This blended blonde shade is dethroning platinum and only needs a touch-up every three months
You leave the salon with a brilliant blonde, and three weeks later, your roots give everything away. It’s a situation many people know all too well, and it’s precisely what the new blonde shade trend aims to solve. In 2026, experts are aligned on one clear direction: forget uniform colour from root to tip, and make way for something deeper, more blended, and far easier to maintain.
Low-maintenance colour: a touch-up every three months is enough
One of the biggest advantages of this new approach to blonde is the freedom it offers day to day. Thanks to blending techniques and reverse balayage, regrowth integrates naturally into the rest of the hair. Colourist David Lucas, a specialist in natural-looking effects, confirms that a small touch-up every three months is more than enough, even with a toner on the edges. The overall connection stays cohesive and the colour ages gracefully, with no harsh demarcation line.
This low-maintenance quality represents a real shift for anyone who wants a blonde shade without the constant upkeep. Fewer salon visits, less stress on the hair fibre, and a result that stays looking natural over time.
Different techniques to find your ideal blonde shade
Several methods coexist to achieve this sought-after depth. David Lucas offers reverse balayage, which involves working caramel and warmer tones through the lengths. This repigmentation technique adds softness to the overall look without weighing the colour down.
Hairstylist Delphine Courteille, for her part, swears by double gloss. The principle is straightforward: darken the roots and lighten the lengths, with a glossy finish and no risk to the hair fibre. The result is a blended blonde where the lightening starts very subtly at the root, almost imperceptibly, then gradually intensifies towards the ends.
At Wella salons, the trend goes by the name suede blonde. Its tones shift between warm sand and creamy highlights, striking a modern balance that avoids both the overly cool and the overly golden. Each of these approaches shares the same goal: roots that are slightly darker than the lengths, with luminous contouring around the face.
Why golden highlights are winning out over platinum
The all-out bleached blonde, white like Marilyn Monroe’s, makes a comeback from time to time. Yet it’s winning fewer and fewer converts. Delphine Courteille speaks plainly about the end of the all-over frozen blonde, and David Lucas observes that this kind of radical blonde no longer holds the same appeal it once did.
Part of the reason is aesthetic. Platinum has a tendency to dull the complexion, whereas slightly warmer golden highlights bring softness to the face and catch the light far more beautifully. This warmer blonde shade therefore proves more flattering for a wider range of people.
On curly and textured hair, Maxime Begat-Coudray, national trainer at La Belle Boucle, confirms that warm blondes, such as honey, caramel, and golden beige, work extremely well. He does stress, however, the importance of a very gradual lightening process, so as not to break the natural definition of the curls or disrupt their movement.
The essential care routine to preserve your colour
Even when the hair fibre has been less exposed thanks to gentler techniques, aftercare remains a non-negotiable step. Delphine Courteille is unequivocal: the moment hair has been coloured or highlighted, conditioner becomes essential. On curly hair, this requirement is even greater, as it is naturally drier and requires simultaneous management of hydration and colour maintenance, as Maxime Begat-Coudray points out.
- Use a dedicated conditioner after every colour or highlighting service
- Apply an oil to the lengths and ends the night before washing, for exceptionally soft hair
- Turn to purple pigment treatments if highlights drift too yellow or too orange, depending on personal preference
- Invest in a filtering shower head to limit the effects of limescale, chlorine, and heavy metals on the pigments
- Always respect the processing time indicated for colour treatments
For blonde hair that lacks luminosity or whose highlights have shifted, targeted treatments serve a dual purpose: they extend the integrity of the blonde shade and boost radiance. David Lucas reminds us that purple pigment treatments remain effective against unwanted tones, and that there is no fixed rule for how often to use them. Colour is, above all, a personal feeling, and everyone adapts their routine accordingly. Limescale, the number one enemy of pigments, dries out the hair fibre and causes colour to bleed: a filtering shower head, such as the Seoni model available at Oh My Cream!, also blocks chlorine and heavy metals, two factors equally damaging to the longevity and appearance of your blonde shade.
