15 Glittering Golden Blonde Hair Ideas
All that glitters is golden blonde hair; a shade so shiny, sparkly and soft, it lends a warming complexion boost to anyone who tries the hair trend. No wonder, then, that it's one of the most coveted shades of blonde out there. Keep scrolling for shade inspiration and maintenance tricks, each worth their weight in gold(en blonde)…
What Hair Color is Golden Blonde?
Warm and glossy; golden blonde is on the richer end of the blonde spectrum, with a melted blend of highs and lows that sparkle like threads of gold. And it's also ultra-versatile; your Wella colorist can make it lighter or darker to suit your skin tone, eye color and base color, so you can choose between a bright honey gold or a deep, gilded caramel. In essence, it's sun-kissed and shimmery – a beautiful hue that gives us summer vibes all year round.
Which is Lighter, Honey Blonde or Golden Blonde?
While honey and golden blonde are both rich colors that radiate warm tones, honey blonde tends to be the lighter hue with hints of buttery yellow versus golden blonde's gilded light reflections. A golden blonde is also easier to tailor, as it pairs flawlessly with a darker base or you can team it with brown lowlights to wear it with a little depth.
15 Golden Blonde Hair Ideas
Honey Glass Hair
Part of our collection of Golden Glass Hair services, this dripping-in-shine look gives golden blonde hair a honey-hued twist that glows all season long. And getting the shade is easy; simply head to your nearest Wella salon and request it from their menu. Your colorist will create the hue in three layering steps that bestow your hair with luminosity:
- First, they'll lighten your hair with the #1 salon lightener in the US¹, BlondorPlex, our bond-strengthening pre-lightener that reduces breakage by up to 97%².
- Next, they'll tone your hair with SHINEFINITY Color Glaze for a zero damage, zero lift, translucent veil of demi-permanent color.
- To finish, your hair will be sealed and styled with ULTIMATE SMOOTH Miracle Oil Serum, creating a glassy topcoat that leaves hair soft, nourished and frizz-free.
True Golden Blonde Hair
Image Credit: @giadagalassi_
This is golden blonde hair at its truest; a shade that glimmers beautifully under the light, combining a spectrum of light hair tones that melt seamlessly into one another. Color Touch is the color of choice here, our demi-permanent formula that's long been iconic, but is now better than ever thanks to the Metal Purifier. This breakthrough technology neutralizes metals in your hair to ensure you get the most even, flawless results, giving you true-to-tone vibrancy, no matter your hair's condition. Your colorist can mix up a range of hues for a look this multi-dimensional, then blend them together for a low-contrast, high-shimmer Color Touch Melt
Golden Platinum Hair
Image Credit: @brianacisneros
When you hear 'platinum blonde' you probably think of an almost-white, cool-toned blonde, but this golden glow is putting a whole new twist on the trend. Still light and bright, but with a hint of warmth, it's your go-to if you want a softer platinum. Illumina Color created this hue; our permanent formula for radiant, youthful, 100% natural-looking color that's luminous in every light.
Beachy Golden Blonde Highlights
Image Credit: @marianiliehair
This sun-kissed blonde radiates golden warmth that's levelled up by the styling. Want in? Try these micro braids through the front of your hair, and tousle lengths with a salt spray. We love EIMI Ocean Spritz for grip, guts and beachy texture. Simply mist it through clean, damp hair, lightly scrunch, and let lengths air-dry or twist into overnight braids and wake up to undone waves in the morning.
Golden Bronde Hair
Image Credit: @moniqueliacastro
Bronde hair is everywhere right now, so why not give it a gilded twist? By teaming light brown hair with hints of golden blonde, you get the dreamiest fusion of warm, sun-dappled tones. This SHINEFINITY creation shows you just how glossy the demi-permanent glaze can go, giving even dull hair a boost of radiance in 20 minutes (or less). Plus, because all the brightness is focused through the lengths, it's a low-maintenance look, with the natural root allowing for the softest regrowth.
Golden Caramel Blonde
Image Credit: @marieuva
Give golden hair an injection of caramel to take the tone a little deeper. This decadent hue comes courtesy of Illumina Color, the perfect permanent hair color for a natural, light-reflective hue. It even delivers up to 100% gray hair coverage, if that's what you're looking for, so you can target silver regrowth and transform your shade in a single salon visit.
Golden Peach Blonde
Image Credit: @artistic.aestheticss
Add a hint of pastel to your blonde look with a juicy copper peach or golden apricot tone. These shades are soft enough to suit everyone but bold enough to turn heads wherever you go. Your colorist can reach for any product in the Wella portfolio to achieve a peach blonde like this, but we're loving SHINEFINITY for pastel tones that dial up glossiness all over. Ask your colorist to apply your shade with a balayage technique for seamless regrowth, and add a brighter face frame for a halo of complexion-enhancing color.
Brown Hair with Golden Blonde Highlights
Image Credit: @plismam.sousa
If you have deep brown hair and want to maintain your rich, natural base, keep golden blonde tones subtle with a mix of highlights in lighter and darker tones. This blonde makeover comes courtesy of Blondor Freelights to pre-lighten balayage, followed by Illumina Color for the most natural-looking toner. Don't forget to add a purple shampoo to your regimen to keep excess warmth at bay in between salon visits. INVIGO Blonde Recharge Cool Blonde Shampoo will keep your shade fresh and free from brassiness.
Golden Blonde Seamless Babylights
Image Credit: @fraeulein_lieblingshaar
Have you heard of babylights? They're micro-fine ribbons that are placed close together, so they boost the brightness in your hair while mimicking the natural twinkly highlights of your childhood. The result: a gleaming blonde with a hyper-real, shiny finish, which you can dial up using the ULTIMATE SMOOTH regimen for major gloss. Try this look if root-to-tip, all-over gold is your goal. Its pure gilded perfection was made for the summer months.
Golden Copper Blonde Shade
Image Credit: @tarabonehair
Gold highlights meet copper hair in this red-tinted mane; an ideal choice for anyone not ready to give up their natural red shade but still wanting a soft blonde concoction. If you're blessed with hair this long, ask your colorist to use Koleston Perfect to achieve your dream hue. The permanent color harnesses Ultra Precision Color Technology, which ensures the most even finish from root to ends. It's also the first and only professional color to combine ME+ Technology with the Metal Purifier, reducing the risk of new allergies to hair color² while neutralizing metals in your hair. A true multitasker.
Golden Blonde Twilighting
Image Credit: @mettamorfosis.hair
Have you heard of twilighting? It's a glow-giving technique for deep brunettes, which sees bright, golden highlights applied to create a bold contrast that breaks all the color rules. While, typically, it's recommended that highlights are no more than two shades lighter than the base, you're going around four shades lighter with this look. And, honestly? The rule-breaking pays off. Just make sure it's done with BlondorPlex, so the structure of hair isn't compromised.
Golden Blonde Balayage
Image Credit: @gphairexperience
One of our favourite things about a curly balayage is its ability to make texture pop. When it's tactically placed, the lightener can define tight coils, so their shape stands out against a darker base. Try it with Blondor Freelights, which we specifically designed to be used during freehand services. It has an adhesive mass that makes it stay in place, so you don't have to worry about smudging. For extra curl definition, style balayaged strands with the EIMI NutriCurls Curl Shaper gel-cream. Simply apply it evenly through damp hair, then dry with a diffuser for flawless, frizz-free curves.
Golden Blonde Ombre
Image Credit: @leonora__ribeiro
One of the simplest ways to set brown hair aglow is with a golden blonde ombre. It's a low-maintenance look that lets you keep your roots au naturel, while lightening up the mid - lengths and ends. This means no harsh regrowth, no root touch-ups and no more dullness through the ends. Just make sure you care for lifted mid-lengths with a rich, creamy hair mask, like ColorMotion+ Structure+ Mask.
Golden Vanilla Blonde Hair
Image Credit: @unrivaled.beauty
On the blonde hair spectrum, vanilla blonde and golden blonde sit close together, both decorating locks in glimmering warmth that looks luminous all year long. For something in between, go for a softer gold with a milky, hazy finish, and lower the volume of brown lowlights to reduce the contrast of your highlights.
Golden Blonde Chunky Highlights
Image Credit: @blondee_salon
Golden hour is every hour with these chunky blonde highlights, which shimmer and shine from root to tip through a golden brown base. Give them a beachy vibe and tousled texture by working EIMI Sugar Lift through loosely tonged ends. Sun-kissed blondes and surfer-girl waves are always a winning combo.
How to Maintain Golden Blonde Hair
Golden blondes aren't always easy to maintain. You want the shade to be warm but not brassy, which means a carefully chosen color-safe regimen is needed to strike the perfect balance. Follow these steps to ensure your gilded shade glistens in all the right ways. This regimen maintains richness, boosts shine, and levels up your hair's nourishment...
1. Follow a Care Regimen for Colored Hair
First, prevent brassy tones by using a color-enhancing shampoo. Our go-to is ColorMotion+ Color Protection Shampoo, which is packed with safeguarding antioxidants. It's these antioxidants that forage shade-fading free radicals to help your shade last, while the built-in Metal Purifier neutralizes the metals, such as copper, commonly found in tap water. By lathering up with this gentle shampoo, blonde locks will appear glistening and golden for longer, giving you up to 8 weeks of color protection⁵.
Next up, a conditioner is key. Colored hair looks its best when it's nourished and moisturized, so team the ColorMotion+ Color Protection Shampoo with the ColorMotion+ Moisturizing Color Reflection Conditioner. On days when your hair feels like it needs added nourishment, the ColorMotion+ Structure+ Mask is a must. In five minutes, it leaves mid-lengths and ends feeling softer, smoother and stronger.
2. Repair and Glow with this Power Pair
The most radiant blondes rely on deep nourishment to help their color glow, so focus on moisture, nourishment and deep repair in your styling regimen. After washing your hair, treat it while it's still damp to ULTIMATE REPAIR Miracle Hair Rescue, a weightless mist with the power to repair your hair in 90 seconds⁴. Its blend of AHA and Omega-9 rebuilds the hair shaft, no matter your hair texture or type. The result: 99% less breakage⁶. Then, layer ULTIMATE SMOOTH Miracle Oil Serum over the top for rich moisture. The Squalane-boosted hair oil gives you nourishment in 30 seconds that lasts for up to 3 days⁷. Frizz is history.
3. Protect Against Heat Damage
Nothing dulls your golden color quicker than heat damaged hair, so make sure you use a heat protectant before every hot tool, from your hair dryer to your flat iron. ULTIMATE SMOOTH Miracle Oil Serum already has a UV shield built in, so if you've used it on damp hair, you're already prepped for a blow dry. But, if you're in between washes and want an ultra-light solution to safeguard lengths, apply EIMI Thermal Image; a bi-phase protector that wards off scorching temperatures while adding weightless shine.
4. Top Up Your Golden Glow
Refresh your color in between salon visits with the Color Fresh Mask in Golden Gloss; a real game-changer that tops up your tone in 10 minutes. Simply apply it from root to tip through just-washed, towel-dried hair, let it develop for the full 10 minutes, and then rinse with warm water to reveal a radiant and revived golden blonde. It's your quick route to visibly healthy-looking hair.
¹ Based on master brand USD sales in the 2023 Professional Hair Color Study for the bleach coloring sub-product type category published by Kline.
² When using Wellaplex N°2 with Blondorplex, versus Blondorplex alone.
² FOR PEOPLE NOT ALLERGIC TO HAIR COLORANTS. Although the risk of developing a new allergy is reduced, there remains a risk of allergic reaction that can be severe. Always ask your stylist to perform an Allergy Alert Test 48h before each colouration. Strictly follow safety instructions. If you have ever experienced an allergic reaction to hair colorants, you should not colour. ME+ is present in specific shades of Pure Naturals, Rich Naturals, Vibrant Reds, Special Blondes and Deep Browns of the Koleston Perfect brand.
⁴ When using Structure+ Mask.
⁵ When using ULTIMATE REPAIR Miracle Hair Rescue.
⁶ When using ULTIMATE REPAIR Miracle Hair Rescue. Instrumental test versus non-conditioning shampoo.
⁷ When using ULTIMATE SMOOTH Miracle Oil Serum, if unwashed for 3 days, vs. untreated.