Gentleman may prefer blondes, but many women find brunette the best colour! It is so easy to play with, and can be teamed up with so many colours that there is bound to be a brunette style for every glamorous girl. From block colours to highlights and ombre, it is simple to create the brunette look to suit you.
Lighter shades
If you are starting with a light shade of brown, like hazelnut, then you can create a textured, varied look by adding either blonde or darker brown into the mix. If you’re looking for that gorgeously sun-kissed, beachy glow, then blonde is the obvious choice. To create a very natural look, add blonde highlights in the places that actual sunlight would catch it, around your face and at the ends. This is often called a back-to-front ombre, with the back of your hair darker than the front. Sunny blonde highlights look fabulous on shorter cuts, giving them a naturally textured appearance without it being overwhelming.
A fuller head of highlights will suit longer cuts, from shoulder length onwards. The best shades to create a light, radiant glow are golden honey or caramel colours. These will warm up a brown foundation colour, and can look gorgeous on any skin tone! For something very natural you could of course pick one or two colours for your highlights. This often looks better with longer hair, since it could look overwhelming on shorter cuts. Varied highlights running through the hair will look stunning when curled, since the different shades will entwine beautifully.
Ombre
Of course, one of the most popular ways of adding lighter shades to a brown base is the current ombre trend. This can be made to look very subtle or very dramatic, depending on what shades you pick, and how gradual you make the transition from one to the other. If you are after something subtle and gradual, introduce the lighter shade near your cheekbones, before making it fuller around your neck, and eventually having it as the dominant colour at the ends. Jessica Biel has long perfected this style, with a very natural and gentle progression of colour from her darker roots to the lighter ends.
Ombre can also be made very dramatic. For instance, a dark brown base would contrast beautifully with icy blonde ends, with little to no transition between the two. This creates almost a block effect, and will give variety to any up-do! Kylie Jenner has rocked a very similar look with great results.
There are a lot of colour combinations that could work in the ombre style. The most commonly seen is a light to mid brown with blonde ends, but for darker brown bases, a lighter brown could look stunning at the ends. Rihanna has been known to pull off this look with ease – as she does any hair colour! – with subtle toffee shades warming up her locks at the ends.
Darker brown
Luscious dark hair evokes the glamour of 1940s Hollywood. There are lots of shades available, from the lighter, chocolate colours to the browns that almost look black. They can look incredible contrasted against very pale skin, as well as with more olivey tones and darker skin. Very dark shades may threaten to wash out pale skin, so these ones may need to be balanced out with some lighter highlights. Smokey browns are perhaps best reserved for darker skin tones, and will look absolutely stunning!
Very dark colours could look quite overwhelming on hair that is all one length, so it is often a good idea to create some layers within your locks. These could work wonders in framing your face, especially if you have some natural highlights around your cheekbones, emphasising the curvature of your face.
Red highlights will do wonders in warming up pale skin. These will really bring out the colours of your face, especially in the cheeks! There is a huge variety of reds that can be injected into darker brown bases, and deep burgundy tones will look stunning against very pale skin. Fiery reds will look very dynamic against darker skin tones, especially if worn slightly tousled, rather than poker straight. You can create a cascading, textured effect with your colour if you have your hair curled towards the ends, which will look very elegant when tumbled down your back. This particular style has often been rocked by the Duchess of Cambridge!
Brown is a very versatile colour, and with just a little bit of extra colour it can look very glamorous and dynamic. Whether it is paired with blondes, honeys, reds, or other browns, it is the colour that can work on any skin, and is sure to be both easy to maintain and easy to rock!