The prettiest brown hair colours for brunettes who want a glow-up
Whoever said blondes have more fun clearly never dipped their toe into the dreamy world of brown hair colours. Brunette may be a classic, but it's definitely not boring. It offers depth, versatility, moodiness, sultriness, practicality, opulence and sunshine, all within its spectrum.
Whether you're a blonde wanting a dramatic shake-up or a brunette looking to shift within your own shade range, there's a brown hair colour to suit everyone.
Take Zendaya for example. She called on celebrity hair colourist, Tracey Cunningham, to dial her deep brunette hair back a notch with a gilded gold infusion to freshen up her strands and add glow. “I highlighted her hair with Redken Flashlift and Olaplex No.1” Tracey explained in an Instagram caption of the look. Then she glossed the roots, followed by the ends to perfect the tone and add shine.
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There's a beauty in sticking to the classics, but exploring them in depth, Tracey reckons. She told GLAMOUR “I stick to my tried and tested colours, tweaking of course here and there. I know it looks good and I don’t second guess. When it comes to hair colour I love keeping my clients as close and natural as I can to their own."
That said, we love the drama and we're here for heading straight to the rich, deep, delicious end of the brunette spectrum. Or, if you're not fully ready to commit you can accent deeper brunettes with a subtle shot of gold just through the front face-framing sections to add a little brightening action to your complexion.
Likewise, we love mousy brown hair, licked by sunshine – especially heading into summer. It's classic, it's cool, it's romantic and it's perfect for the season ahead. Kaia Gerber is a great example of this, her caramel brunette strands work year-round, but are also a beautiful middle ground if you want to take your blonde hair darker, or your deep brunette hair lighter and it works on a range of skin tones.
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The good news is that there's endless shades of brunette and even more ways to incorporate it into your hairstyle. Whether you're after a dramatic dark chocolate hairstyle, a rebel 'dirty brunette' look, a cosy honey shade to warm up your blonde, a hybrid 'bronde', or darker details like dip-dye, ombre or moneypiece, we've picked out the best brown hair colours to inspire your next dye job. We've tapped up Josh Wood, expert colourist and founder of Josh Wood Colour to share his tips on how to pick the right shade as well as the best ways to care for your coloured hair in your every day beauty regime. But first, we've lined-up some of our favourite trending brunettes of right now…
Mousy
If you thought natural in-between-y hair shades were drab, it's time to rethink. The general mood right now has seen hair colour trends shift in a more relaxed and natural direction. And with more of us are heading back to our roots, light brown hair is back in a big way. But, rather than feeling 'mehh' or non-committal, it's the calling card of cool-girls everywhere who want to lean into a more casual and undone aesthetic.
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Candlelit brunette
Exactly as pretty as it sounds, candlelit brunette should look delicately glossy and glowy. To achieve it, ultra-fine babylights (finer sections of highlights that give a more natural effect) are added to a darker brunette base to help lift and illuminate the surrounding natural colour and make it look like it's bathed in soft-focus candlelight. “It should look subtle, with a very pretty glisten. It has that look that you instantly think ‘gosh her hair looks so so good'” confirms pro London hair colourist, Gemma Smidmore.
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Coco lights
Cocoa lights are perfect for adding gorgeous dimension, especially for darker brunettes who want to keep that delicious depth. “Think of faux tortoiseshell and highly polished walnut wood when you think of this rich brunette trend,” says Jordanna Cobella, Wella Professionals Digital Craft Expert. It features a mix of golden and milk chocolate tones and can be tailored to your face, eyes and bone structure. “To make my clients facial features pop, I like to add lighter tones of cognac or caramel around the perimeter of their face, drawing attention to their eye colour and cheek and jaw bones. Your hairstylist can use a mixture of [tones] to create highs and lows throughout the hair,” she says.
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From '90s semi-chunky highlights to lunar blonde.
Semi-chunky highlights
If you want to serve up some throwback ‘90s realness with your hair colour, but with a modern spin head to semi-chunky highlights. Big chunky threads of contrasting highlights striped through hair became a signature on the ’90s but for a more delicate rendition we love this softer take. The key is to introduce high contrast colour, but weave it through hair in finer “chunks”. They work best styled poker straight so you can see them, but they disappear more seamlessly into hair if you're wearing it waved or curly.
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Expensive brunette
One of 2022's most popular hair trends, expensive brunette is going nowhere for 2023 either. It's less about one specific shade, and more about shade tailoring and hair condition to get the absolute best out of your brunette. "It's all about giving deeper hair energy, dimension, and detail,” explains celebrity hairstylist Tom Smith, European creative director for Evo Hair. “It’s all too easy when going for a darker shade of hair color to apply one tone all over, a similar result to using a box dye at home. I’m of the opinion that it’s professional hair colourists’ responsibility to give our clients something they could never get at home, and so expensive brunette is all about adding detail and interest with multiple deeper shades to make the result more dimensional and expensive looking.” Once done, maintain the luxe glossiness at home with plenty of nourishing masks and shine boosting products.
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It’s all about “giving deeper hair energy, dimension, and detail.”
Bronde
Still can't decide between blonde and brunette? Try bronde. It's not quite blonde, and, it's not exactly brunette; it's somewhere (really pretty) in between. The golden tones are warm, sultry and work on everyone. But it's also a clever switch for blondes whose roots are starting to show through as that additional brunette tint can help disguise regrowth. "The key to achieving this colour is to have lots of your natural base colour showing through," says Siobhan Jones, Colour Ambassador at Headmasters, adding "It's a low maintenance colour so it's perfect for anyone who is a little colour shy or not able to get to the salon very often," adds Siobhan." But it still makes a very glamorous impact.
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Cassette brunette
Spring tends to signal a shift toward lighter hair colours but cassette brunette hair is the renegade shade offering up a grungier, richer alternative for spring. Named after the almost-black colour of a cassette tape it makes a moodier statement. “Cool-toned colours always appear darker than warmer colours,” explains Tom. So to achieve the depth, 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 says. It's edgy, unexpected but still super pretty, plus it has a grit and depth you just can't get from blonde.
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Perfect if you fancy a grungier, alternative spring hair shade.
Which shade of brown will suit me?
According to Josh, the answer to this question is all about your eyes. "You always have to consider your eye colour and skin tone to find the shade that’s best tailored for you," he says. "There are so many different levels of brown I think people forget that are as many shades of brown as they are blonde. How you can really play with brown is by changing the tone, looking at cool and warm tones that best compliment your skin and eye colour."
Josh adds that cool and ashy tones look great on those with blue eyes and fair skin that contains some red undertone. "The ash in the hair will neutralise contrasting tones in the skin," he says. Additionally, the same rules goes for darker skin tones. "Choose the tone you want to emphasise or neutralise," he says. "For example a rich mocha would look great on someone with a darker skin tone as it complements the natural warmth within the skin."
How do I maintain my colour at home?
There are three main ways to help your colour look glossy and healthy, as well as helping it to last longer:
- Use a sulphate-free shampoo to reduce colour fade and retain vibrancy after your appointment.
- Rinse with cold water. Turn the taps as far as you can bear to seal the hair cuticle after washing and lock in that colour and shine.
- Use heat protectant. Important for all hair colours, but particularly for brunettes who are hiding years worth of bleach underneath. Too much heat will cause faster fading.
Keep scrolling for some serious brunette inspo...
Thinking of doing it yourself? These are the best, tried-and-tested at-home hair dyes available.
@khloekardashian / InstagramMid-deep brunette
Khloe Kardashian proved she can pull off brunette hair with aplomb whenever she goes back to her roots.
@kyliejenner / InstagramBronde
Bronde hair has soared in popularity since Kylie Jenner revealed her hair colour transformation earlier in lockdown. With a light brown base, the beauty entrepreneur has added dimension with a few, strategically placed golden streaks.
ShutterstockCool Cedar
Bella Hadid chooses a cool cedar shade, which is offset by her soft 'The Rachel' cut.
Getty ImagesHighlighted Brown
Whether you want to call it sombre, ombre, fallayage or balayage, brown hair with highlights is always a fail-safe choice. Jessica Biel's rich brunette is given some golden warmth with seamlessly blended sections of blonde.
Getty ImagesBalayage
You don't have to go overboard when it comes to lighter sections. Take tact from Lily Aldridge and add some slight balayage to a small selection of strands. Added bonus: It will make wavy and curly styles look extra defined.
Getty ImagesSubtle Highlights
A look that suits different skin tones and shades of brunette, Mindy Kaling also shows how well-placed highlights can add movement to an otherwise block-colour.
Getty ImagesAsh Brown
Like Ashley Tisdale, you can mix things up with a warm brunette, but cool-ashy highlights.
Chocolate
As we head into autumn, we're super tempted to reach for the bottle and dye our hair a rich, chocolate brown. The inspo? Kaia Gerber, who is rocking a deep brown hue as the new Global Makeup Ambassador for YSL Beauté.
Getty ImagesEspresso
As dark brown as you can go before black, espresso is a stunning colour that looks especially chic in a sleek 'do, as seen on Mila Kunis.
Getty ImagesEspresso
It's a shade that works especially well on warm skin tones, like brunette bombshell Em Rata.
Getty ImagesBrown Black
Meghan has maintained a lengthy dark mane since her Suits days, once citing Kerastase Masquintense (£31.70) and Wella Oil Reflections Luminous Smoothing Oil (£16.80) as her hair must-haves.
Getty ImagesHoney Brown
Jessica Alba has always been honey brown goals. The shade really complements her warm skin tone and dark brown eyes.
Getty ImagesChestnut
The colour can add warmth to fair complexions and can give you a little taste of the redhead life without going full throttle.
