Spring trends can be pretty predictable, like florals, pastels and taking our hair colour a little lighter. But one rebel trend is changing all that. Cassette brunette hair is intercepting normal proceedings with a renegade hair shade that offers up a grungier, richer alternative for spring.
Of course, deep brown is a beautiful natural hair colour in its own right, but almost-black – at least the true black colour of old-school cassette tapes – well, that requires hair dye. Hair tends to be multi-tonal across all shades and textures, even if those shade nuances are super subtle, so though naturally dark hair “may look black from first impression, what we're actually seeing is the darkest brunette, with a very, very cool tone,” explains Tom Smith, Evo Hair's International Creative Colour Director.
Natural dark brunettes like Olivia Rodrigo and Megan Fox are sporting “off-black hair,” explains Tom Smith but recently we've seen natural blondes and mousey brunettes looking to get in on the action by switching to ultra deep cassette brunette shades.
The actress chats through her wedding-day hairstyle, and favourite Met Gala looks.
Lily James is the latest celeb to swap to the dark side, trading in her cappuccino brown strands for a darker gradient after surprising us all with platinum blonde strands for her stint as Pamela Anderson in Hulu's Pam & Tommy. Likewise, actress Zoey Deutch traded in her trademark auburn red hair for a rich brunette at last year's Met Gala in September, and she's been inching closer to black every couple of months, ever since. Natural blonde Katy Perry has made raven strands her signature and Gen Z actress/influencer, Dove Cameron has made the same switch recently. Plus, after bleaching her hair white blonde for this year's Grammys, Dua Lipa dyed her hair back to (almost) black straight after.
While it's not the default direction most of us tend to head in for spring/summer, an ultra-deep cassette brunette hair colour is edgy, unexpected but still super pretty. It has a grit and depth you can't get from blonde.
Fancy it for yourself? “Cool-toned colours always appear darker than warmer colours,” says Tom. So to achieve the depth that dark-haired babes enjoy, ask your hair colourist for “extremely ashy and cool tones with no red tones or warmth in there. It almost has a bluish tone in certain lights”, Tom adds.
As for the rest of your beauty look, a dramatic new hair colour usually requires tweaking your makeup routine. Darker hair colour can make you look a little washed out – ideal if you're feeling the grungy aesthetic that's popping off on TikTok. But if not, introducing warmer tones and going a little heavier with your bronzer can balance things out. And since our skin tone naturally warms up going into summer, it's actually a perfect time to go dark.
Here's how the celebs are doing it…
Lily James
Lily's matched her cassette brunette hair with warmer tones like bronzy makeup, gold eyeshadow, and a rich rosebud lip.
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Dua Lipa
Dua's gone back to almost black, which is her natural hair colour, so the shade already suits her beautifully, but we love how she's added interest through hair styling with baby braids and braided highlights.
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No bleach required.
Zooey Deutch
Zoey's hair is entering cassette brunette territory, but she's nodding to her auburn shade with a teensy hint of warmth in the undertone as well as warm-toned plum liner.
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Megan Fox
Megan's known for her dark hair, but it's even darker than usual currently, as she's moved away from the subtle latte highlights and ombre that she's rocked previously.
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Lucy Hale
Lucy Hale is a chameleon when it comes to her hair colour, having tried everything from platinum blonde to honey, amber, cinnamon, copper and brunette. Lately, she's settled on an ultra dark, almost black brunette, which she tends to pair with fresh makeup and lots of pretty pink tones.
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Katy Perry
Katy is a natural blonde, surprisingly. But she's made cassette brunette her trademark, and the deep shade works perfectly for her.
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Dove Cameron
Dove swapped out her long blonde hair for a darker brunette that makes her blue eyes stand out even more. To soften it up, she's opted for a little warmth in the undertone rather than heading all the way to black.
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For more from GLAMOUR's Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
