If you’re looking for a new hair color to test out this winter, brunette seems to be the ‘it’ hair color so far this year— with everyone from Zendaya to Hailey Bieber to Kaley Cuoco all recently swapping their signature hues for a brunette hair color look. These “cappuccino” tresses are all the rage, seen on celebrities with various hair textures, and they also flatter many skin tones.
With that said, we checked in with professional hair stylists and colorists to learn more about the trendy light brown hue. Read on for tips, suggestions, and insight from Emaly Baum, an NYC-based colorist to the stars, and owner of Beauty Supply, a salon in SoHo, Alice Rawling, a hairstylist and chief editor at Hairdo Hairstyle, and Jamie Mazzei, creative director for NuBest Salon and Spa. Read on to learn more!
Cappuccino hair
"Cappuccino hair," Baum says, "is a warm brunette base with a gentle caramel highlight." Like a cappuccino, this light to medium brunette hair color has a rich brown base and strokes of golden brown. It’s a brighter take on mocha brown hair or bronde, but with the same boost of dimension, courtesy of balayage. It's no wonder this hair shade is so popular among celebrities right now! "Some celebs with cappuccino hair include Hailey Beiber, a young Jane Birkin, and Camila Morrone," she continues. And, if you experience thinning hair, it might be best to go a little darker for a while!
What makes this color so flattering? Baum explains that is because "it really accentuates the warmth that's already present in their hair. This color is super natural and low maintenance. It feels really rich and effortless." When asking your colorist for this specific tone, she says to request a "subtle highlight with a warm caramel toner." Nice!
And when it comes to maintenance, we recommend you regularly use blue shampoo. Rawlings says, "Blue shampoo is best for brunettes with highlights, unlike the purple shampoos due to the cobalt-colored formulas which are effective in maintaining dark hair highlights."
"If we think of the color wheel, we can understand why blue shampoo can work for unwanted orange in the hair," Mazzei explains. "Blue and orange are opposites on the color wheel, so they counteract or neutralize one another. The same is true for unwanted yellow. Purple is the opposite of yellow on the color wheel, so they also counteract one another as well. This is how a color-depositing shampoo is able to tone your highlights by counteracting the unwanted shade." Noted!
"Some brassiness is inevitable when highlighting your brunette hair. This is because whenever we lighten [our] hair, we expose warmth. Your colorist will tone this warmth at the salon to get you to your desired shade. Using a semi-permanent color depositing shampoo in the shower will help maintain your salon toner and keep your color from getting brassy," Mazzei continues. "Pro Tip: It is important if your highlights are pale blonde or platinum not to use blue shampoo as this will likely turn your highlights blue and will not be the result you are looking for." There are numerous blue shampoos out there that are spiked with blue pigments that can preserve the gorgeous balayage caramel highlights so you can keep your cappuccino hair looking fresh!
