Rose Gold Is Summer 2022’s Hot Remake Of Strawberry Blonde

As you know, summer is a great time to switch up your hair color. And if you can’t decide between popular red or blonde, strawberry blonde might just be the color for you. According to Jamie Mazzei, creative director for NuBest Salon and Spa, strawberry blonde has varying amounts of gold and copper tones so it’s a good idea to bring in inspiration (like the options below) to your hair appointment to better achieve your dream shade.

Strawberry blonde is trending for the summer because it takes on a different look from every angle, due to its golden aesthetic that refracts light. The hue is also a flattering color for various skin tones, thanks to the variety of shades offered. Depending on your base color, you might need to add bleach to properly lift your existing color before applying the strawberry shade. “Colors in the red family are the hardest to keep,” shares Mazzei. “A good color depositing shampoo like No Fade Fresh will keep your strawberry blonde vibrant and beautiful between [salon] visits.”

So what strawberry blonde shade works best for you? From a red base with blonde highlights, hints of pink for a good rosy-blonde hybrid, or blonde with red highlights for dimension — read on to discover the best strawberry blonde shades, how to maintain it, and how often to get touch-ups.

Classic Strawberry Blonde

Equal parts red, equal parts blonde, this is the traditional color that started it all. For maintenance, Justin Anderson, co-founder of dpHUE, encourages against daily washing as it will strip your hair, and recommends dry shampoo instead to protect the color from fading and to keep hair looking and feeling fresh.

Dark Honey

Anderson recommends this shade, brown base with blonde and subtle red highlights, for light skin tones. There is a bit of maintenance with this one: “After a few washes and sun exposure, the color will fade very quickly,” Anderson tells TZR. He combats the fade with Gloss+ for a consistent harmony of brown, blonde, and red.

Ombre Strawberry Blonde

Ombre strawberry blonde is a great approachable first step into the trend. There is fairly little commitment when the roots start as a brown/red shade and gradually get lighter towards the blonde ends. The experts predict it to be the gradient trend of the season. As a pro tip: Remember to go in for touch-ups every six to eight weeks to prevent color from fading.

Dusty Rose Balayage

Shvonne Perkins, lead educator at Madison Reed, predicts a dusty rose version of strawberry blonde to become quite popular over the coming weeks. “This hue is in the same family as strawberry blonde but utilizes a muted red that is slightly champagne toned instead of true copper,” the expert tells TZR. To create the balayage, cooler tones are used to look universally flattering on all skin tones.

Baby Copper

Chase Kusero, celebrity colorist and co-founder of IGK Hair Care, deems baby copper (copper tones mixed with golden blonde) as the perfect style option if your current color isn’t a dark shade. “If your hair color is anywhere from a light blonde to a light brown, you should be able to achieve this color in salon or at home with a single process color.” You can still achieve the color if you have naturally dark hair, you just have to go through more color processing and bleaching.

Rosy Gold

According to Perkins, rosy gold will be one of the biggest trends this year. “Strawberry blondes have a lot of copper in them but this shade dials up the red slightly more but not all the way to pinkish red,” she claims. “It’s a super soft nuanced shade that lives between copper and red, compatible with an array of skin tones.” For upkeep, Brian O'Connor, co-founder of Good Dye Young, suggests adding a dot or two of semi-permanent shade Du Hast into your conditioner for a pretty rose gold, to create a color-depositing mask and keep your color fresh.

Hot From The Oven

Warmer shades of strawberry blonde (think darker roots) look amazing on darker skin tones and warm undertones. According to Kusero, if you don’t want to commit to the shade long term, you can achieve the look with temporary color enhancements. “Temporary color can be found in color depositing conditioners or masks that can be applied in salon or at home to achieve vibrant color that completely washes out over time.”

Champagne Highlights

Perkins recommends adding in super fine baby light blonde pieces to strawberry blonde hair to add dimension to your color. “I often refer to these highlights as tinsel,” the pro tells TZR. “The highlights are not meant to be the star of the show — they are meant to give dimension to the strawberry blonde background and really make that pop!”

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