17 Most Dazzling Hair Colors

Shades so good, you'll swear off hats.

By Maya Allen, Chloe Metzger and Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire

In winter—when lo-mo is in full swing and we're living life from beneath 15 layers of wool—we rely on exceptionally great hair color to elevate our just-rolled-out-of-a-snow-bank look. So, to help you get your hair game together before the first freeze hits, we've rounded up the prettiest, most popular colors, below. 

Sunset Bronde

Indecisive minds, listen up: get the best of both worlds and blend blonde and brunette together to create the "bronde" shade you've always wanted. Do as Hadid did and let your dark roots gradually get lighter to achieve a reverse ombré effect. Both deep and warm, this sunset blonde shade is timeless. 

Chocolate Mauve

The darker the hair, the sweeter the shade. If you want to look as enticing as Dunn, you need to rock a hue as sultry as this. This milky chocolate color will work with every item in your wardrobe, and won't require a lot of salon upkeep. Go easy on yourself with a color as effortless as this.

Rich Red

Just because the weather is cold doesn't mean your hair can't be hot (sorry, had to). Fire up your hair with a rich red because YOLO. Stop being scared of this scarlet shade—you know you've been daydreaming about trying a daring color for the longest. If worst comes to worse and you hate it, you can stay inside and shield yourself from the cold anyways. 

Icy Lavender

Euphoria breakout star Hunter Schafer shows exactly how to switch up spring's supreme shade of pretty pastels for colder temperatures to come. Her topknot transitions from an icy lavender to a cool blonde on the perimeters, mastered by celebrity colorist Matt Rez using Redken products. This style proves that two-toned hues on the cooler side suit every season. 

Caramel Ombré

It's official: The ombré is here to stay. But unlike the dip-dye look of your high school years, this style is all about using complementary colors versus contrasting hues. For dark brunettes, we're loving a seamless bronze melt from the mid-lengths to ends.

Chestnut Brown

While your first instinct may be to go darker and cooler for winter, try layers of chestnut brown instead, which help to add a warmer tone to your skin. And come spring, it's a perfect transition shade/base color for highlights.

Honey Blonde

Honey-blonde hair is the ultimate in-between shade for brunettes and blondes who want a minor change without looking too severe. J.Lo amped her brown hair up a few notches to an autumnal bronde (brown and blonde—you're welcome), proving the color is just as adaptable for winter as it was for fall.

Ash Blonde

Remember that one time when JLaw dyed her hair every possible shade of blonde? Our favorite of the hues is her recent ash blonde with platinum, face-framing highlights, which, honestly, is wearable every single day of the year.

Barely There Balayage

Let's be real: Gorgeous, low-maintenance color is #goals when the weather outside is constantly terrible, which is why we're so in love with going Joan Smalls' grow-out friendly route with touches of balayage on the mid-lengths and ends. If you're a brunette, try soft waves caramel, and if you're blonde, try a teensy-bit blonder.

White-Gold Highlights

Leave it to Beyoncé to be both glow-y and frosty at the same time. Just in time for winter, her caramel highlights have been taken from blonde to icy white-gold. Almost like champagne on ice. Sorry. 

Cold-Brew Colored Locks

It's not just for coffee: The newest hair trend is multidimensional brunette locks, dark with different shades of brown tossed throughout the hair color. You'll want your highlights to frame the face, using chestnut and gold highlights as opposed to mahogany lowlights.

Dark Mahogany

If you have your heart set on going darker, try this slightly subversive shade of ultra-dark mahogany. The plum undertones add a quiet vibrancy that suits winter's moodier vibes.

Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo's hair will have you running to the hair salon for a double-process, because a platinum look is always perfect for winter. The color isn't the definition of 'low-maintenance', but is it chic? Most certainly.

Unfiltered Rosé Pink

Pink so natural it looks like it grew out of your head is all the rage this season, and is entirely attainable. For blondes, bleaching combined with a shadow-root technique will make the color softer and not-quite-so out there, will give you a worn-in but standout look. For brunettes, dark pink lowlights in the hair will create extreme dimension. 

Red Velvet–Not Just For Cake

Sure, this one seems only attainable of you already have red hair, but fun fact: Julianne Hough's natural hair color is actually blonde. With the right colorist—please, never try to get red hair at home; you'll almost always end up with some peachy-pink disaster—you can try a single-process copper hue for winter that won't be at risk of fading in the summer sun.

Toasted Coconut

It looks as delicious as it sounds: the hair is a rich, dark color at the roots, blending, almost melting into a much light blonde color at the ends. The transition is seamless, and the dark roots make the blonde look just a tad brighter. It's perfect for those with both warm and cool-toned hair, and the multi-tonal hair looks different depending on the light. Lauren Conrad goes for a more traditional ombré look, but highlights blended in with dark roots, like Suki Waterhouse's, look great too.

Tinsel-Toned Tresses

Metallic pastels were all the rage in 2018, with the blorange and millennial pink shades of the summer transitioning easily into fall by turning into shades of silver and gray just in time for the holiday season. A switch-up from the bright, unicorn bold colors of winter 2017, the easiest way to make sure this look stays completely wearable day-to-day is to make sure the roots transition beautifully into the silver shade. 

See more at: Marie Claire