'Ginger Blond' Is Here To Bring An Auburn Touch To Your Hair For Winter 2024

The winter months call for darker, richer hair tones. Since red is winter 2023/2024's trendiest color, we expect to see it everywhere, from chic ensembles to trendy, lustrous hair. On this, Richy Kandasamy, a colorist and co-founder of Rikoko Beauty, told Glamour, "The top trending shades for this winter season will be a mix of vibrant, enchanting reds and coppers. Think luxe, rich palettes of valentine reds and coppers and bronze that evoke warmth and sophistication."

Consequently, if your hair is light, you might yearn for a transitional shade during the winter months that will add a touch of finesse and warmth while embracing the red trend. However, you may also not be ready for a full-on transition from blond to red. In this case, ginger blond might be the perfect shade for you. From lowlights to highlights, you can still achieve the richness and depth you're looking for sans the extreme and sudden change.

Bonus point? You are still on par with the latest dernier cri trends of winter hair color. "These can range anywhere from traditional shades to multidimensional hues," according to Kandasamy. So, if you want a subtle change that will seamlessly ease you into auburn reds, ginger blond, it is.

A fabulously rich copper color is what you need to embrace the season's flair. According to Richy Kandasamy, edgy rust copper is a favorite take on the trend. "This offers a bit of an edge to traditional red and copper shades," he shared with Glamour. If you're worried about a permanent transition, opt for a temporary hair dye, which only clings to the outside of your hair. After a few washes, you can return to your natural blond, or if the new color steals your heart (and the impressions of those around you!), you can segue into a more permanent rusty copper.

Trending on TikTok, #gingerhighlights has amassed an impressive 2.7 million views. The dynamic combination of ginger and golden highlights adds volume and depth to your hair. If you are not ready yet for a vibrantly auburn mane, opt for these two shades of highlights to embrace the "red" trend in a way that makes you feel comfortable. The golden highlights will brighten up your face, while the ginger ones will add warmth and sweetness to your overall look.

Balayage is a hair coloring technique that involves painting the dye on your strands. This creates different levels of highlights, resembling how our natural hair is composed of darker and lighter shades instead of one cohesive color. Ginger balayage on a fair-colored base will create the irresistible ginger-blond combo of the season. Plus, the warmth of these "ginger snap" tones is perfect for light-colored complexions.

Contrary to highlights, which aim to give your hair accents brighter than your base strands, lowlights create the same depth effect on the reverse. Keeping your base a brighter color, lowlights will add darker tones to different sections of your hair. Lowlights are an excellent choice to keep your natural blond hair shade and add rich accents. Beverly Hills-based celebrity hair colorist Matt Rez advised Byrdie that lowlights work best on neutral or neutral-cool bases. "This way the allover appearance of the silhouette is neutral and will flatter most skin tones, as skin is multi-tonal usually," he explained.

Another take on the ginger blond trend is ginger copper fused with a hint of strawberry blond for a more playful appeal. Whether you wear your hair short or have a long mane down to your waist, you can ask your hairstylist to play around with your tresses, mixing touches of ginger copper with the allure of blond that borrows on red(ish) undertones. You can go for a highlights or lowlights technique depending on the base you choose, or opt for a more natural-looking balayage. Whatever your select, you can rest assured that this powerful combo will easily give your hair the auburn touch you crave without going full-on red.

Choosing the right shade of coppery red for your hair can be tricky. "Your skin color and eye color need to be the number one thing taken into consideration," celebrity colorist Jill Buck told Byrdie. "The warmer and lighter bright reds complement someone with a fair complexion, and more neutral and deeper red shades are good for darker complexions." If unsure, begin with lighter shades of copper blond before adding more rust into your dye until you reach the shade that perfectly compliments your natural skin tone and eyes.

"Ombré is a gradient of dark to light. Simply put, it's dark roots and lighter ends," Billy Hannam, a stylist based in West Palm Beach, Florida, at Anushka Spa & Salon, explained to Allure. So, to achieve an auburn ombré, you will need to dye your hair a darker shade of ginger (bordering on auburn shades but not entirely) and fade out with golden accents towards the ends of your hair strands. This ombré technique has a stunning gradient effect, showcasing dark-to-light contrasts for a fashion-forward look that adds dimension and movement to your locks.