Single-tone locks don’t surprise anyone today. Highlights, balayage and color blocks are another story. They refresh and update your hair color and add depth and texture to your hairstyle, endowing your dark brown hair with a sexy, glamorous flair.
Playing with hair hues is fun if you trust the job to a professional. However, when you come to a beauty salon, a stylist is going to ask what you’d actually like. This article will help you decide!
How to Choose the Perfect Highlights for Dark Brown Hair?
First of all, you need to decide which effect you’d like to achieve. Some ladies opt for subtle ombre or highlights which add radiant glints to the basic hair color, looking very natural. Others prefer more distinct transitions of color or separate color sections, making any haircut edgier and more prominent.
Dark hair can benefit from color accents of contrasting hues, such as platinum blonde, deep red, copper, purple or lighter nuances, like caramel, walnut, bronze, toffee, etc. It’s also very important to choose the hues that will be in harmony with your skin tone.
Bronze, copper and rich reds will make darker skin tones bloom and glow. Medium-toned skin will benefit from intense browns, coppers and toffee. Fair-skinned beauties can use blondes, platinum, ash tones and lighter caramel hues.
Check out the collection of looks we’ve put together that showcase the latest dye trends for 2024.
1. Light Brown Balayage
A light brown balayage for dark hair gives off a beautiful gradient effect. Highlights are applied in such a way that makes your dark locks look authentically kissed by the sun. As well as being subtle and understated, the balayage is easy to maintain compared to other highlighting techniques.
2. Brown Balayage
If you have long black hair, think about adding some highlights to give it lots of texture and emphasize your beautiful layered mane. Also, for a glossier and more glamorous look, you can use a conical iron to create those beautiful curls.
3. Bronze Highlights
A layered haircut will add dimension to your waves, and if you also choose some delicate highlights for dark brown hair, you’ll end up with a sophisticated hairstyle, gorgeous whether your hair is up or down. I mean look at it! It has texture, body, and perfectly blended colors. A layered haircut with choppy ends is also a good thing if you want this look.
4. Steel Gray Highlights
It’s not just for your grandparents anymore! Dying your hair gray has become a popular trend – especially among younger demographics – but to test the waters, soft gray or light blue chunky highlights are a great way to try a new hair color without truly committing to a different shade.
5. Golden Brown Highlights
That beautiful golden shade in your dark brown hair will make you look like you are spending your whole day at the beach without a care in the world.
6. Warm Blonde Balayage
Blonde highlights can totally transform your hair. Go from a simple dull appearance to glamorous hair that won’t go without a compliment. The balayage effect is irreplaceable if you want that precious summer shine in your hair.
7. Chocolate and Caramel Balayage
Scrumptious chocolate and caramel shades draw attention to the rich beauty of her brunette hair. The balayage technique is not easy to create but it’s worth the price and effort.
8. Ash Brown Highlights
If you just want a touch of glamour, subtle highlights are a must-try. They will add a beautiful glaze to your hairstyle, and you’ll love it.
9. Cool-Toned Brown Balayage
Keep your roots natural and mix them with a dark bronde balayage. Your brunette hair will be brightened in a sophisticated way.
10. Honey Blonde Highlights
If you want to go lighter, consider making over your dark brown hair with blonde highlights. It produces a stylish and brilliant contrast, no matter what your skin tone is. Ask your colorist to choose the right shade to emphasize your appearance and make it catchier!
11. Caramel Balayage
caramel balayage on dark brown hair looks absolutely stunning. Here, the changeover is natural, but still appears seriously stylish. Dark pieces have also been left on the bottom for enhanced dimension.
12. Subtle Caramel Highlights
Subtle caramel highlights give your hair a natural, radiant look without being too dramatic. To achieve this look, you need to create a smooth transition from dark brown to soft caramel highlights. Add soft waves to your hairdo to make this look more elegant and sophisticated.
13. Dimensional Golden Brown Highlights
One of the greatest ideas for revamping brown hair is embracing dimensional golden brown highlights. Lightening the ends of layers creates a fun and warm aesthetic that dazzles whether you wear your mane straight or wavy.
14. Bronze Highlights
Golden highlights will look gorgeous on any hair color, from caramel brown to dark brunette. Ask your hairstylist to lighten strands here and there and create beautiful loose waves for this incredible change!
15. Chocolate Brown Babylights
If you love your base color and just want to jazz it up a bit, create some cool curls with a straightening iron and add a sprinkling of babylights. These brown hair highlights can certainly redefine your look.
16. Lived-In Caramel Highlights
If you want to freshen your look without covering up your brown hair too much, try some gorgeous caramel babylights. These subtle highlights will add a bit of warmth, lightness, and dimension to your dark chocolate base.
17. Skinny Brown Highlights
Minimalistic light brown highlights are a great way to frame your face. These are perfect if you have a round or heart-shaped face, and also if you want to deep your toes into new shades, like copper or honey-blonde. A contrasting color will overpower this style, so keep it simple for a chic look.
18. Thin Caramel Highlights
Even fine highlights can transform any dull strands into an elegant cool diva girl look. Your locks will have shine and gloss and you’ll feel amazing! After all, isn’t that what we all want after a look transformation?
19. Subtle and Soft Highlights
Not all highlights have to be bright! For a beginner’s experience, go for a softer, less edgy look by picking a shade that is slightly lighter than their natural color. This is best if you’re looking to try highlights for the first time and are nervous about how they will turn out.
20. Copper on Black Base
Copper highlights on black hair always create a stunning visual due to the energy and richness of both hues. If you want the copper color to stand out and do the talking, request that your hairdresser takes the highlights up to your roots.
21. Warm Brown Balayage
Your deep natural hair hue will sparkle with a new life if it’s accentuated with highlights one or two tones lighter than your natural hair color. This style will ideally work for ladies with warm skin tones.
22. Subtle Partial Highlights
You don’t always need dramatic colors or chunky highlights. This is one of those cases when simple is best. You can get that look with light brown highlights done in a subtle way.
23. Face-Framing Highlights
Layered hair looks voluminous on its own. But if you want to bring even more dimension to your mane, add face-framing highlights that are a few shades lighter than your natural hue. This is a perfect match for girls and women with fine hair.
24. Copper Highlights
Cooper is a marvelous color that totally transforms your hair when mixed with a darker base shade. Some loose curls can help you better define your highlights, and why not do that when they look so pretty and glamorous?
25. Luminescent Highlights
Let there be light in your hair! This mix of colors is radiant and it shines as if there was glitter in the hair. You certainly need this hairstyle if you want your hair to really stand out with caramel highlights.
26. Roasted Almond Highlights
The brown hair with highlights resembling the color of almonds creates a distinguished and appealing aesthetic. The other way around, almond hair with brown lowlights, is just as unique and alluring. Whichever combo you prefer, take the contrasting color right up to the roots to develop a cute balayage effect as your hair grows longer.
27. Partial Matte Copper Balayage
If you want to add interest to your mane while keeping it low-key, you can opt for partial highlights. This is where highlights are only applied to specific sections of your hair. Here, streaks have been painted on around the face for a brightening effect, and also to frame it. The result is a matte, minimalistic look.
28. Subtle Golden Brown Highlights
If you love your dark hair and want to keep it natural, you may add some highlights just at the bottom. Make some curls for the highlighted area, and you’ll look like you have been selected for a shampoo commercial. Darker colors reflect light so your hair will look its best all the time.
29. Delicate Face Framing
These chocolate wavy locks look extremely voluminous, thanks to light chocolate highlights concentrated towards the front. This style will look particularly stunning on women with warm-toned dark brown hair and warm skin tones.
30. Nuanced Underlights
You can make highlights as heavy or light as you want. While most people use them to change the overall color, they can also work as subtle accents. A few slithers of color will define curly styles and really show through with movement.
31. Chestnut Highlights
Natural dark brown hair color looks amazing, but if you experiment with shades a bit and add some highlights to your style, it may look even more eye-catching! Curl your locks using a volumizing product and a curling iron.
32. Shine-Boosting Brunette Highlights
If you need to make your hair look more outstanding, some subtle highlights can help you get what you want. Also, loose waves are every girl’s best friend when it comes to adding texture.
33. Ash Brown Balayage
Soft brown highlights are meant for all those brunettes out there who want to look effortlessly chic. Some curls will always come in handy but they’re not a must as long as your balayage is perfect.
34. Barely There Brown Highlights
Some highlights are so delicate that when you see them, you think they’re natural. If you want to try highlights but are worried about how they will come out, make them subtle and place those lighter streaks sporadically. The look is really simple, but it seems effortless and optimal for a natural fashionista.
35. Babylights and Partial Highlights
Try adding both partial highlights and babylights to your hair for a fun splash of color. If you incorporate them throughout your whole mane, they will easily brighten up your natural hair color, as well as accentuate your facial features.
36. Chocolate Brown Highlights
Medium-length chocolate hair can be given an instant style update with light brown highlights. This color combination looks great at any length, but wear it wavy to obtain the full effect.
37. Ashy Ribbon Highlights
This extra long dark brown hair with highlights is dreamy! Split your hair in the middle, add some flowy waves, and you’ll walk like you have no cares in the world. You will never get enough of this mesmerizing look. All eyes will be on you!
38. Sun-Kissed Highlights
Alright, we admit – you don’t usually think of chestnut hair as being “sun-kissed,” but the bronde application makes this gorgeous hairstyle completely natural. These golden highlights are low maintenance and don’t require a lot of upkeep, making this solution perfect for a girl on the go.
39. Cinnamon Swirls
The “cinnamon swirl” effect is hair and dessert goals in one. It refers to tresses that have a non-blended mix of light and dark shades throughout the locks to create variance. With this version, the black base hue serves as the Danish pastry and the light brown highlights replicate the cinnamon filling. Delicious!
40. Bright Blonde Highlights
Check out how this dark brown hair benefits from blonde highlighting, strategically placed around the face. With such trendy, bold highlights, your natural hue will shine with new colors. Style your locks to the side to create extra volume on top.
41. Milk Chocolate Highlights
These highlights look completely natural! Milk chocolate coloring makes you look as if you haven’t set foot into a salon. Because these highlights are so understated, you can take this dye job straight from the boardroom to the after-work happy hour. It’s a look that’s as versatile as you are!
42. Caramel Color Melt
This flawless caramel color melt helps to create a passionate and vivid look that turns heads… Another great thing about this coloring is that having your roots untouched, you get a low-maintenance style.
43. Distinct Blonde Highlights
Though this initially looks like simple blonde highlights, a closer look shows that they are actually expertly blended with the light chocolate ribbons. This ombre effect is a boho chic look that will make you stand out from the crowd. Who doesn’t love having glimmering dark brown hair with blonde highlights?
44. Chocolate Ribbon Highlights
Don’t be afraid to experiment with hair dyeing techniques to personalize your style! Opt for something catchy and sassy, just like these magnificent chocolate balayage ribboning. Dilute your dark brown hair color with lighter strands to add dimension and texture to your mane.
45. Muted Cool-Toned Highlights
Dark brown hair with barely there highlights might be underemphasized, but it’s still bewitching, especially when the hair is worn down with beachy waves. Enhance the fullness of locks even more using a texture paste or gel and then wait for the complements to roll in.
46. Caramel Brown Streaks
Streaks are different from highlights in the sense that the colored strands are larger and much more prominent. Even though there’s a natural finish, streaks can appear extremely intense when hair is worn straight. To create these beachy waves, scrunch your long tresses when wet and apply some volumizing mousse for a fun, mermaid look.
47. Stretched Golden Brown Highlights
Stretched highlights are the lazy girl’s version of hair coloring. It means that there’s no obvious or heavy regrowth line, even months later, as this example shows. When you wear your tresses straight, the color appears blended and natural.
48. Subtle Dimensional Highlights
Dimensional highlights are soft but still create depth. They are thin enough to stay subtle, but numerous and noticeable for all the right reasons.
49. Glossy Bronze Highlights
The light bronze highlight have been applied to look effortless and seamless in transition. Curling your tresses with a curling iron showcases the balayage coloring the best, and you can finish off your hairdo with a spritz of shine spray for added gloss.
50. Ash Brown Ombre
Ombre hair is just as popular as balayage, so why not incorporate a two-in-one style through balayage ombre highlights. In this example, there is the same gradient effect that you get with both techniques, but there are blocks of color going from dark to light and no dark pieces left underneath. Balayage ombre is best shown if you wear your tresses mussed up or with a natural tousle.
51. Caramel and Burgundy Balayage
Be bold and create a mesmerizing color by blending caramel and burgundy shades. Come out of the box and be yourself! If blue or green is your eye color, this hairstyle is a total MUST.
52. Delicate Chestnut Balayage
If you’re new to highlighting your tresses and want to give it a try, consider refreshing your dark hair with light brown highlights. This chestnut balayage is ideal for beginners thanks to its soft-looking and delicate nature.
53. Toffee Highlights
The dark brown and toffee combination will undoubtedly look fabulous. If your hair is extra long, you can request that your hairdresser implements an increased number of highlights to give off a bold, modern impression.
54. High-Contrast Highlights
If your hair is really dark, it’s best to lighten your strands over a course of several appointments. The reality is, even with bleach, it will take a while to achieve the desired color because darker hair hues tend to lift to an unflattering brassy shade. You will need to tone or cover them with an ash dye afterward.
55. High-Contrast Caramel Balayage
The caramel blonde hue in this balayage example is a stark contrast to the model’s natural dark hair color. The gradual transition from the roots to the end is subtle enough that it doesn’t look too harsh or overpowering, but it still makes the maximum impact.
56. Dark and White Chocolate
If you do not shy away from bold solutions, a high degree of contrast in hair hues, like these dark brown highlights, can look very fresh and eye-catching.
57. Chocolate and Copper Balayage
A coloring that suits every complexion, milk chocolate tresses with glimpses of copper and dark roots is an elegant and classy combination all year round. Simply curl your hair with a curling iron and run your fingers through it with a smoothing balm for a polished, glamorous appearance.
58. Brown on Black Base
Brown is not the typical shade of choice as highlights for black hair, because it may not show up. It is not a bright color, but it will provide sun-kissed vibrancy and dimension in deeply saturated strands. This style is ideal for women who want a low-key hairdo that is stylish enough to transition into a variety of different settings.
59. Blonde Money Piece
If you’ve decided to go for a style change with a low-maintenance approach, we suggest choosing something like these money piece highlights. While focusing around the face, you can be sure you picked the style that has maximum impact.
60. Dark to Milk Chocolate Melt
You can instantly add warmth and intrigue to dark hair with highlights. Getting a smooth color melt is ideal whenever you fancy a change, but don’t want to commit long-term. The result is a soft, matte color that looks dreamy and distinctive.
All celebrities are actively using highlights and ombre to present their breathtaking hairstyles on the red carpet and big events. Follow their best examples, borrowing the ideas you like and creating your style.
Latest Dark Brown Hair with Highlights Ideas
