The term dirty blonde hair color and dishwater blonde hair color generally has a less-than-pretty connotation. It’s viewed as mousy and bland—neither here nor there, and not especially desirable. Is your blonde hair color better saved or shifted? The Matrix hair color pros weigh in.

When To Keep Your Dirty Blonde Hair Color

It’s perfectly lovely to embrace your dirty blonde hair color, if it meets the following criteria:

1. It’s flattering to your skin tone and eye color. A brown or ashy blonde hair color usually looks best if your complexion is cool and your eyes are blue or cool green.

2. It’s shiny. Because this hair color is cool in nature, it’s important to be sure it’s as lustrous as possible. This prevents your dirty blonde hair color from looking too flat or matte. A great way to maximize shine is with a pre-shampoo sugar-infused hair scrub that exfoliates impurities the way a facial scrub exfoliates your skin. And before hair styling, apply a lightweight, illuminating hair mist that also acts as a heat protectant.

3. It has dimension. That means that rather than being one solid hair color, your dishwater blonde hair color has lighter and darker pieces running through it. If it’s not naturally dimensional, you can ask your hair stylist to add a few lighter foil or balayage highlights, leaving your natural dark blonde hair color shade as your base color.

How to Transform Your Dirty Blonde Hair Color – Top Blonde Hair Color Ideas

If your natural dirty blonde hair color doesn’t make the grade, here is good news. Because it’s already pretty light, it’s fairly easy for your hair stylist to create a new blonde hair color shade because she won’t have to lighten your hair too much. And in some cases, she may not have to lighten your hair color at all; rather, it will be possible to simply alter the tone.  Here are some great options for changing up dishwater blonde hair color.

Buttery blonde hair color.

To create this shade, your hair stylist will weave in lots of fine, pale gold highlights which will lighten and subtly warm up your dirty blonde hair color.

Sandy blonde hair color. 

This one is easy! Using your natural base hair color, your hair stylist will add lots of cool, beige-toned highlights, concentrating on the sections off of your part, around your face and on the ends.

Baby blonde hair color.

To create this delicate blonde hair color shade, your hair stylist will lighten your base color to a pale, neutral blonde hair color. Then she’ll add lots of tiny, vanilla-toned highlights for a beautiful, “kid at the beach” result.

Bronde hair color. 

Bronde hair color falls between brown and blonde hair color, blending the two to create a sun-kissed hair result. It’s less intense than ombré and balayage hair color and more nuanced than conventional blonde highlights. Adding some lowlights in sandy brown or golden brown sugar for a “bronder” tone will restore depth and dimension to your blonde hair, without sacrificing brightness.

Tawny blonde hair color.

This sexy and attractive hair color shade evokes the dramatic hues of a lioness! Your hair stylist will deepen your base hair color slightly to a rich caramel shade, and then add lots of honey and golden blonde highlights.

Platinum blonde hair color.

Nothing makes a statement like platinum blonde hair color. It’s light and bright and luminous. To achieve this shade, your hair stylist will apply hair lightener in order to lift out as much of your natural pigment as possible. Then she’ll tone your hair color with a violet or pearly or pale mocha hair color shade —depending on the desired result and the most flattering hair color for your complexion.

Silver blonde hair color. 

This shade accentuates the cool nature of your natural hair color. Your hair stylist will lighten your hair a few shades, and then tone it with a sheer, smoky wash of color. 

Blonde Hair Care

No matter how much or how little you shift your dishwater blonde hair color, here are a few hair tips to keep in mind:

• Have your stylist add bonder to every formula. Hair color is healthier than ever these days, and now there’s a new hair color additive that takes healthy hair coloring even further. Bonding systems like Matrix’s Bond Ultim8 actually repair the bonds that are broken during the hair color process, and prevent the color from further damaging hair.

• Detangle hair with care. Blonde and highlighted hair is at its most vulnerable—prone to hair breakage and damage—when it’s wet. So handle with care! Apply conditioner after every shampoo, and while the conditioner is still in your hair, comb through with a wide-tooth comb to remove tangles. Blot, don’t rub your hair with a towel. Then spritz on a light leave-in conditioner and comb again with a wide-tooth comb, or use a brush designed for detangling wet hair.

• Prevent Brassy Hair. Exposure to UV light, minerals in your water and the relentless march of time can all cause cool blonde hair color to become brassy. Regular use of a violet or purple-toned shampoo can correct the situation and restore your lovely blonde tone.