Brunette

Blonde hair and its multiple bleaching techniques will forever stand its ground at the North hemisphere. Even as much so, that we easily tend to forget that most of us are naturally quite dark. Brown hair is the most common hair color in the world, but whether they come natural or colored – they are definitely anything but boring!

Brown hair is versatile, multi-dimensional, and flattering on most people. It comes in so many different shades, it’s easy to find one that compliments anyone.

Brown hair is also very forgiving and easier to maintain, thus cheaper option for blonde. Here are some tips to find and keep that ultimate, most complimenting brunette shade.

Undertone

By peeking at the veins in your wrist you can figure out your undertone. Do they appear green? Then you probably have warm undertones. Cool and ashy shades, like dark chocolate and ice coffee can help brighten up your complexion and bring out the warmth in your eyes. On the other hand, golden, and reddish shades like auburn, caramel, mahogany, cherry and honey bring out the warmth in your complexion.

For veins that appear blue, your undertones are most likely cool. Warm shades of brown like chestnut, amber, caramel, honey can really pop out next to your skin. On the other hand, neutral shades like chocolate brown and beige can help neutralize and balance redness in your complexion.

If the veins appear both greenish and blueish, you most likely have neutral skin. Lucky for you, almost any shade of brown will look fabulous on you.

Techniques

It´s easy to bring some depth and contrast to dark hair colors with multiple bleaching techniques. By creating soft and subtle contrasts you will have most natural looking results, full of dimension. Balayage and Ombre are a great choice from the trendy bleaching techniques to achieve natural sweeping glow. Depending on how light or dark your hair is, lowlights, the opposite of highlights, can give brunette hair dimension and richness by placing them strategically, to bring in some shadow and depth.

Care

Red, orange, and yellow undertones naturally combine to make up the different shades of brown hair. Sometimes brassy tones can show through your color. Brassiness gives hair a dull, matte look, evidently home haircare and maintenance is vital with dark hair color as well.

Silver shampoos are not for blondes only. Blue shampoo and conditioner can help cancel out brassy tones in dark hair by neutralizing warmth. The sun´s UV rays have a “natural” bleaching effect, causing your hair color to unleash the undertones of red and orange. Same thing occurs with hot tools, so to avoid color and structural damage it is important to use haircare products with UV shield and thermal defense.

Dark hair can be vulnerable to dryness as well as its blonde cousin. Hydrating shampoo, conditioner, oils, hair mask and pigmented conditioners hold the key to healthy, shiny and soft hair.

Tom Schevelin-Repnau