Kerry Washington’s New Blonde Braids Feature The Perfect Matching Accessory

Despite being born on the last day of January, Kerry Washington might just be the ultimate queen of summertime. All season long, the actor-activist regales her 6.4 million followers to an inside look at how she’s enjoying the warm weather, and it’s always worth watching. Washington showcases her travels, outdoor workouts, dance numbers, pool floats, and — of course — her drool-worthy hair, makeup, and outfit choices. This week was certainly no exception as the Scandal star unveiled her newest hairstyle, which just so happens to be ideal for summer. What else would you expect? Kerry Washington debuted blonde braids, streaked with golden ombré highlights that cascade to her waist and give way to three stacked beads in summery shades of wood orange.

In a stunning new photo shared to Instagram captioned with the lyric “Brown Skin Girl 🤎✨🤎”, Washington shared a closer look at the new style — she first teased it in a Space Jam-inspired clip a week earlier, wearing half the braids in a top knot for a sporty half-up, half-down feel. This latest photo gives fans a closer, stiller look at Washington’s center-parted hair, and the clothes and makeup she chose to go with the look made it all the better.

Her soft brown eye makeup and glossy lips in a rosy-mauve shade paired with a marigold ASTR the Label dress emphasized her freshly-added golden blonde highlights. The new color addition gets gradually lighter, eventually becoming the dominant shade by the time they reach the pattered beads near Washington’s tips. The overall effect is a perfect sunset palette, all golds, yellows, oranges, and soft beige. And because Washington’s complexion-framing pieces are braided back and away, she gets the added bonus of keeping her face free — invaluable for scorching July and August. Fans (all 137,000 of them) weren’t the only ones raving about Washington’s beachy new style, either. Her comments section is basically an awards show with how many A-listers are packed in, with stars like Octavia Spencer, Gabrielle Union, Rachel Zoe, and Priyanka Chopra all expressing the exact same sentiment: Kerry Washington looks incredible.

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