Buzz
Photo: Delmaine Donson/Getty ImagesBoth brunettes and blondes are embracing one of the hottest hair color trends right now: warm chocolate brown. Moving away from the long-standing icy ash tones, this cozy variation of brunette adds warmth to your hair or can tone down your existing highlights. Even celebrities are opting for this hue—Hailey Bieber recently swapped her signature highlights for this gorgeous chocolate shade, and Zendaya has embraced the softness of this color as well.
“What I love about chocolate hues is their versatility—you can play with the undertones to create a flattering shade for so many different people,” says Justin Anderson, celebrity stylist with dpHUE. “You can warm up the golden undertones to make them more honey-toned or deepen the red tones for a coppery look.”
Essentially, you can customize this shade to match your complexion and natural hair color, ensuring it’s perfectly suited to you.
What Is Warm Chocolate Brown Hair?
Brunette hair colors come in a variety of shades, and warm chocolate leans toward the golden end of the spectrum rather than the cool side.
“It’s a rich, beautiful brown that’s often called a tone-on-tone, warm brown,” says FEKKAI SoHo Colorist, Lorik Rockefeller. “Right now, it’s one of the trendiest shades, alongside other warm tones like cowboy copper and warm golden blondes. After years of ashy, cool, and neutral tones dominating, the trend has shifted toward vibrant, warm hues.”
She mentions that achieving this hue is typically best done in a salon, as it involves layering warmth through lowlights and/or highlights.
Who Looks Best in Warm Chocolate Brown Hair?
This gold-infused brunette shade is widely flattering across all skin tones, especially when customized by your hairstylist to suit your individual complexion.
“Natural hair already contains warmth, so all skin tones benefit from adding warmth,” says Shvonne Perkins, a master colorist for Madison Reed. “If you often feel too ‘peachy’ or ‘red’ when you wear warmer colors, like gold or red, you can achieve the chocolate brunette look by incorporating a subtle amount of gold or honey tones.”
She notes that if you prefer a deeper, apple-cider mahogany warmth, adding copper tones to your brunette can intensify the look.”
How to Maintain Warm Chocolate Brown Hair Color
Here’s some great news! Warm chocolate brown hair is generally easier to upkeep than cool-toned brunettes, and even easier if brown is your natural color.
“Hair naturally tends to pull warmth, so when it washes and oxidizes, it shifts to a warmer tone,” says Rockefeller. “I’d argue that it’s easier to maintain than other cool browns or blondes.”
To maintain your warm chocolate shade, aim for a toner refresh every four to six weeks. This will help revive the golden warmth and add a glossy shine. You can also schedule a color appointment every eight to twelve weeks to touch up your roots and give your hair a more substantial refresh.
The only exception is if you have a lot of gray and prefer more frequent root touch-ups. Perkins adds, “For gray coverage, many clients tend to refresh their color every four to six weeks to keep up with new growth.”
Follow these habits between salon visits to maintain your hair color and keep it looking fabulous.
- Shampoo Less Often: The best tip for keeping your color vibrant is to shampoo less frequently, says Rockefeller. Also, avoid using very hot water.
- Use Color-Protecting Products: When you do shampoo, use a sulfate-free, hydrating, and conditioning hair care system that’s designed for color-treated hair.
- Try Color-Boosting Treatments: To enhance a rich, vibrant color like chocolate brown, add a color-boosting treatment to your routine, suggests Anderson. You can try dpHUE’s Gloss+ in Medium Brown or a color-depositing conditioner like Madison Reed’s Color Therapy Mask in Castagna.
