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Looking to brighten up your hair in a way that feels warm and sunny for spring? Buttercream blonde is the perfect trend to try. This celeb-loved color strikes a balance between honey tones and platinum blonde. It’s warm enough to look grounded and lived-in, yet light enough to feel like a serious refresh.
“Buttercream is a balanced, warm blonde that has a youthful reflection and subtle warmth that is creamy and rich,” says NYC-based celebrity hairstylist and color specialist, Kelly Novobielski. “It has soft, velvety-golden hues that are beigey and bright.” Unlike other bleach treatments, buttercream blonde won’t read cool-toned or ashy, but taking the right measures to maintain that balanced warmth is critical.
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Feeling inspired? Keep reading for everything you need to know about the buttercream blonde trend, plus how to keep your color fresh at home.
How to ask for buttercream blonde at the salon
This versatile blonde tone can be an allover color treatment or incorporated into more-dimensional looks. While it’s easiest to get the shade if you’re already a blonde, it’s not impossible to incorporate elements of the shade into darker hair as well. Below, hairstylist Lauren Grummel breaks down three variations on the trend.
Bright and light
“This color works best if you’re already naturally light and in the blonde family,” Grummel says of the look that’s bright blonde from root to tip and heavier on the cream than the butter. She explains that this shade can be done in one sitting if you’re already blonde, but be prepared to be in the chair for a couple of hours. To keep the buttery dimension, she says to ask your stylist for a full highlight with bright pops throughout: “Tone it more neutral or cool to get a few white pieces to really pop.”
Buttery blonde
This is a true buttercream blonde with a mix of warm highlights and a few pops of brightness—a great entry into blonde if you have light or medium brown hair. To achieve this shade, your stylist might lighten the base color to start and then add full highlights for the brighter pieces, leaving natural color for dimension.
For a low-maintenance take, “find the right foil or balayage placement so that the highlights can grow out effortlessly, allowing you to go longer in between appointments,” Novobielski says. “Embracing your natural hair color for dimension and balance is key to low-maintenance blonding.”
Warm buttercream
Grummel loves a warmer blonde-dipped look for clients transitioning from brunette. Ask your stylist for “brighter pieces around your face with pops of lightness through your ends plus lived-in highlights through your crown,” she says. Not ready to commit to going blonde all over? This warm tone also works well to highlight a brunette base.
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How much salon upkeep is involved with this color?
For a color that’s fairly light on the blonde spectrum, buttercream blonde can be much easier to maintain than an icy platinum. “The trend we are seeing is low-maintenance blonding—so typically 12 weeks for highlight touch-ups,” Novobielski says.
His pro tip to extend your time between full treatments? “I always ask blonde clients to come in once between highlight appointments—every four to six weeks—for a gloss refresh. This ensures their tone stays true to their vision and adds hydration and bonding protection, which is a major plus.” His treatment of choice for clients is the hydrating Danger Jones Gloss Toner, using the formula 10-03 + 10-0 + clear and adding more warmth as desired.
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How to maintain buttercream blonde hair at home
If you’ve gone blonde before, you’re probably familiar with purple shampoo—but you won’t want to overdo it with this shade. Purple pigments meant to neutralize yellow and brassy tones can also dilute the warmth that sets buttercream blonde apart from other shades. Try limiting your purple products to once every 10 days to two weeks; this will make your brightest streaks pop without toning down that buttery goodness.
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“For those who aren’t going gray but want to maintain their color vibrancy at home, I recommend a color-safe shampoo, like Biotera’s Ultra Color Care, which will help prolong the vibrancy of color-treated hair,” Novobielski says. On the other hand, if you’re doing single-process buttercream blonde treatment for gray coverage at home, he recommends AgeBeautiful’s 9NWB light neutral warm beige and 20–30v developer.
Speaking of tackling your own touch-ups: “For upkeep, two great golden shades in the IGK Permanent Color Kits are Almost Blonde and Olsens," says Chase Kusero, cofounder of IGK Hair Care. “Or, if you’re looking for something more temporary, try the IGK Color Depositing Mask in the shade Honey Please.”
