Go Golden: The Hottest Brunette Hair Color Trend For Summer

Think blondes have more fun? Not if celebrity colorist Joel Warren has anything to do with it. This season, he's stealing a page from the honey-hued playbook and giving brunettes the Midas touch—they're "going golden."

"I'm starting in a trend right now that I like to call 'Go Golden,'" the Warren-Tricomi Salon co-owner told us. "It's a golden brunette I've given to a bunch of blondes and lighter brunettes over the past few months. It's a nice warm shade that's the perfect transitional color for summer."
To create the sun-kissed look, Warren first—before coloring!—adds highlights around the face and sides of the head to give the hair depth and dimension. In between them, he uses a permanent non-ammonia golden brown hair color, like L'Oréal Professionnel INOA Ammonia-Free In-Salon Hair Color, as a base.

Once the color is set, he analyzes, and maybe adds in a few balayaged (hand-painted) highlights to emphasize the contrast of where hair naturally falls. Finally, he seals everything in with a warm semi-permanent gloss to give locks a long-term glistening glow.

Below, are a few of his tips for getting the look at home.

1. Use low- or non-ammonia products

Ammonia-free products—you know that harsh chemical-y smell in hair dye? That's ammonia—he says, are key to creating long-lasting color. Not only do they lock in color better, they're less irritating during the coloring process!

2. Stay away from chunky highlights

The whole point of "Going Golden" is to look natural. Tell your colorist to use fine, barely-there highlights—you shouldn't even be able to tell they're there unless you look really close.

3. Consider the upkeep

Are you lazy? (Guilty.) Then you'll want to stick to a golden base that's one or two shades away from your natural color, so when it starts to grow out, it'll blend more seamlessly. Anything three shades different—lighter or darker—will mean more trips to the salon.

please photo to the studio