Lucy Hale Has a Dramatic New Hair Color

Lucy Hale wasn’t joking when she said her next hair change would be inspired by Selena Gomez.

During an interview with People earlier this year, the actress hinted that she may go blonde like Gomez did this past fall. "I could be coming out with a different color. I have to do something different because I get so bored,” Hale said of her next hair look. “I saw Selena [go blonde] and she looked so good. I was like ‘Yes!’ That was good inspiration. When it comes to beauty, I would try anything.”

Well, judging from Hale's latest Instagram post, she's followed through. The actress shared a photo mid-glam session with drastically lighter hair. The shade consists of warm highlights with a few of her chocolate brown strands left undyed for added dimension.

Although the change is just as dramatic as Gomez's platinum shade, Hale took a different approach than the singer did when she went from brunette to blonde. Instead of going lighter in one visit with her colorist, the actress has taken a less-damaging route by highlighting her hair in stages.

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Last month, Hale had warm honey highlights that were hand-painted on with the balayge technique. The color was applied starting at her mid-lengths down to her ends.

Judging from the more subtle baylage highlights she had at Kate Spade's Fall 2018 presentation at NYFW, the actress began her blonde transformation back in February.

It's hard not to go from 0 to 100 when you're ready to try a new hair color, but if you're a brunette that's been debating over whether spring 2018 will be the season you finally go blonde, let Hale's transformation serve as inspiration on how to try the trend without totally frying your hair in the process.