One trend that’s carried over into multiple seasons is ombré hair. What is it? Ombré hair is just having a darker shade of hair on top that fades down to lighter ends on the bottom. It gives hair a nice sun-kissed look that blends in more naturally than the traditional method of two-tone hair color. It also requires less maintenance than regular highlights. If you use your natural hair color as the ‘darker’ color, ombré hair is a convenient and trendy way to avoid the annoyance of having to get roots touched up every few weeks.

Salon Visit

This trend looks effortless (read: beachy) on dirty blonde to medium brown hair, but don’t let that discourage you! If your hair color doesn’t fall between those shades, you can still wear the ombré trend! All you need is a hair color in the same family (but just a few shades lighter) as your current color. You’ll also need a stylist if you aren’t brave enough to DIY it. Going to a salon helps ensure that what you want is actually what you get. The best way to make sure you walk out satisfied, be specific as to what you want. Show the stylist where in your hair you want the ombré to start, and bring pictures of what you’re looking to replicate.

Box Dye

Coloring hair at home is a cheaper alternative to salon visits. L’Oreal actually makes a box dye specifically for going ombré. The box kit comes with everything you need to successfully dye the tips of your hair, and is readily available at Target and other drugstores for a few dollars more than the average box dye. Not totally confident with trying this out on your own hair yet? No problem, there’s another option to choose from.

Hair Extensions

If you like to switch up your length by wearing hair extensions, you can still have ombré hair. Another option is to keep your full natural (or current) hair color, buy human hair extensions that match your current color, and use the L’Oreal ombré kit to dye the bottom half of the extensions only. This is the least damaging and least permanent way to stay on trend. Some extensions are sold with the ends already dyed, but I haven’t found any that are made from 100% human hair, so the durability with styling tools is limited. I recently purchased a clip-in from Ulta that is an ombré synthetic hair extension, pictured below. I really like how it looks and how well it blends with my hair, but I would prefer human hair.

Picture from my Instagram (chelseytanisha)