32 Pretty Bronde Hair Shades, Worn by Celebrities
Can't decide between blonde and brunette? Have both.


Never heard of "bronde"? It's a portmanteau of brunette and blonde, combining the two classic hues for a layered look. "Bronde" hair boasts variation aplenty, from a single deep color throughout to highlights and ombré. If you're looking to go bronde, take inspiration from these celebrity looks.
Chloe Bailey
Some bronde can even have a little bit of red in it! In this updo on Chloe Bailey, you obviously have the darker brown at the roots and then a lighter reddish blonde piled high on the head. It's almost strawberry blonde, which is a fun and colorful choice.
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez is often working in the "bronde" range, with naturally brunette hair that she lightens with a variety of blonde shades. This particular version has a range of pretty hues, with lots of mid-blonde color that still plays nicely with brown.
Daisy Edgar-Jones
See how varied bronde can be? This starts as a deep brown and then goes ombré, all the way to light blonde at the tips. If you didn't want to take the plunge with your natural hair, you could use blonde clip-in extensions to give the same effect, salon-free.
Drew Barrymore
Ombre bronde is a classic, timeless look. Drew Barrymore starts with a dark color on top and then does a "dip-dye" effect towards the bottom of her hair, with the blonde strands decorating the ends. There's even a tinge of caramel in the front pieces!
Diane Kruger
This is somewhat of a light bronde, but it's great if your natural color is dark blonde to light brunette. The roots have some of that natural color, and then there's a golden blonde highlight. Diane Kruger has a simple but dimensional look that works for thin hair.
Storm Reid
For short hair, think of bronde highlights as the more elevated version of frosted tips. Storm Reid has dark hair at the roots, which makes way for a pretty, gentle golden blonde. Whether you go for a wig, extensions, or semi-permanent dye, you can pull off the same look if you have a pixie.
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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
I love how subtle this look is. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looks to have a partial highlight here, with her natural color more prominent at the nape and bottom crown of her head. Then the soft blonde highlights lay on top: subtle but dimensional.
Gigi Hadid
Bronde can also look like very visible roots! This is an editorial runway look, but the "messiness" is still very street style-friendly: the uneven layers in the cut lend a coolness and thoughtfulness to the darker roots underneath that brassy blonde.
Ciara
Ciara always has great taste in hair styles! These blonde front layers in contrast to the deeper brown in the rest of the hair could easily look too dramatic, but the body of the hair has blonde in it as well. It coheres the whole look, in other words.
Dakota Johnson
At first glance, this just looks like brunette hair on Dakota Johnson here. But if you take a look past her chin, the bottom layers have streaks of blonde. If you happen to have longer, darker hair, a subtle addition at the bottom is a nice way to dip your toe into bronde.
Karlie Kloss
Karlie Kloss isn't the only one to make visible roots look thoughtful (and tres chic, to boot). Thanks to the excellent highlights she has, there isn't one solid line where her blonde begins and her roots end. So it's almost an ombre effect that looks more casual.
Chrissy Teigen
You don't have to layer all your blonde highlights at the top of your head! Chrissy Teigen is showing off the exact opposite. Her hair is deep brown at the top and then, moving down the strand, very blonde in places. An extreme ombre can still be subtle!
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has been the bronde queen for a while now. Which makes sense: with some beautifully dispersed highlights across her naturally dark blonde hair, the effect is to lighten her strands without feeling drastic. That wheat color in particular is really soft.
Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox, icon, offers up some very dark roots and underlayer, then lets the blonde color shine through to the ends. This is, for obvious reasons, something you'd want to collaborate on with a talented stylist—and experiment with using extensions or wigs.
Ashley Greene
When you have brunette hair and you only want to lighten a few shades, choose a rich caramel color. Ashley Greene utilizes ombre smartly: her natural color is as present as ever at the top of her head, which allows the blonde to grow out beautifully.
Lily Aldridge
Lily Aldridge has gorgeous brown hair, but even she has answered the siren song of blonde! Going with highlights past your chin when you have long hair (or investing in extensions) allows you to keep your signature look while adding a dose of playfulness.
Hannah Einbinder
Hannah Einbinder has gorgeous red-blonde hair that has a touch of brunette in places. This particular combination of coloring, with lighter strands throughout, is really gorgeous—just know that red hair is quite a specific color, so see what hues work best for you.
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba has always had really good bronde hair—go back and look at her old hairdos if you're looking for inspiration. This modern version is more brunette than it is blonde, with the lighter shade coming in towards the bottom. Sort of a shadow blonde, if you know what I mean.
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence embraces some natural color towards the roots of her hair, then quickly transfers to a soft blonde (which is her signature color). If you often lighten your hair and want to try out something darker, this is an excellent way to try that out.
Jasmine Sanders
Bronde can be extreme—and really cool-looking! For Jasmine Sanders, the blonde is all on the outer layers of her hair, with the dark brown at the roots and underlayers. This is an intense look, to be sure, but it's almost architectural in its dimension.
Naomi Scott
This short cut on Naomi Scott looks pretty solidly brunette. But look carefully and you'll see blonde highlights at the outer edges. With that subtle of a color, it catches the light in really interesting ways and makes the hair look even fuller than it is.
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde often leans into her natural shade of brunette. But when she goes lighter, it's still authentic to her actual hair color: in this case, that means a gentle ombre that still keeps brown strands throughout, even at the bottom of her hair.
Cara Delevingne
Cara Delevingne can essentially pull off any hair cut and color she wants. Here, the blending of dark and light blonde is extremely well-done, with the darker shade more visible at the top and the pretty light blonde almost taking over on the bottom.
Rachel McAdams
Honestly, these light blonde front pieces are almost Y2K inspired (hello, extreme highlighting!). But Rachel McAdams pulls it off with aplomb, thanks to the prettiness of the brunette underneath. Oftentimes bronde is about juxtaposition as much as anything else.
Hailey Bieber
One of our best modern "brondes" is Hailey Bieber. This is a beautiful "quiet" version, with the subtle lighter color integrated through the strands and picking up the light in gorgeous ways. The right stylist will know exactly how to pull this off.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande's hair color during promotion of Wicked was gorgeous. It had shades of blonde (to match with her character Glinda, naturally), plenty of dark blonde, and just a touch of gold caramel. It's a shade she should lean into more often, in my opinion.
Addison Rae
With her long, lustrous hair, Addison Rae can add a ton of highlights throughout the body. This pretty wheat color complements her brown hair beautifully, which is so thick that she doesn't need to add a ton of other colors to make it look more voluminous.
Zendaya
For her Challengers photo calls, Zendaya went with a much lighter version of her brunette hair. And yet: you can still see the darker dimensions towards the base of the strand and in the under layers. Bronde can be really subtle, and this proves it.
Suki Waterhouse
I love how Suki Waterhouse plays with convention, and this bronde look is no exception. Usually, the face framing pieces are lighter on colored hair, but for Waterhouse her bangs are darker than the rest of her hair. Invest in clip-on bangs if you'd like to try!
Lily James
Bronde is a really wonderful way to evolve your signature hairstyle. Lily James, whose hair is naturally light brown, goes with a dark brunette at the roots and pretty ombre blonde in the body. Lowlights can be a really effective way to achieve this.
Gisele Bundchen
One of our nation's most famous brondes, Gisele Bundchen has a classic look here. Her hair is naturally darker blonde, and you can see it throughout, mixed in with soft lighter blonde. Bronde works on any hair length, but it's particularly gorgeous on long hair.
Margot Robbie
You may be surprised to learn that Margot Robbie—whose blonde hair was legendary even before she played Barbie—is a natural brunette. Here she plays into her natural hair color but still adds a few blonde strands around the face. It's a perfect way to switch things up but honor your roots (pun intended).

Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award.
Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.
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