How to Spring-ify Your Hair: The Trendiest Colors to Try This Season

A warmer-weather version of you, coming right up.

Chrissy Teigan
(Image credit: Marie Claire)

Spring is a time of transition for more than just your wardrobe (hello again, beautiful flats!)—it's also when we have the perfect excuse to switch up our beauty routines. Yes, we'll be swapping out lipsticks and moisturizers for more seasonally appropriate options, but let's focus on what's really important here: A golden opportunity to change our hair color. 

To figure out what hues, exactly, are best for the spring time, we spoke to colorist Gia Calvo at the Bumble and Bumble Salon in NYC, who told us that after a long cold winter, "everyone's just desperate to get that warmth back into them,"—and they start with their hair. 

She also shared that even though women stampede to the salon, most are only looking for a transitional shade and pop of brightness; it's in the summer when they're *really* ready to plunge into a whole new hair color. 

Read on for our expert guide.

If You're a Redhead

Hair

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"For redheads, I would play a lot more with golden tones or apricot-y tones," says Calvo. "If you're more of a strawberry blonde, you can keep some natural highlights in there and bring out some of the golden hues in your hair or even take them a little bit more peach-ier." If you have darker red locks such as auburn, Calvo suggests asking for highlights with softer tones of your original color to add a little light to your mane. 

If You're Blonde

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The main things that blondes try and get away from in the spring time in winter icy-ness, like blue-toned and platinum blonde colors. "Overall, look for a buttery, warmer, golden-y blonde opposed to the icy-ness" says Calvo. "Warmer tones are coming back in."

If You're Brunette

Hair

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"Some brunettes feel really dark, so they want to put some highlights that look like they just came back from vacation," Calvo says. "If they went and sat on an island for a couple of months, their natural highlights that would come out will be naturally more milky-chocolate than platinum blonde." So to add dimension to your color, go only a couple of shades lighter than your natural color. With deeper brunette colors that can look almost black, it's also best to try and bring out the natural hues in the hair. Calvo recommends sticking with velvety tones like chocolate, honey, and pink sand to brighten up your color. 

Hair

(Image credit: Marie Claire)

If You Just Want to Go Lighter

Perhaps unsurprisingly, balayage is perfect for spring. "It automatically gives that very natural look, and it's very popular to be more naturally highlighted." Plus, it just looks awesome. 


If You're Trying Pastel

Hair

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When spring rolls around, a lot of people like to add some pastels to their hair, and those who are bold enough to color their hair with Crayola-inspired dye tend to stick to warmer tones. "For spring, a rose gold has definitely been very much in," Calvo adds. 

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Alanna Greco

I'm a writer and editor based in New York City. I love a good coat, a well-articulated feminist rant, and face masking (yes, that’s a verb) like it’s nobody’s business.