How to Master the Perfect Beach Blonde: From Poppy Delevingne’s Platinum to Suki Waterhouse’s Surfer Streaks

While there’s no better marker of a summer spent luxuriating seaside than a sun-bleached head of waves, it’s also true that the perfect shade of beach blonde is more likely to be the handiwork of a skilled colorist than a natural upgrade. Where better to find vacation-ready dye-jobs than the flaxen-haired beauties brightening our Instagram feeds? Spotted starboard in St. Tropez, **Natasha Poly’**s dark roots felt as natural as her freshly scrubbed skin, while Suki Waterhouse and Candice Swanepoel’s multidimensional surfer streaks made the case for painting on a range of sandy shades, a sentiment Valentina Zelyaeva echoed with an expertly calibrated bronde. Not that your ideal shade necessarily requires a headful of foils: Poppy Delevingne’s solid almost-platinum and Hanne Gaby Odiele’s uniform baby blonde captured the fleeting, pitch-perfect tone of a tow-headed childhood. Just in time for the last, lazy stretch of the sunny season, here are six reasons to lighten up.