all of the shades of blonde, you’d be busy for a long time. From subtle tweaks to the undertones in blonde shades to taking the color level lighter or darker, there are literally hundreds of blonde shades out there.
But out of the wide variety of blondes, there are 15 core shades that seem to top everyone’s list. These basic shades are beautiful to wear all-over or as part of a trendy balayage, ombre, or highlight look.
From the lightest white platinum blonde to the darkest ash blonde, you’ll find that there’s a perfect color for your skin tone and undertones. You just have to know what color elements to look for!
Which Shades of Blonde Work for Different Skin Tones?
Shades of blonde are usually divided in two ways: Color temperature and color depth. Viewing blonde colors this way will help you decide which shades are going to work well with your skin tone and undertones.
First, we look at shades of blonde by their color temperature – warm, cool, or neutral. This tells you which undertones are dominant in a specific blonde shade, like golden, bronze, or ash.
The idea is that shades that match your skin’s undertone (which can also be warm, cool, or neutral) are going to look the most natural and flattering with your complexion. So warm undertones in your skin indicate you’d look great with warm blonde shades, like golden, strawberry, and caramel blondes.
Likewise, cool undertones in your skin tell you that cool blonde shades, like icy platinum, silvery ash, and pearly champagne, are your best match. Neutral undertones are lucky and can wear both warm and cool blonde shades!
Second, we look at shades of blonde by their color depth. Light blonde hair color (level 9-10) has a completely different look and feel than medium blonde (level 7-8) or rich, dark blondes (level 6-7).
The depth of your blonde shade generally tells you how well the color will work with your skin tone (light, medium, or deep) and how high- or low-maintenance the color will be.
Typically, lighter blonde shades look most natural with fair/light skin tones. Medium skin tones can wear light to dark blondes, while deep skin tones look best in medium to dark blondes.
Since dark blonde shades don’t create as much contrast with your natural hair color as your roots grow in, they’re a lot lower maintenance than light blondes. This is a great thing to keep in mind if you’re trying to keep salon visits to a minimum!
15 Shades of Blonde for Every Skin Tone
It doesn’t matter if your undertones are warm, cool, or neutral. Your skin tone can be light, medium, or deep. There are several shades of blonde that work for all skin tones and undertones!
Check out 15 basic shades of blonde for all skin tones below. You’ll see how versatile and varied blonde colors are!
1. Cool-Neutral White Platinum Blonde
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White platinum blonde is a very cool-toned blonde that borders on neutral because it’s so close to true white. This high-maintenance shade suits skin with cool and neutral undertones, but warm-toned skin can make it work in an ombre or balayage color.
2. Cool-Neutral Champagne Blonde
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Champagne is bubbly and so is this shade of blonde! Cool and neutral skin tones can rock this color with confidence since it has an overall cool tone with a little warmth in the mix to make it neutral. This is a light blonde shade, so your stylist will apply toner to your hair once it’s lifted to level 10.
3. Warm Pearly Light Golden Blonde
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If you have warm undertones and love a lighter blonde look, you really can’t beat pearly golden blonde! This warm shade has just a hint of that shimmering golden undertone with a very light level 10 blonde base. It’s high maintenance for sure, but so worth it!
4. Cool Light Silver Blonde
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Silver is a very cool undertone. Add it to lighter shades of blonde for a gorgeously cool-toned look that makes skin with a pinkish or bluish undertone look flawless. Like other light shades of blonde, this is a high-maintenance color that needs frequent touch-ups.
5. Cool Light Ash Blonde
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This light ash blonde balayage look uses an ash brown root melt to blend out the color and achieve a more natural look. Ash blonde is inherently cool-toned, making it one of the best shades of blonde for skin with a cool (pink or blue) undertone.
6. Neutral Light Beige Blonde
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Neutral light beige blonde is one of our favorite shades of blonde because it can suit any skin tone. This shade features both warm and cool undertones, so it won’t overwhelm or clash with warm, cool, or neutral undertones in your skin. It looks amazing with a slightly smudged root.
7. Warm Rosy Golden Blonde
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Strawberry blonde is gorgeous, but if you want a look closer to rose gold, you can go with the similarly warm light rosy golden blonde. This shade of blonde has a subtle pink undertone that looks great on warm skin with a peachy or golden tint. Rose gold hair is also really trendy right now!
8. Warm Medium Strawberry Blonde
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Strawberry blonde is a decidedly warm color and one of the most popular shades of blonde. This color has a vibrant light copper undertone and some golden undertones in the mix. It’s a medium blonde, so you won’t need to lift your hair as much to achieve this sunny shade.
9. Cool Medium Ash Blonde
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This color includes a lighter champagne blonde money piece, but the silvery medium ash tone is the heart of this color. A medium shade of ash blonde is perfect for women with cool undertones who want a slightly deeper shade.
10. Warm Medium Honey Golden Blonde
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Similar to strawberry blonde but absent of that copper undertone is medium honey blonde. This rich, warm shade perfectly suits skin with warm undertones and really brings out those inner peachy and golden tones in the skin. A medium shade looks very natural and is a little easier to keep up!
11. Warm Medium Butterscotch Blonde
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We love a good butterscotch hair color, and this butterscotch blonde has those stunning copper, golden, and caramel undertones that make the color unique. It’s best for skin with warm undertones. Since it’s a medium shade, the maintenance is a little easier than with light blonde!
12. Warm Dark Golden Strawberry Blonde
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We love a richer shade of strawberry blonde with an obvious golden undertone. This shade is definitely warm, so it’ll suit skin with warm undertones best. There’s a subtle copper tone in this color and the darker blonde shade only needs to lift to around a level 7 or 8 to achieve this color.
13. Warm Caramel Dark Blonde
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Caramel blonde is a warm, darker shade that is perfect for medium and deep skin tones with warm undertones. It’s got a rich, toasty tone with some copper, golden, and bronze undertones in the mix. It’s perfect for all-over color or highlights in a darker brown base shade.
14. Neutral Dark Bronde
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A mixture of blonde and brown gives you bronde, one of the trendiest shades of blonde at the moment. This in-between shade is like a dark blonde and a light brown mixed together with a lighter money piece to frame the face. It has some warm and cool undertones, so it works for neutral, warm, and cool skin tones.
15. Cool Dark Ash Blonde
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Dark ash blonde begins to teeter into light brown territory because it’s such a rich, reflective tone. This cool-toned shade best suits skin with cool pink or blue undertones, but it can also work for neutral undertones. Try it if you’re unsure about trying out a light or medium blonde!
Things to Consider
Deciding to go blonde is a big deal! If you want to make sure you won’t regret your color choice, you’ll need to ensure you’re focusing only on the shades of blonde that will complement your complexion and meet your maintenance goals.
Here’s what you should keep in mind!
- Warm undertones need warm blonde shades. If your skin has a peachy or golden tint, your veins look greenish through your skin, and you usually look best in gold jewelry, you need a warm shade of blonde. It can be light, medium, or dark, but it’s gotta be warm to flatter your complexion. Consider golden, strawberry, butterscotch, caramel, and rosy blondes.
- Cool undertones need cool blonde shades. If your skin has a bluish or pinkish tint, your veins look bluish through your skin, and you look best in silver jewelry, you need a cool shade of blonde. Look for icy platinum, ash, silver blonde, or neutral beige blondes that will flatter your complexion.
- Neutral undertones can choose any blonde shade. If your skin has a yellow or olive green tint and you look great in both gold and silver jewelry, you may have a neutral undertone. Almost any shade of blonde will work for you, but choosing neutral shades with balanced warm and cool undertones is perfect. Neutral beige blonde, pearly champagne blondes, and even white platinum blonde are great options.
- Pick shades that suit your skin tone. Undertones aside, your skin tone (light, medium, or deep) can help you choose how light or dark your blonde hair color should be. The lighter your skin is, the lighter shades of blonde you can wear. Medium and deep skin tones can rock ultra-bright blondes, but will always look more natural with medium and dark blonde shades. If you love light blonde but have darker skin, try a two-toned balayage or ombre look to keep the look balanced and natural.
- Make sure maintenance is bearable. If you’re leaning toward a very light blonde color, know that the maintenance is going to be considerable. The lighter your blonde, the more root touch-ups and toning sessions you’ll need to keep it vibrant. Opt for medium to dark blondes for less maintenance. Choose warm blonde shades to reduce the need for toning with purple shampoo or semi-permanent color.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Blonde hair color is full of variety, gorgeous, and seems to fascinate unlike any other color. It also comes with a host of questions, so take a peek at some of the FAQs about shades of blonde to learn something new!
What are different shades of blonde?
Blonde comes in many shades. Light blonde shades include white, platinum, silver, ash, light golden blonde, champagne, and strawberry blonde.
Medium blonde shades can be golden, honey, ash, butterscotch, silver, or strawberry blonde. Dark blonde shades include caramel, bronde, dark golden, dark ash, and dark butterscotch.
What is the prettiest blonde hair color?
Warm walnut blonde tops hair stylists' lists of the prettiest blonde colors, but the blonde shade that will look best on you is one that matches your skin's undertone.
Cool-toned skin's prettiest blonde colors are platinum, ash blonde, champagne blonde, and silver blonde. Warm-toned skin's best blondes are golden blonde, walnut blonde, honey blonde, and strawberry blonde.
What shade of blonde is best for me?
Your best blonde shade will match your skin's undertone, whether it's cool, warm, or neutral. Choosing shades that have similar undertones will complement your complexion and look the most natural.
Cool blondes have an ash, white, violet, or silver undertone. Warm blondes have a golden, red, or bronze/brown undertone. Look for blondes that share your undertones for the most flattering color!
What shade of blonde makes you look younger?
Warm blonde shades tend to "read" as younger than cool blonde shades. Opt for blondes with golden, copper, or bronze undertones - the opposite of cool-toned silver or gray - to turn back the clock on aging.
So, Which Shades of Blonde Are You Into?
From the palest shimmering platinum to the richest dark ash blonde, there are so many shades of blonde to fall in love with. Now that you know which shades will work best for your undertones and skin tone, you can pick the most flattering blonde for Y-O-U!
Are you digging cool, light blondes that will make your cool-toned complexion look flawless? Maybe you’re into warm, medium blonde shades that give you a year-round glow. You might love the idea of a rich, dark blonde that makes maintenance a breeze and looks almost natural on you!
No matter which shades of blonde you’re currently crushing on, make sure you’re making the final choice based on what works for your complexion and coloring. A too-light, too-dark, or too-warm blonde can really clash with your skin and emphasize imperfections.
Once you’re settled on the shade of blonde you want to try, make sure you’re ready to give your hair extra TLC to heal and repair damage after bleaching! It doesn’t hurt to grab a good hair mask for damaged hair and switch to a sulfate-free shampoo ahead of time. Your strands will thank you with extra shine, softness, and strength!