
The weather outside is frightful, but a chocolatey brunette is so delightful! While this brown shade is popular year-round, it’s likely your clientele may be opting for darker tones in this chilly, winter season, which means it’s time to bring on the brunettes! For our first issue of the year, we want to give love to a hair color that can be both sweet and savory. We know you know how to have fun, too! To learn more about what brunette styles are trending, the best techniques for creating them and advice for maintaining the shades in-between salon visits, we reached out to the brunette experts. Read on for their tips, tricks and insight.
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The weather outside is frightful, but a chocolatey brunette is so delightful! While this brown shade is popular year-round, it’s likely your clientele may be opting for darker tones in this chilly, winter season, which means it’s time to bring on the brunettes! For our first issue of the year, we want to give love to a hair color that can be both sweet and savory. We know you know how to have fun, too! To learn more about what brunette styles are trending, the best techniques for creating them and advice for maintaining the shades in-between salon visits, we reached out to the brunette experts. Read on for their tips, tricks and insight.
Brunette Hair Color Trends
Unsurprisingly, like with other hair color trends, clients are seeking out options that are low maintenance and lived-in, so they can extend their time between salon visits and have a more forgiving outgrowth. For brunettes, this means many clients are seeking out softer, blended looks. "The trend towards naturalism and ‘quiet luxury’ has inspired earthy tones that feel natural yet radiant, offering clients a trendy, bright and glowing look," shares Avalos.Courtesy of Elijah Avalos
“The biggest brunette trends I’ve seen becoming popular are very lived-in, blended, low contrast looks with either a subtle money piece or no money piece at all,” says Austin, TX-based stylist Kass Lemus (@balayage.by.kass). “I can see foiling becoming the most used method for creating these looks. For me personally, I’ve had less and less traditional, painted balayage clients versus foiled clients.”
Milford, CT-based stylist Nathi Vega (@hairbynathi) and Sacramento, CA-based stylist Elijah Vane Avalos (@elijahvane_) have seen an emergence of earth tones in the latest brunette trends.
“I believe brunettes are moving towards a warmer, richer aesthetic,” Avalos shares. “I’m seeing deep, rich chocolates, warm coppery caramels, creamy beiges and even shades with deep red undertones. The trend towards naturalism and ‘quiet luxury’ has inspired earthy tones that feel natural yet radiant, offering clients a trendy, bright and glowing look.”
Brunette Hair Color Techniques
Now, you know the trends, but what are the best strategies for bringing them to life? Our experts agree it’s all about the placement and lift.
“Placement is everything,” emphasizes Wheaton, IL-based hairstylist Elaine Cavada (@elainecavadahair). “Also, create your blends in the foil, resulting in a seamless grow out for the low maintenance brunette. LESS IS MORE. No more are the days of over foiling a brunette. The goal is to maintain their natural depth as much as possible.”
Because clients are embracing warmth in their brunette shades, you don’t have to lift to a super high level. Vega says her tip is to lift the hair one level lighter than the desired tone, so she has wiggle room.
“When it comes to lifting brunettes, my go to developer is 10 to 20 volumes,” she adds. “Don’t over lift if the client's end result is a warm, chocolate brown. Leaving warmth/gold in the hair makes darker tones adhere better and will bypass the need to fill the hair.”
“Placement is everything,” emphasizes Wheaton, IL-based hairstylist Elaine Cavada (@elainecavadahair). “Also, create your blends in the foil, resulting in a seamless grow out for the low maintenance brunette. LESS IS MORE. No more are the days of over foiling a brunette. The goal is to maintain their natural depth as much as possible.”Courtesy of Elaine Cavada
Brunette Hair Education
If you want to keep up in the hair industry, education is your best friend. It helps you build your confidence, stay up to date with the latest trends and grow your skillset behind the chair, so you can service whatever clients walk through your door.
If you want to grow your skills with brunettes, Avalos shares some classes that are worth pursuing.
“Take classes that emphasize less foiling and more control over undertones. Practice combining foiling and lowlighting, and start with where you want depth before adding highlights,” he says. “It’s like drawing: If you can envision the shadows first, you’ve outlined the entire image. Our perception relies on shadows, highlights and their nuances.”
Vega recommends working on dark hair mannequins and dark hair color swatches as you begin to put your coloring skills to action.
“Practice placement and lifting on the mannequin and lifting and toning on the swatches. This is a great way to also practice with glossing, as well. Don’t forget to write down some of your favorite formulations,” she adds. “Practice placement and lifting on the mannequin and lifting and toning on the swatches. This is a great way to also practice with glossing, as well. Don’t forget to write down some of your favorite formulations,” Vega shares.Courtesy of Nathi Vega
Community is also an equally valuable tool in the hair industry, which is something Lemus emphasizes.
“Finding other artists who work with brunettes, such as myself, to teach what they know will help you create trending brunette looks," she says. "Another great way to gain more experience is taking models to practice on! Throughout my career, it took a lot of trial and error. To this day, I’ll still take models to either practice a new technique I learned or because I want to try something new with brunette colors.”
Challenges With Creating Brunettes
You cannot perfect any skill overnight. As you are learning and growing your coloring skills, it’s almost a guarantee that you will make mistakes that will help you continue to learn and improve your strategy for tackling brunette clients.
Before you can even begin to color and take a client in your chair, you need to consider how long the appointment will take. Lemus shares that time management was the biggest obstacle she overcame in creating brunettes.
“Due to the density, texture, and length that often comes with brunettes, I have learned to block about 4-5 hours for appointments. Giving a range of time helps set up expectations for clients,” she says.
When it comes to expectations, Avalos stresses that open communication with your client is key, so you both are on the same page as to what you can deliver, how many sessions it will take and what the final look will be.
“Due to the density, texture, and length that often comes with brunettes, I have learned to block about 4-5 hours for appointments. Giving a range of time helps set up expectations for clients,” Lemus says.Courtesy of Kass Lemus
Once it comes time to get to work, you may face challenges with lifting your client, something Cavada has experienced.
“Brunettes are a challenge to lift when there’s pre-existing color or permanent box color, but I love a challenge! Basically, low and slow is how I work,” Cavada explains. “Always start out with low volume peroxide. Knowing it’s going to sit on the hair for a bit, it has to be gentle enough where it lifts to the desired level, but it won't compromise the integrity of the client's hair. A lot of times brunettes come to me new, and 9 times out of 10 they lack so much depth and dimension. It takes time and a lot of color to strategically place depth back where it’s been removed.”
Vega shares a succinct tip that you can keep in mind as you begin your work with brunettes behind the chair: "In my 18 years of experience, I’ve learned to under promise but over deliver. It’s cliché, but true.”
Brunette Hair Color Must-Haves
Below, our experts share the must-have products and tools in their arsenal for creating gorgeous, healthy brunettes.
Avalos:
- Blended Board by Blended Extensions
- Ikoo Brush
- Cleopatra Rat Tail Combs
Cavada:
- Product Club Foil Cutting Machine
- Product Cub Smooth Roll Foils
- Redken Shades EQ
Lemus:
- VB, NA and M Series by Redken Shades EQ
- Moroccan Oil Smoothing Lotion
- Unite 7 Seconds Detangling Spray
- Unite Hair Care UOil
Vega:
- Joico Defy Damage Pro Series 1 Spray
- Joico Blonde Life Lightener
- Cooboard
- Wet Brush Pro
Brunette At-Home Care
As you send your clients home after their appointment, you want to make sure you communicate with them the best ways to care for their hair, so they can maintain their hair health and color in-between visits. Your client doesn’t want to waste their money, and you don’t want to waste your time because you didn’t communicate the proper strategies for at-home care.
Our pros stress the importance of using the proper products.
“I like to recommend four products to my client, and that’s a color shampoo and conditioner, a weekly hair mask and a heat protectant, whether that's a spray or serum, depending on their texture,” Vega says.
Avalos also recommends using a leave-in conditioner.
During the winter, your clients may be tempted to take hot showers, but that steamy water shouldn’t touch their hair! Lemus shares what haircare routine she has her clients follow.
“Use cool or lukewarm water when shampooing 1-3 times a week (preferably with a water filter). Use satin or silk pillow cases, hair ties and scrunchies. For their styling tools, use at a heat range between 300-350 with a heat protectant,” she says. “Having this hair routine maintains the integrity of their hair, thus extending the life of their color.”
Brunette Timeline
As your clients are leaving the salon with the products you’ve recommended to them, you want to make sure you book them for a follow-up appointment to keep them in your chair. When should you tell them to return? Here’s the timetable our brunette experts follow for their clients.
Avalos: “Typically, clients only need to come in twice a year for highlights. If they require more frequent visits, consider a lowlighting session instead. For glossing and trimming, a visit every 2–3 months helps maintain color balance and keeps the shape fresh.”
Cavada: “I usually tell my brunettes that want a quick gloss refresh to return in 6-8 weeks. Lived-in-color re-touch services are about 3-6 months, and that’s circumstantial. If a client comes in for gray blending, they will be coming in closer to the 3 month mark. I definitely have clients that come once a year, and that’s the beauty of a lived-in-color: It’s super low maintenance and the grow out is seamless.”
Lemus: “For glosses, I recommend coming back every 6-10 weeks, unless they are a warmer tone, I will see those clients maybe once a year. Those clients typically love how their hair grows out! For the lightening process, depending on how high their bright pops are placed, I give a range between 3-6 months for touchups.”
Vega: “My brunettes get highlighted maybe 2 to 3 times a year. They come every 4 to 6 months for foil and in-between for a glaze. The service is usually a mini foil refresh to a partial foil. Glaze refreshes are every 8 to 10 weeks (will include a gray coverage as well), but some will go longer cause they love the color its faded into.”
Our Brunette Experts
Elijah Vane Avalos (@elijahvane_) is based out of Mane Aura Salon in Sacramento, CA. He was named one of Beauty Launchpad’s 25 Under 50K for 2024.
Elaine Cavada (@elainecavadahair) is based out of Blush + Ivy Salon in Wheaton, IL. She was named one of Beauty Launchpad’s 30 Over 30 for 2024.
Kass Lemus (@balayage.by.kass) is based out of Salon Lofts in Austin, TX.
Nathi Vega (@hairbynathi) is based out of Milford, CT. She was named one of Beauty Launchpad’s 25 Under 50K for 2022.