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Feel brown is boring? Then think again. In a world of Instagrammable rainbow hair colour and other popping hues that have been trending on the red carpet and otherwise, brown hair has stood the test of time. Period. Apart from the fact that the rich hue reminds us of our favourite chocolate truffle cake (yum), brunette hair is oh-so-easy to experiment with; go lighter, darker, or simply add a myriad of variations while you are at it – you will be sporting a whole new look sans the need to undergo any drastic change. What we love most about the classic brown hair colour is that it suits every skin tone and enhances your complexion. Moreover, it’s safe to say that any dark or light brown hair colour will never make you look washed out, but in turn, make your skin appear super glowy and sun-kissed. We certainly approve!
Looking to switch to the dark side and ready to find the best brown colour to match your every mood? The good news is that it’s easier than you think. In addition to the plethora of brunette colours to choose from, you can also talk to your colourist about which colours would work best for you.
To give you a head start (pun intended), here’s a roundup of stunning brown hair colour shades that will make an impact wherever you go.
Brown Hair Colour Shades
1. Golden Brown Hair Colour
There’s so much more to brunette hair than the classic dark/light browns. We love the Golden Brown Hair Colour, which is a warm shade and looks amazing on people with warm/golden or peachy skin tone and hazel or brown eyes. You can also add some muted golden highlights to your Golden Brown Hair for a sun-kissed look.
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2. Chocolate Brown Hair Colour
Among the numerous shades of brown hair that one can opt for, one of our favourites is Chocolate Brown Hair. This one is a deep rich hue and looks gorgeous on medium skin tones (Re: Olive complexions) with warm undertones. However, people with fair skin can also experiment with this hue, as it offers a porcelain-like effect.
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3. Ash Brown Hair Colour
The Ash Brown Hair is brunette hair that is blended with cool grey tones to add depth and dimension to your tresses. If you have fair skin with cool undertones and light blue or brown eyes, consider this your best bet.
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4. Caramel Brown Hair Colour
Love your salted caramels? How about sporting this as your next hair colour? Enter Caramel Brown hair that is a delicious mix of golden and mahogany brown hues. We love this on ladies with deeper skin tones and dark brown eyes.
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5. Chestnut Brown Hair Colour
Among the many brown hair colour shades available in the market, the Chestnut hair colour has warm, reddish-gold tones to complement brunettes. Think classic browns with the warmth of subtle reddish undertones for a look that spells sophistication like no other. PS: The warm, slightly red tones balance out the yellow in your skin, making it appear more neutral and luminous.
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6. Red-Brown Hair Colour
Can’t choose between reds and browns? How about both? Red-Brown hair colour is the perfect combination of red and brown hues, and has a wide spectrum of variations that you can experiment with. PS: Shades that go browner than redder suit fairer skin tones while those that are more on the red side of the spectrum go well on tan to dark skin tones.
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7. Copper Brown Hair Colour
If there’s one hue that can make your hair look full and voluminous, it’s the Copper Brown hue. Another iteration of the reddish-brown hair, this colour suits most skin tones and is perfect for people with natural brown colour.
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8. Honey Brown Hair Colour
This medium to low brown is a beautiful gold-meets-caramel shade that looks gorgeous on coloured skin. From Sofia Vergara to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, we have all seen celebrities sport a honey-brown mane at some point in their lives. It is one of the most versatile brown hair colour shades for beginners.
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9. Rose Brown Hair Colour
An out-of-the-box brown hair colour shade that will surely make heads turn is the rose-brown colour. A combination of rose gold with black hair will give you this appearance. This shade looks the best as tips and highlights with your natural black or dark brown hair.
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10. Hazelnut Brown Hair Colour
This subtle blend of orange, yellow, and brown makes this elegant hazelnut brown hair shade. If you want that summer hair all year round, this naturally sun-kissed hair colour is the perfect pick for you.
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Brown Hair Colour With Highlights
The most fun and effortless way to add a bit of oomph to your look? Beautiful highlights, of course, to offset your pre-existing colour! So, whether you are looking to lighten your hair, create dimension, or jazz up your natural brown hair colour, highlights are the way to go. Oh, and there are so many options to choose from. We have rounded up some of the most popular highlights that will make you go ooh la la
1. All Too Real Brown Highlights
The best way to change your look is to add some highlights to your dark hair. Not only does it create the right amount of depth and contrast, but makes your hair look super voluminous, especially when styled with layers or texture. We love Brown highlights on black hair which complements almost all skin tones and can look oh-so-natural. PS: Scrunch your hair for easy waves to complete your entire look.
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2. Blonde Waterfalls
When it comes to light brown hair, there are numerous highlight options to amp up your hair game. While there is no rule of thumb, we love the fact that you can go as light as you want; think light beige, blonde, and platinum highlights that will make a statement wherever you go. Dark brown hair with highlight options include delicious Cinnamon and caramel hair highlights for a gorgeous, sun-kissed look.
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3. Caramel Mix
There we said it: you can never go wrong with caramel highlights, and while any hair colour can adopt a pop of caramel, brown hair interspersed with the stunning caramel hue is a match made in heaven. Play with colour intensity and techniques such as balayage to create your custom look. We can’t get enough!
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4. Blonde On Brown
Nothing spells summer hair quite like the stunning blonde highlights on brunette hair. In addition to looking very natural, it flatters most skin tones and adds volume and depth to your hair. Oh, and it adds oodles of oomph to any hairstyle. Say what!
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5. Caramel Brownie
Caramel highlights look incredible and make for an excellent choice for highlights, lowlights, and balayage. Wavy brown hair with caramel highlights is one of the must-have looks this season. Pro tip: For an au naturel, sun-kissed look, just opt for caramel brown highlights throughout the bottom section.
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6. Ombré Brown
Here’s the thing about ombré hair colour: it’s effortless and never goes out of style. Since the trend is all about graduating from darker hair colour to a lighter hue seamlessly, brown ombré hair is the most effortlessly chic hair colour out there. Start with a brown hue of your choice for the roots and then blend in lighter colours such as ash blondes, honey browns, caramels, strawberry blondes, and even chestnut hues for shiny, luminescent tresses. Yep, it’s that easy!
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7. Sunkissed Cinnamon
If you are looking for a natural, island girl hair colour, this cinnamon hair highlight on dark brown or black hair will mimic a sunkissed mane on a tropical beach. Pick up small portions of your hair starting from the roots to the tip and colour it an elegant cinnamon-brown. Keep the coloured strands close to each other to make it look as natural as possible.
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8. Whiskey Waves
If you desire a scene-stealing hair highlight that will make him fall head over heels for you, you’ve got to try the whiskey hair highlight on brown hair. It gives your brown hair definition and makes it appear as if whiskey is cascading down the strands. As a pro tip, make sure to bleach your hair a bit for the whiskey-brown hue to look more apparent.
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9. Hazelnut Haven
Hazelnut hair highlights look stunning on brown skin, as it brightens the complexion and evens out skin tone, just as a reddish-brown lipstick does. Make this brown colour highlight your go-to, as it doesn’t require bleaching even the darkest of natural brown hair. Flaunt Bollywood’s favourite NRI desi girl look with hazelnut hair highlights.
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10. Choco Kiss
Revive dull hair with a kiss of chocolatey goodness and transform your boring strands. Chocolate highlights are very easy to pull off, and you simply can’t go wrong with this shade. It creates a beautiful contrast that adds definition and depth to otherwise one-dimensional hair. You can have these choco-lights from the roots to the tips, or even as a balayage for an effortless gradient look.
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FAQs
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What are some of the cool brown hair colours?
First things first, if you have blue veins, it means you are cool-toned. Hence, it’s best to opt for cool hair hues that will complement your skin tone perfectly. You can choose from medium ash browns, rich expresso browns, and light ashy browns that pair with a cool skin undertone.
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What are some of the warm brown colours?
According to a study, if you have green veins, it’s only natural that you have warm undertones. Hence, you can opt for warm brown colours such as honey brown hair colour, bronzed browns, light golden browns, delicious toffee browns, chestnut browns, and mahogany browns that are tailor-made for your undertone.
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What is neutral brown hair colour?
According to a study, if you have bluish-green veins, then you have a neutral undertone. Neutral brown hair colours such as chocolate browns, bronde, light browns, cherry browns, and toasted caramels are your best bet.
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Which brown hair colour with highlights should I try?
If you are looking for a small change in your appearance you can try honey-brown or golden brown colour highlights. This is a more subtle colour change making it look naturally sunkissed. If you are looking for a more drastic brown, then opt for cinnamon or reddish brown hair colour highlights.
