As the season changes and the sun shines brighter and brighter, it becomes the perfect time to head to the salon and freshen up your look. With a new season upon you, you’re ready to look sun-kissed and golden, or bold and creative.
Ranging from subtle to vibrant, the summer 2025 trends offer something for everyone, with room to leave your personal touches. Here’s a list of some of the hottest balayage and highlight trends that are going to dominate in the summer of 2025.
Highlights are a classic technique that easily adds depth to your hair by selectively lightening hairpieces. It’s been around for years, and most hairstylists learn this technique during their training. It adds depth and fullness to your natural color, or take it a step further and add it to your colored hair for a completely new look. Balayage is a trendy hair technique named after the French word for sweeping, and it has emerged in the last few years around the world as the superior method for enhancing your hair. The Balayage technique is an easy way to lighten your hair without compromising your natural color.
Highlights are geared towards those who want to add dimension and a more pronounced contrast between the lightened strands and your base color frames your face. Balayage is a more natural coloring process that is a softer version of highlights with less contrast. It allows you to grow your hair out more naturally and can provide that sun-kissed look that many are hoping to achieve in the summer months.
If you’re feeling adventurous, bold shades are emerging as a popular trend this year. Using a leave-in conditioner that colors your hair can be a fun way of experimenting with color without bleaching it. If you want to fully send it and get that intense all-over color, go with bleach first. No matter what color you pick, you can’t go wrong!
Balayage is painted brighter around the face and done mainly on the body of your hair while blending your roots – this can be done in many shades and colors, but the most popular are blondes, brunettes, and other natural tones. The trend for the summer of 2025 is called the “expensive” blonde or brunette. This trend focuses on rich, multi-dimensional tones that elevate a more natural look. The goal is to give depth and warmth to your hair for that effortless look.
If you’re looking for that pop of color this season, adding face-framing highlights or money pieces can be an easy way to add a new style and freshness to your hair without doing an all-over color. Money pieces have become popular over the last few seasons, peaking this summer less boldly and intensely. Think lighter tones, more honey, and warm colors over icy colors. This flatters a wide range of skin tones and hair types and can be easily changed if you get sick of it, come fall.
With natural colors remaining supreme in 2025, going to chocolate brown may seem basic, but it can bring a whole new life to your hair. The warm balayage adds dimension to your hair, making it a low-maintenance yet very impactful change. Even stepping into the territory of a lighter, natural color if you have naturally dark hair, can elicit the same feeling of change, and prepare you for a fun and free summer season.
With the rise of Y2K fashion, their hair trends have started to emerge again as well. For the bolder and more adventurous types, color blocking your hair will keep you on the cutting edge of fashion and what’s trendy. Using contrasting tones like platinum against dark brown or pastels against blondes can create a cool, artistic effect that isn’t for the faint of heart. A fun way to make a statement, are you brave enough to try this new trend?
Once you’ve colored your hair, make sure to put in the work to maintain it as well. Here are some essential techniques to maintain your hairstyle that will keep it looking fresh all summer long.
