Mid-Lighting Is the Hair Color Secret We All Need to Know About
Warm Butter
Colorist Matt Rez convinced us of the power of mid-lights on his Instagram alone. "Having enough warmth, not only does it tie the look together, but it gives it more of a pop because it is a balance of tones. You have your warm, your neutral, and your cool," he told Instyle. Blending light butter blonde highlights with warmer blonde mid-lights ensures a balanced finish that doesn’t make the hair color look too obvious on a dirty blonde base.
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Tortoiseshell
Why not put a few strokes of honey here, a few ribbons of dark caramel there? Tortoiseshell hair is a mixture of dark shades and touches of warm caramel, honey, and gold—meaning it’s basically made for mid-lighting.
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Creamy Beige
This bright beige borders on the trending hue, cream soda, thanks to the mix of warmer golden blonde mid-lights and platinum blonde highlights. The trick is starting with a neutral bronde base that’s neither too warm nor too cool in tone.
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Rusty Bronde
Can you successfully blend shades of deep rust, chestnut brown, and warm golden blonde without it sending everyone into a tailspin? Yes, apparently. This multi-dimensional color catches the light in a big way.
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Bronde Babylights
This perfect blend of neutral brown and warm blonde makes us just as ready for sun-kissed summer days as breezy autumn nights. It’s a transitional color that caters to natural brunettes that want to lighten things up.
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Bright Copper
This fiery approach features heavier strokes than some mid-lighting, but the combination of the deep red base with bright copper mid-lights and warm strawberry blonde highlights hits all the right notes.
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Pearly Ash
This blonde blend is all about keeping the tones cool and neutral, though mid-lighting often calls for a slightly warmer tone to tie it all together. In this case, subtle honey and dirty blonde mid-lights connect ashy roots to pearl blonde highlights.
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Chestnut Swirl
It doesn’t get any warmer than this combo of deep chocolate, chestnut brown, and rich caramel. That’s a lot of personality packed into a classic short bob cut, and we’re thinking this is the perfect shade for fall.
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Champagne Blonde
This blonde blend is fizzy and light. Warmer blonde base tones are blended into buttery mid-lights and champagne blonde highlights for a bright finish we’re loving for summertime.
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Caramel Melt
This rooty caramel color melds a warm chocolate base and bright blonde-caramel ends with neutral brown and deep caramel mid-lighting. Some babylights at the roots tie it all together.
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Rich Honey
This sun-kissed blend is all about keeping things super warm and natural. The darker base needs lighter brown and dirty blonde mid-lights to marry golden-honey blonde highlights. Without it, the mane screams “fresh from the box,” not from the beach.
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Toffee Brown
Make even the deepest mocha brown look naturally sun-kissed (and not stripe-y!) with chestnut mid-lights that give way to warm toffee and golden caramel balayage highlights. The upper root section gets some love too, making it look less stark than a gradient ombré finish.