15 Perfect Shades of Dark Blonde Hair

When winter’s bluster starts to wane and summer weather skips back in, we begin thinking about hot-weather fashion, makeup, and, of course, hair. A lot of people think that summer hair equals blonde—light blonde. It makes sense, right? When that big, beautiful polka dot in the sky we call the sun gets its shine on, we spend more time outside, which leads to more exposure to its rays, which leads to lighter hair. (And sunburns, if you’re not careful. Insert plug for sunscreen here!)

But there’s a shade that’s perfect for any season, and that’s dark blonde (also known as “bronde” or “nude hair,” if you prefer using one of those trendy monikers). Dark blonde hair can also easily transition between seasons, due to its in-between nature. Because bronde is having a moment, it’ll look especially hot this spring and summer. So what are you waiting for? Grab your shades and swimsuit, because we’re about to make the heat index soar with these 15 sizzling shades of dark blonde hair.

1. Cara Delevingne’s Natural Ash Blonde Hair with Light Blonde Highlights

Cara Delevingne is our beauty icon (OK, one of many). We’re not ashamed to admit that we’d likely mimic even her worst style faux pas — as if that could ever happen — just to prove our devotion to her. True to rebel form, our girl Cara more or less started the dark-blonde trend late last year, and here she’s still rocking it. Her long ash-blonde locks have an epic sheen to them, and the highlights provide mega-depth.

2. Long Dark Blonde Hair with Side-Swept Bangs

This mousey-blonde color is precious. It has a youthful effect, given that the color looks so natural (aka there are no stark lines or drastic color changes — both of which usually indicate salon-applied highlights — and the hair looks healthy and undamaged by dye). The hair is on the thinner side, but it still looks soft and pretty. Light layers add interest and movement.

3. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s Gorgeous Bronde Waves

Is Rosie’s hair brown or blonde? We don’t know! All we can say for sure is that it’s mesmerizing. Her signature thick, layered mane gives off a gorgeous sheen, and the rich bronde color complements her skin tone well.

4. Long Natural Bronde Hair with Face-Framing Light-Blonde Highlights

It’s time to channel the ’60s and feel the love. In our opinion, there’s nothing more lovable than these thick, long, dark blonde locks, which have gorgeous (and possibly natural) face-framing white-blonde highlights. Who needs flower power when you have follicle power?

5. Super-Long Stick-Straight Caramel-Blonde Hair

This pretty mane boasts an extremely unique color palette. Usually caramel coloring is described as a light-brown shade, but it would make just as much sense to categorize this as dark blonde. We’re also loving the sleek, touchable texture of this woman’s straight hair.

6. Bar Refaeli’s Shiny Honey-Blonde Hair

Bar’s stunning stick-straight locks are the stuff of magic. They’re super shiny and well taken care of, which means it actually is possible to maintain hair health even when you color it. The color is a caramel/honey shade, which looks scrumptious with her skin tone.

7. Sandy Blonde Wavy Hair

This wavy blonde hairstyle is Old Hollywood glam at its finest. (Also, are we seeing things, or could this woman be Taylor Swift’s hair twin?) But even more impressive than these stunning waves or the immaculate shine is the multidimensional color. You’ve got platinum blonde, strawberry blonde, and even caramel strands mingling throughout the sandy blonde base. Simply beautiful.

8. Tori Praver’s Thick, Luscious Honey-Blonde Waves

Here’s another honey- and caramel-blonde shade that’s incredibly striking. This particular hue belongs to Tori Praver, a woman who’s been blessed with one majestic head of hair. Set aside her mane’s thick texture and her long beachy waves — the color alone is enough to make everyone in the vicinity whip her head around to catch a glimpse.

9. Wavy Long Bronde Hair with Sunflower-Blonde Balayage

The sunflower-blonde balayage application on this dark blonde hair looks lovely. Finished off with some chunky waves, these thick long locks couldn’t look prettier or more romantic.

10. Long, Thick Bronde Hair with Natural Blonde Highlights

Talk about a show stealer! This woman’s slightly wavy dark blonde hair looks stellar when paired with a flowery red formal dress. But because the texture and color of her locks look so natural, they’d even go well with a T-shirt and jeans on the weekend.

11. Rich Bronde Hair with Natural Babylights

A lot of people might argue that this hair color is undeniably light brown. We disagree because, after all, beauty — and the definition of “bronde” — is in the eye of the beholder. But what can’t be denied is the fact that this woman’s hair color is darling, and her mane’s soft, touchable texture is swoon-worthy.

12. Long Dark Blonde Hair with Lots of Layers

There’s so much to love in this look: the rich bronde color, the wavy/messy texture, and the chunky long layers throughout the hairstyle. It seems flexible enough that it could be easily moved to either side with the flip of a hand or left parted down the middle and tucked behind her ears. Now that’s a ‘do we can get behind.

13. Shiny Bronde Hair with Jagged Middle Part

These stick-straight strands are super high-fashion. What’s also very in style is the color of this hairdo: a deep, multidimensional dark blonde. Major bonus points go to the haphazard part, which seems to start slightly off to the side and then veer over to the other side.

14. Fluffy Dark Blonde Bob

This messy bob makes light of itself with a far-left side part. Meanwhile it’s on the dark edge of the color spectrum with its bronde base color. There’s a subtle pale-blonde ombre effect coming through, but it only adds to the look’s dynamic quality.

15. Natural-Looking Bronde Hair with Light Blonde Highlights

We admit it — this hair color may not be natural after all. But who really cares? The dark blonde base with slight straw-blonde highlights looks like a million bucks — we just hope it didn’t actually cost that much (insert wincing emoji here).