15 Honey Blonde Hair Ideas to Warm Up Your Mane

If you’re a blonde by choice, then you know there are many ways to wear blonde. Champagne blonde, icy blonde, beige blonde, and honey blonde hair color are just a few of the variations that come to mind.

A deeper shade like honey blonde is a great way to maintain vibrance while adding depth and richness to your strands. Whether you’re a natural blonde, a redhead, or someone with dark roots who wants to experiment with a slightly brighter hue, honey blonde hair is both flattering and achievable.

Read on as we share how to get honey hair with our favorite at-home hair color kits, plus tips on how to care for your new hue.

What Colors Make Up a Honey Blonde Hair Color?

Honey blonde hair is a warm, golden shade with hints of amber, blonde, chestnut, light brown, and even a little bit of copper. Like the sweet treat from which it gets its name, honey hair color can reflect any of these different tones depending on how the light hits it. And although it’s a warm blonde shade, it’s not orange or brassy—the hue has more of a soft, buttery warmth than an obviously red tone.

What Skin Tone Goes With Honey Blonde Hair?

Honey blonde has a deliberate warmth that looks golden and vibrant, making it very flattering for warm skin tones. Of course, hair color is customizable—so with a few adjustments, honey hair can suit almost any skin tone.

15 Honey Blonde Hair Ideas to Inspire You

Before you head to the salon—or pick up boxed dye—you need a game plan. Here, we’re sharing 15 of our favorite honey blonde hair ideas to inspire your next color transformation.

1. All-over honey blonde

If you’re a purist, consider an allover honey blonde color—the warm, inviting hue is both gorgeous and easy to achieve at home. If you’re a natural blonde looking to add dimension to your mane, pick up L’Oréal Paris Excellence Creme Universal Nudes in Natural Light Blonde. It has a warm, golden tone that’ll brighten blonde strands without sacrificing richness or dimension. Plus, the ammonia-free formula protects as it colors for radiant-looking hair.

2. Honey blonde highlights

It’s hard to go wrong with honey blonde highlights—they look good on everyone and blend well with nearly every hair color. You can use an at-home highlighting kit to achieve this glam look, but if you’re a hair-coloring newbie, we suggest recruiting a more-experienced friend for assistance.

3. Golden honey blonde

Add some extra sunshine to your look with a golden honey blonde hair color. To DIY this vivid shade of honey blonde, try the L’Oréal Paris Superior Preference Fade-Defying Shine Permanent Hair Color in Golden Blonde. The kit comes with a fade-defying dye and a UV-protective conditioner that helps keep your honey blonde hair color vibrant for up to nine weeks.

4. Honey caramel blonde

If you’re a natural brunette looking to lighten your mane, consider honey caramel blonde. This blend of warm, deep golden tones is sun-kissed and summery, but not so light that it’ll be super obvious once your color begins to grow out.

5. Light honey blonde

If, on the other hand, you want to keep your strands bright, a light honey blonde shade may be just what you’re looking for. This is an ideal hue for those with fairer skin and naturally light hair—though, of course, you can (and should) feel free to embrace whatever hair color you want. Get the look with the L’Oréal Paris Superior Preference Fade-Defying Shine Permanent Hair Color in Light Golden Blonde—just keep in mind that if your current color is light brown or darker, you’ll need to bleach your strands first.

6. Honey blonde balayage

Blondes (and brunettes) seeking a lived-in golden blonde color should consider balayage. This hair coloring technique involves hand-painting color onto individual strands to create an effortless, naturally-bright effect. Get it done at the salon or give it a go with an at-home balayage kit like the L’Oréal Paris Superior Preference Balayage At-Home Highlighting Kit in Light to Dark Blonde.

7. Auburn honey blonde

If you love being blonde but have always wanted to try being a redhead, consider an auburn honey blonde color. This warm, inviting hue is the perfect way to bridge the gap. Try it with a permanent dye, or test-drive the reddish hue with a demi-permanent color or even a tinted hair gloss.

8. Dark honey blonde

If maintenance is the only thing holding you back from rocking a blonde hair color, try a darker shade of honey blonde. This color looks stunning on those with olive and deep skin tones and it requires less maintenance than ultra-pale blonde hues. You can achieve this luxe look at home with the L’Oréal Paris Féria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Permanent Hair Color in Golden Sunset. The kit comes with a bonding conditioner and shimmer serum, so your results are never dull or flat.

9. Honey blonde babylights

Babylights are a type of soft and subtle highlights designed to mimic the natural highlights a child may get in the summer. The technique provides depth and dimension to the strands around your face without obviously changing the color of your mane—and when paired with a golden blonde hue, creates a summery effect that’s hard to resist. Create soft and subtle dimension by adding honey blonde babylights to your light brown Keep in mind, however, that these ultra-fine highlights are best left in the hands of a professional—or someone who’s had a lot of experience with at-home color.

10. Beige honey blonde

If you have cool-toned skin and aren’t sure whether a warm shade like honey blonde will complement your complexion, try beige honey blonde. This in-between shade blends a beige base with soft honey-toned highlights for a soft look that doesn’t read overly warm or cool.

11. Honey blonde money piece

A money piece is a fun way to experiment with color without committing to a full color change. If you’re game to try this fun trend, part your hair as you’d normally wear it, then carefully section out a one-to-two-inch piece of hair and lighten it with L’Oréal Paris Hyper Platinum Advanced Lightening System Bleach. Then, you can dye the bleached portion honey blonde with the permanent or semi-permanent dye of your choice.

12. Sunny honey blonde ribbons

You can think of ribboning as the modern version of chunky ‘00s highlights: they’re thick, but done properly, anything but harsh or clunky. We love how honey blonde ribbons add brightness to a medium brown base color, but you can also try this technique with light brown or dark blonde hair—it’ll look just as stunning.

13. Honey blonde with a root shadow

If you love the look of honey blonde hair but are also into that messy-on-purpose, casual vibe, a root shadow offers just that balance. A stylist usually applies a darker shade to the roots, blending it seamlessly into the honey blonde hair lengths and ends. This is also a relatively low-maintenance pick, as the grow-out period only amplifies the lived-in effect.

14. Dimensional honey blonde

Highlights don’t have to be stark to make a lasting impact. For a subtler take on the honey blonde trend, consider weaving fine amber, caramel, and maple highlights throughout a warm brown base. You’ll get the brightness you’re after, but with a distinctly warm (and undeniably dimensional) finish.

15. Custom honey blonde

For foilyage, or any other kind of custom honey blonde color, you may want to visit the salon. A professional colorist can help you to achieve your hair goals while protecting the integrity of your strands.

How To Get a Honey Blonde Hair Color

Depending on your starting color and end goal, it may take more than one step to transition to honey blonde. Here, we’re sharing a peek at what you can expect from the process depending on which honey blonde hair color you’re seeking to embrace.

All-over color

All-over color is, arguably, the easiest way to go blonde, as you don’t have to worry about picking up a highlighting cap or hand-painting streaks onto your strands. But you do need to pick the right formula for your needs.

If you’re starting with a darker base, you’ll need to lighten your hair to at least a medium blonde before applying your honey blonde color. You can do this at home with the L’Oréal Paris Feria Hyper Platinum Advanced Lightening System Bleach, which lightens hair up to eight levels in a single application. Once your hair is light enough, you can go ahead and apply your chosen color. Consider opting for an ammonia-free option, such as L’Oréal Paris Excellence Creme Universal Nudes in Natural Blonde.

Those with naturally light hair, meanwhile, can skip the bleach and go straight to the coloring. For a warm golden blonde shade with tons of dimension, try L’Oréal Paris Féria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Permanent Hair Color in Champagne Cocktail or L’Oréal Paris Excellence Crème Permanent Triple Hair Color in Medium Golden Blonde.

Highlights

The concept of highlighting your hair at home may seem intimidating, but it’s actually pretty straightforward, so long as you have the right tools on hand. We recommend snagging L’Oréal Paris Colorista At-Home Hair Bleach and Lightener. The all-in-one kit comes with bleach and conditioner, as well as a unique three-pronged application tool that makes creating even, natural-looking highlights a breeze. Use the kit to pre-lighten your strands, then—if needed—you can go back over your highlights with the honey blonde hair color of your choice.

Balayage

As we mentioned earlier, balayage involves hand-painting individual strands to create a natural-looking gradient of color. It’s a bit more involved than highlighting, but still achievable at home with the L’Oréal Paris Superior Preference Balayage At-Home Highlighting Kit. The kit comes with everything you need to create a beautifully blended look, including bleach, a tinted toning mask for blending your roots with your highlights, and an easy-to-use expert applicator. As with any at-home hair dye, you’ll want to read the instructions on the box carefully and take your time in order to ensure the best results with your DIY color.

How to Care for Honey Blonde Hair

Once you have your new honey blonde hair color, you’ll want to adopt a color maintenance routine to help keep your locks vibrant and healthy-looking.

1. Use a color-safe hair care system

If your honey blonde color has left you with dry, bleach-damaged hair, swap out your go-to shampoo and conditioner for the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Bond collection. This bond-repairing collection includes a strengthening pre-shampoo treatment as well as a sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner which work in harmony to strengthen color-treated hair from the inside out.

2. Try a purple shampoo and conditioner

While honey blonde is a warm shade, it can still turn brassy over time. To keep unwanted warmth at bay, we suggest adding a purple shampoo and conditioner to your routine once a week—or anytime your hair looks brassier than you’d like. Try the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Purple Shampoo for Toning Blonde Bleached Hair and L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Purple Conditioner for Toning Blonde Bleached Hair.

3. Limit heat styling

Cutting back on heat styling is one of the best things you can to do preserve your color and minimize further damage. Consider using a curl-enhancing cream like the L’Oréal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Curls Leave-in Conditioner to bring out your natural hair texture, or, turn to heatless styles like a messy bun or heatless curls for volume and texture, sans heat.

If you must use hot tools, always remember to prime your strands with a heat protectant like the L’Oréal Paris Elvive Dream Lengths Frizz Killer Serum Leave-In or the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Blow Dry Primer for 48 HR Frizz Control. Use hot tools on the lowest temperature setting and pass through each section of hair once to avoid frying your strands.

4. Use a hair gloss

Keep your honey blonde hue looking golden and shiny with a hair gloss like the L’Oréal Paris Le Color Gloss One Step In-Shower Toning Gloss in Honey Blonde. This in-shower gloss enhances shine, tones color, and deeply conditions the hair with each use.

Another way to maintain vibrance is with a glossing haircare system like the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Glossing Shampoo for Intensifying Shine and the coordinating Conditioner. Don’t forget to include the in-shower glaze in your routine—the pH-balanced formula helps seal the hair’s cuticle to keep your colored hair shiny, silky, and smooth.

Now it’s time to go live your best honey blonde life.

Next Up: How to Go From Brown to Blonde Hair While Keeping Your Hair Healthy