Lighter than red and deeper and warmer than blonde, these strawberry blonde hair color shades are naturally flattering for every skin tone and personal style. Once you’re committed, we have all of the must-know info covered, including how to actually use strawberry blonde hair dye at home. To keep your hair looking bright and healthy, we added some maintenance tips, and to ensure your look works from head to toe, we also have makeup and fashion advice for strawberry blondes to know.
In this article:
- How to Dye Hair Strawberry Blonde at Home
- Maintaining Strawberry Blonde Hair Color
- Makeup Routine for Strawberry Blonde Hair
- What Colors Flatter Strawberry Blondes?
How to Dye Hair Strawberry Blonde at Home
There are a few different ways to achieve strawberry blonde hair. If you have naturally blonde or very light brown hair, then you can simply buy a strawberry blonde hair dye kit and use it on your hair.
However, if you have darker hair, then you might have to bleach your hair first in order to make it light enough. After that, you can use a regular strawberry blonde hair dye, or you can use a very diluted semi-permanent red hair dye.
You also have the option of experimenting with streaks of strawberry blonde through your blonde hair in order to achieve a more complex and multi-dimensional hair color. Strawberry blonde balayages or streaks can look really stunning, especially on those who have naturally copper or red hair.
Another way of achieving this kind of look is to bleach the hair in a balayage and then overlay a reddish tint over the entire head – the natural hair color will look more copper or auburn, while the streaks will turn strawberry blonde.
Before either bleaching or dyeing, make sure your hair is as healthy and protected as it can be. Try to avoid washing your hair a few days in advance, although you can definitely use protein or oil-based hair masks to nourish it.
Another step we recommend, especially if your heart is set on a very particular shade of strawberry blonde, is to conduct a patch test by testing out the hair dye on just a small piece of hair towards the back of your head (or you can clip a few strands from your head to dye) in order to see how the color will turn out. It’s very difficult to predict just how dark or saturated the color will come out, as it depends heavily on the hair color you’re starting out with.
You Will Need
- Strawberry blonde hair dye kit
- Mixing bowl or bottle
- A pair of gloves
- Hair dyeing brush
- Shirt you won’t mind damaging
- Non-metal hair clips
- Hair conditioner
The Dyeing Process
- First things first, prepare yourself! Put on that old shirt you don’t mind staining with strawberry blonde hair dye, pull on your gloves and part your hair into 3-4 sections and then clip each section up.
- Next, prepare your strawberry blonde hair dye! In a bottle or mixing bowl, combine the color and developer that came in your hair dye kit. You can also make your own custom blend if you have a bit more hair dyeing experience or rely on a semi-permanent dye that doesn’t require mixing if your hair has already been bleached or is naturally very light.
- Starting with the front, unclip your first section of hair, and from that section, pull an even smaller subsection.
- Starting at the roots (or a little away from the roots if you’re going for a modern, easy-to-maintain look), either squirt the dye directly on the strand or apply it with the brush and then brush it downwards to the ends of your hair, adding more dye if necessary.
- With your fingers, lightly massage the hair dye into the hair to ensure it covers each strand more thoroughly.
- Separate out the next subsection and apply the strawberry blonde hair dye to it. Continue doing this until you finish dyeing the entire section of hair.
- Clip the now dye-covered section of hair back up and unclip the next section to be dyed. Dye it with the same methodology described in steps 3-5.
- Once your entire head is covered, we always suggest going back and touching up the roots a little bit. Feel free to unclip sections here and there to double-check your work.
- Now it’s time to wait between 30-45 minutes depending on the hair dye you choose – check the instructions to see exactly how long. You can pop a shower cap on if you’re worried about making a mess. Don’t throw out any leftover dye since you may need to make fixes later.
- Once enough time has passed, pop into the shower to rinse out the dye. You can use a hair conditioner to help it along but avoid shampooing your hair.
- Once the water runs clean of dye, you can get out of the shower and either wait for your hair to air-dry or gently blow-dry it on very low heat.
- Look over your hair, and if necessary, add more strawberry blonde hair dye to make fixes. Once it’s all perfect, you can enjoy your new look!
Tips for Maintaining Your Strawberry Blonde Hair Color
Thankfully, strawberry blonde is one of those hair colors that are easier to maintain. Once the hair has been made lighter, it will remain light, while reddish tones tend to grab on to the cuticle very well, so they don’t fade.
Even so, it is also good to practice good hair color maintenance habits in order to keep the hair looking healthy and shiny and to prevent dullness or breakage.
- Our first suggestion for dyed hair is always to limit how often you wash it. Washing every day is a big no-no, but ideally, you should wait at least a few days in-between hair washing.
- When you do wash your hair, avoid sulfate-based shampoos since they are very strong and will pull the strawberry blonde color out of your hair.
- Additionally, avoid washing your hair with very hot water and stick to cool or lukewarm temperatures instead. Both your hair and skin will thank you since hot water is very stripping and dehydrating, so it can damage both the skin and dyed hair.
- If you do notice your color beginning to fade, you can occasionally refresh it with a red shampoo that will help deposit a bit more tint. Don’t use this kind of shampoo every time you wash your hair, however, since it can deposit too much color and make your hair look more ginger than strawberry blonde.
- Other things you should probably avoid include intense heat styling, direct sun exposure (which you can mitigate with UV-blocking hair oil or mousse), and chlorinated water (swim caps at the pool are a must!).
- If you’ve dyed your hair all-over, including the roots, then you will likely have to do touch-ups with strawberry blonde hair dye every 4-6 weeks. If you would like to avoid having to re-dye so often, then opt for a strawberry blonde balayage or sombre, which will allow for easier grow-out.
Your Makeup Routine for Your Strawberry Blonde Hair
It’s easy to forget that sometimes hair color changes also require a few tweaks to your makeup. Here are our tips for ensuring your makeup and strawberry hair color live in harmony.
- For your base, don’t feel the need to change things too much. As long your foundation or BB cream matches your skin tone, you’re all good, and strawberry blonde looks just as great with high-coverage products as it does with very natural, lightweight tinted moisturizers.
- When it comes to blush, we suggest choosing from the same color family as your hair, so if your strawberry blonde hair is warmer, pick a peachier blush, while if it’s rosier, a neutral blush will do.
- When it comes to your eyebrows, you will likely want to switch to an eyebrow pencil or pomade with a warm undertone that will more closely match your hair.
- If you like your brows to look a little darker than your hair, then an auburn shade will do, while a warm blonde or ginger shade will be a perfect match.
- If you don’t want your brows to match your hair too closely, opt for a blonde color with a very slight yellow undertone.
- When choosing a color story for your eyeshadow, remember that your strawberry blonde hair will also influence things. No colors are off-limits, but just remember that they won’t exist in a vacuum. For example, greens will look more vivid against warm hair, while coppery and peach tones will look softer and more harmonious.
- Wear any lipstick color you like! Warm tones like brick, coral, and peach will appear softer against your hair, while cool tones like blue-based reds or pinks, berries, and mauves will offer an interesting but still flattering contrast.
What Colors Flatter Strawberry Blondes?
Whether it’s more pink or orange, strawberry blonde hair is definitely an intense color that will impact your entire look. Keep that in mind when selecting the colors for your next outfit!
- When in doubt, keep things neutral! Strawberry blonde hair is the kind of hair color that works with white, black, gray, or earth-toned outfits very easily.
- For cooler strawberry blonde hair, keep things harmonious by keeping your outfit cool toned as well. Enjoy purples, slate grays, and blues.
- For warm strawberry blondes, oranges and yellows will give that same harmonious effect instead.
- When you really want to stand out, go opposite on the color wheel and rock a green look instead!
- There is something very sweet and fetching about pairing pastels with lighter variations on strawberry blonde, and it’s especially nice if you already have a bit of an anime princess-vibe.
- On the other hand, if you want something striking yet elegant and sophisticated, jewel tones are the way to go, especially for evening wear.
Photos via @msnataliejean, Instagram
