Here's the short list.  Click the article from Byrdie to get the full list of “Need to Know” tips for going blonde.

1) The Many Shades of Blonde
Look around at women with blonde hair, and you'll notice how many shades of blonde there are. There's strawberry blonde, dirty blonde, bronde, platinum blonde, honey blonde, and even brown hair with blonde highlights.

If you're thinking about going blonde or brightening up your natural color, there are a number of things to consider before you head to the salon. This hair color can be high maintenance and you have a few options when it comes to the process. You'll also want to protect your hair to keep it shining and beautiful.

As we explore beautiful blonde women as inspiration, we'll also pass along useful tips that will help you make the best decisions for your new color.

2)  A Gorgeous Icy Blonde
Some magazines advise you to darken your hair for fall and winter, but this isn't necessary. Blonde hair can remain very blonde—even icy blonde—into the colder months as long as your skin tone is flattering against the color. You can also pair your blonde with bright lips for a more festive look.

3)  The Light Blonde
If you examine a child's hair that has never been colored, you'll see many shades of color. For the most natural looking blonde hair, opt for highlights instead of all-over color and ask your colorist to paint in a couple of different shades. You can do lowlights and highlights, too, for added dimension.

4)  Blonde Highlights and Lowlights
Hair that is just one color can be monochrome and dull. Mixing in lowlights and highlights can give your blonde hair definition, leaving it more natural looking.

The balayage technique works well for highlights and may be a better choice than foils because it's painted in. When it comes to getting great highlights, it's best to leave the job to a professional.

5)  Highlighting Natural Blonde
You will make a good blonde if you had blonde hair as a kid. When getting your hair colored, your stylist should take your natural base into consideration. Naturally blonde hair—even dirty blonde like Beth Ostrosky Stern's hair—is the perfect base for highlights.

If you don't have naturally blonde hair (and let's be honest, few women do), you may have to endure a process to go blonde. Some women with dark hair have to go to the salon twice, once for bleaching and again for color.
 
Click here for tips 6 thru 24.

What is ombré?

In French, ombré means “shade” or “shadow.” In the hair color world, ombré is a dramatic, two-toned hair color effect that is typically darker at the top and lighter on the bottom. Often the dark, top section is your natural hair color shade and the bottom section is lightened with hair lightener. An ombré hairstyle can also be any color combination—natural blonde, brown or red, or something unconventional like pink, blue, green or purple. It’s versatile, customizable and suitable for most long and medium hair lengths. A big plus with ombré hair color is that it’s easy on the budget. You don’t have to touch it up very often since the top section remains dark. The overall look of ombré hair color can change as your hair grows out, which many clients enjoy!

The different types of ombré:

A subtler version of ombré is called sombré. In a sombré hairstyle, the contrast between the two tones is softer. Another variation is called color melting. In color melting, two or three hair color shades may be used on each strand, and each shade is blended with the side of the hair color brush so that they appear to melt into each other. Like ombré, color melting can be done with natural-looking hair color shades or with any of the fun colors of the rainbow!

Is ombré for you?

If you like to make a statement with your hair, if you’re creative and adventurous with your personal style, go for it! Just be sure your hair is healthy to begin with, otherwise your hair color will look dull and will fade quickly. If necessary, spend some time using healthy, healing conditioning treatments and hair masks to improve the condition of your hair before heading to the salon for your ombré hair color!

What is balayage?

In French, balayage means “sweeping.” In the hair color world, balayage highlights are hand-painted or swept along the surface of the hair. The application begins away from the roots and gradually becomes heavier as it travels along the section, culminating in the heaviest application of lightener or hair color at the ends. Because the hair color or lightener is concentrated on the surface of each section, the underside remains darker, which gives the hair a very natural, dimensional effect. The resulting subtle balayage hairstyle mimics a natural, sun-kissed effect that has been in high demand from celebrities, models and high profile “it” girls for some time now. Balayage can be done on any hair color, from blonde hair to red hair to brown hair, although it’s typically not the first choice for super dark brunettes. It’s beautiful on long hair and on medium-length hair. Like ombré, balayage highlights are cost-effective because they don’t require frequent touchups, since the hair at the top is kept darker.

The different types of balayage:

Because balayage is a hand-painting technique, the artistry of your hair stylist comes into play and allows for many variations and beautiful color compositions. Hair color artists might combine several shades, for example, for a shimmering, dimensional result. If your hair is dark, they may opt for a foilayage technique. In foilayage, instead of allowing the balayage highlights to process in the air after they’re applied, they’re wrapped in foil, which provides more heat, and therefore amplifies the lightening process. Balayage may also be combined with conventional highlights placed closer to the face, or with fine, baby-lights placed around the face and hairline for a complexion-boosting glow.

Is balayage for you?

If you love sexy, natural-looking hair color (and who doesn’t?) balayage is a beautiful choice! Balayage hair color will bring nearly every hairstyle to life!
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1. Embrace the “bond” difference.

Whether you’re going for a subtle glow or a major hair color transformation with your ombré or balayage hair color, new bonding technology can make all the difference between hair that emerges damaged and hair that stays healthy, shiny and lustrous. It starts in the salon, with professional hair bond repair additives that protect the structural bonds of your hair during the highlighting process, and prevent additional damage from occurring. It continues at home with a revolutionary, three-step Re-Bonding system that continues to reconstruct damaged hair at the deepest level—fortifying, strengthening and smoothing your colored or lightened locks.

2. Keep up your good work.

Once the Re-Bonding system has repaired your hair, maintain your hair color investment with hair-color-friendly, sulfate-free, natural-origin hair care products that gently bathe the hair, leaving your hair color shiny; extending color vibrancy and resulting in hair that’s supple, conditioned and soft to the touch. It’s also a good idea to protect your hair from too much exposure to UV light, from chlorine or saltwater and from frequent, direct contact with hot tools—all of which can alter your hue or cause premature fading.

This article first appeared on Matrix

I can live happily knowing that most late-’90s trends will never (hopefully?) be back in style: JNCO jeans and puka-shell necklaces are still buried in a time capsule. I pray they stay there. I would have said the same for guys getting highlights—I'm picturing Chris Kirkpatrick and Nick Lachey with their immortally frosted tips. But recently I’ve been seeing subtle highlights on the runway and in editorial spreads, and I have to say I don't hate it. Most recently, Chris Evans graced the cover of L’Uomo Vogue sporting a barely-noticeable-yet-definitely-lightened layer on top of his naturally darker hair.

He's not using highlights to stand out. He's using them to blend in, to add depth to his styles. “Everything we’re seeing now is understated, almost sun-soaked,” says Tyson Kennedy, co-owner of Cutler Salon in NYC. “Lately guys prefer a more natural look, working with the hair’s traits instead of forcing anything against the color, texture, and flow.”

Kennedy attributes the highlight resurgence to a ramping-down of recent hairstyle trends, like the gray and platinum hair dyeing, as well as all of the “classic, structured barbershop looks” that have dominated for the past few years. “For a while, everything was bold and demanded attention,” he says. “We had slicked-back undercuts with shiny pomades and tight fades, lots of really strong looks.” Natural-looking highlights allow guys to loosen up, to relax. (Time to channel your inner surfer, brah?)

I’ll take any excuse to look great with less effort. General chill-ness aside, it’s important to know the rules of highlights, since they don’t work for all hair types. To get it right the first time, memorize these 10 commandments before you head to the salon. And you will head to the salon, because the last commandment is the most important: Never do it at home.
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​1. You should get highlights if you want to add visual texture to your style.
Think of the verb “highlight”: It means “to emphasize,” and that’s exactly what you’re aiming to achieve. You’re emphasizing the texture and layers of your hair with small pieces of slightly lighter color scattered throughout. Typically, your colorist will paint small clusters of hair, particularly around the hairline and very lightly back from there, on top of the head. Your highlights may not be the same as another guy’s. “It’s always done based on the hairline and the way that the hair naturally lies,” says Pamella Gonzalez, Cutler’s in-house colorist. So trust that your colorist will know what looks best. Usually, less is more.

2. …And if you want more physical texture.
An added benefit of highlights is that they boost the grit of your hair, too. It’s perfect for guys whose straight hair falls limp without any styler. “We’re putting in bleach to lighten the hair, but what it’s really doing is expanding the cuticle so that your hair has more texture,” says Gonzalez.

3. Highlights should not be confused with hair dye.
Highlights are supposed to look natural. They complement your natural tone by subtly contrasting themselves against the rest of your hair. If you merely bleach parts of your hair, or if you pick a vivid or unnatural color, then you’re technically not highlighting. Anything else is designed to draw attention to itself, where highlights are devised to draw attention to the overall, mostly natural look.

4. Guys with thinning hair should proceed with caution.
Bad news for guys who are balding: While highlights usually add natural texture to the hair, it’s only the case for fuller styles. Some texturizing products can give you the illusion of fuller hair, but highlights won’t do the same. Gonzalez advises against coloring the hair, because the cuticle isn’t strong enough to take the chemicals and toner. You might compromise whatever it is you have left.

5. If you want to grow your hair out, it’s best to avoid artificial color.
Your hair can only take so much wear, and coloring it (with bleach, dye, or highlights) will really compromise its health. “You don’t want to lighten the same pieces of hair more than once or twice,” says Kennedy. “This will really thin it out and strip the hair of its properties.” So if you’re getting haircuts every six weeks and chopping it off at regular intervals, then highlights are a great choice, since they’ll add movement, volume, and variety. Otherwise, focus your attention on healthy hair growth, since you’re playing a long game.

6. Certain hair colors shouldn’t be highlighted.
“If you have dark brown hair, you don’t want to go lighter than a light brown,” says Gonzalez. “It’ll look artificial.” Luckily, guys with light brown and dark blond hair have more flexibility with tone options. You can go much lighter than one shade, because the contrast won’t be as high. (And thus it won’t detract from the overall natural look.) However, this is bad for guys with black hair: The contrast is so high that almost any highlights will detract from your natural color. Instead, you should praise the day that your natural grays start sprouting.

7. You’ll need color-preserving hair-care products.
“You need some good silver shampoo,” says Kennedy, “especially if you go for a cooler blond. It can start turning orange or gold.” You might remember, during the gray-hair-dyeing trend, that some guys’ hair was turning purple. This was because they weren’t using the right shampoo to preserve the gray tone, and the same can be said of bleached or highlighted hair: You’ve already stripped the natural color and have replaced it with an artificial one. That artificial one can fade or change if you don’t treat it properly.

8. And you must treat it daily.
Not only do you need to use a specific type of shampoo and conditioner, you’ll need to use them frequently—particularly the conditioner. It will keep the hair soft, which is critical after it’s been stripped of color and treated with toner. That grit you’ve added to the cuticle is great for styling but not terrific for the overall health of your hair. (Hence the reason guys with thinning hair shouldn’t color theirs.) Wash it every other day, and condition every single day.

9. Don’t confuse men’s highlights with women’s highlights.
“Usually with men, we put in fewer highlights,” says Gonzalez. “We’re highlighting it to see nuances that you wouldn’t see if it were all solid. With women’s hair, however, it’s about getting an all-over lightened effect.” This is fairly universal across different hair lengths, too. Women will highlight larger clusters of hair, as if to let the darker roots show through, whereas men’s highlights flatter more when scattered strategically, like light undertones.

10. Always hire a professional.
“You need to lift the color to the right tone, or else it’s going to be this chicken-fat yellow color,” says Gonzalez. “Most of the time, people who attempt this themselves will have busted-looking highlights. They’ll bleach the hair and then rinse it off without toning it. Or they’ll tone it with permanent color and lift all the natural color, making it orange.” Simply put: Just go to the professionals, and you won’t have any regrets.

This article appeared on GQ

What Is Hygge Hair?
Only The Warmest, Most Comforting
Color Trend Ever
By Ariana Marsh

Considering autumn and winter are the perfect seasons to embrace a newer, more fiery hair color (unless you prefer to look like an ice queen, which I think is totally rad, too), there’s no better time than the present to get your hygge on. Head to the salon in a cashmere sweater, lambswool boots (again, Uggs are the optimal choice), and a hot drink in hand, for an especially cozy effect once your dye job is done.


This article first appeared on  Elite Daily

When it comes to creating an ombre effect, there are many factors to consider. What colors you want, how smooth you want your transition to look, and the color of the original hair all come into play. Fear not! Here’s a list of dos and don’ts for working with ombre combinations to help you pull off the effect with flying colors (no pun intended)!

Do:

Match your skin tone – this goes for any hair coloring job, but try to avoid picking colors that will completely clash with your skin tone. Brunettes may wish to try melting variations of a rich espresso to a light amber, blondes going buttery blonde to vanilla and redheads trying auburn to copper. This isn’t to say you can’t go off the beaten path in your color choices, just remember that in the end, if your skin tone clashes with any of the colors contained within the ombre, it will have all been for naught!

Keep Hair Moisturized – Any time your hair goes through a color process it needs to be maintained afterwards. Though an ombre uses far less coloring than an all-over job (and even less if you use extensions!), the hair still needs all the help it can get when it comes to maintaining its moisture, sheen, and natural ability to repair itself when you leaves the salon.  Be sure to buy a good moisturizing conditioner for aftercare and understand the benefits of regular upkeep.

Ensure Hair is Cut and Styled Beforehand – If you’re creating an ombre with extensions, it’s likely your stylist will cut and blend them in afterwards. Still, since the hair’s specific starting length will actually affect the placement of the colors and ombres during the process, it’s best to make sure that before you get an ombre effect, the hair is cut and styled to the appropriate length beforehand.

Enlist the help of a professional – When all else fails, call a professional. Ombres are a popular hairstyle and one that has created a robust knowledge base of stylists across the internet. Accidents can still happen, though! A stylist will know the best course of action for your specific hair type, and can help point you in the direction of your best option. Don’t attempt to give yourself an ombre if you’re not a professional.

Don’t:

Change colors too abruptly – When creating an ombre, always strive to create a shift from lighter shades of the same hue, rather than shifting from a dark hue to a light color abruptly. Allow the color change to come gradually and subtly because a harsh line of demarcation from one color to the next is hardly flattering and will clash heavily.

Go for a Drastic Color Combination – Look, we’re never going to tell you not to experiment with colors! All we’re saying is that an ombre is tough to pull off in itself. If you’re not explicitly trying to pull off a brightly colored fashion ombre, opt for a subtle, natural looking, two (maybe three)-tone color combination. Throwing too many in the mix will overpower the ombre effect and might ruin the effect anyway.

Alter your natural base color – Always use the base color as your jumping off point when choosing other colors. This will ensure that your new tones will highlight the natural color you already have in your hair.  Do not take a darker shade and attempt to create custom ombre color at the bottom of the extensions.

Remember, you want your ombre to showcase a smooth color transition and to highlight tones already present in your hair.  And if you get stuck, you can ALWAYS enlist the eye (or appointment book!) of a trusted salon professional.


This article first appeared on Modern Salon