If you haven't heard of ‘milk tea hair’ you're missing a trick, the pretty hair colour has picked up over 20 million views on TikTok where the ashy, beige blonde is being hailed as a beautiful summer-ready colour for everyone, but especially for warm, olive and asian complexions looking for a lighter shade heading into the new season.
The colour gets its name from the creamy hue of bubble tea and consists of brown and blonde shades as well as cool and warm undertones that can be personalised to work with your skin tone, eye colour and desired vibe.
One long-term fan is Blackpink's Rosé who has made milk tea blonde her signature colour. She wore her trademark waist-length milk tea blonde hair to headline the stage at Coachella this week.
But she's been a true stan for a couple of years, remixing it by dialing the undertones up or down depending on how cool or warm she wants her hair. Just the same as you would add more or less milk to your tea to make it stronger or creamier.
“Milk Tea hair is the hottest shade of blonde brewing up an interest on TikTok," confirms celebrity hairstylist, and Jerome Russell Brand Educator, Jason Collier. "Blackpink's Rosé has shown it off flawlessly. Originating from the delicious bubble tea, this blonde shade is quite cool toned and ashy and can be adjusted to suit different skin tones,” he adds.
Depending on your desired tone we've seen it bright, creamy, beige, greige and light brown.
One user @tiffgif uploaded a video of herself trying a darker rendition of the shade out. “Come with me to get the viral milk tea hair. I heard on TikTok that this shade complements asian complexions. I asked for a dark milk tea brown colour with long layers and curtain bangs. [It's a] great transition colour if you want dark hair that's not too dark,” she said.
Another user added more “milk” or blonde to her milk tea shade.
And another showed a mix of brown and blonde to get her milk tea blonde just right.
“If you're starting with darker hair, you'll need to lift your hair shade,” says Jason. “The key to a long lasting blonde is strong hair,” he adds, so ask your hair stylist for a gentle formula with plex or bond-building technology. “After lifting the hair shades, you can follow up with colour; this can be permanent or semi-permanent colours or toners,” he says. "If you're starting off with already natural light or lightened hair you can skip straight to the colour," says Jason. And, if you're confident trying it yourself at home, for a permanent shade he recommends Bblonde Permanent Hair Colour in Ash (£8.99), and for semi-permanent he rates the Bblonde Maximum Blonde Toner in Pearl (£4.99).
Want to skip the bleach? One TikTok user found a hack to achieving milk tea hair without even reaching for the bleach. @missvivian.le told TikTok “I thought you needed bleach, but really you don't. Instead of getting a regular brown hair dye box, you need to get ash blonde. And instead of leaving it for 30 minutes, leave it for one hour.” She appeared to use the L'Oreal Paris Excellence Crème Permanent Hair Dye in 9.1 Natural Light Ash Blonde.
So if you're looking for a summer hair shade switch up, we're adding milk tea hair to our list asap.
For more from GLAMOUR's Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
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