The Best Brunette Shades for Every Skin Tone

Brown hair is anything but boring. Whether you’re going over to the dark side for the first time, or you’re a natural brunette that wants to enhance your color, there’s a myriad of shade possibilities. Choosing to go dark is the first step, but finding the most flattering shade for your complexion can be harder than the decision to take the plunge and test out a rich caramel, chocolate brown, or multidimensional golden tone, to name a few.  That’s why we turned to Nick Arrojo, founder of Arrojo Studio in New York to create a complete guide on which brunette shades work best for every skin tone.  Once you’re enjoying your new brown shade, Arrojo stresses the importance of preserving your hue by using shampoo and conditioner tailored for colored hair, and treating strands to a weekly treatment such as Arrojo Whipped Treatment ($26; arrojoproduct.com) to maintain its vibrancy.

Now, who said blondes have more fun? Keep scrolling to find out the best brunette shade to compliment your skin tone. 

Start Slideshow

1 of 8

Fair With Cool Undertones 

Dave J Hogan/Getty

Dakota Johnson's warm, chestnut shade with red and golden undertones will brighten up fair complexions that err on the cool side without looking too harsh. 

Advertisement

2 of 8

Fair With Warm Undertones

Michael Stewart/WireImage

The best way to flatter a fair complexion with warm undertones: Lily Aldridge's deep caramel color. "Keep the caramel cool for a nice contrast," says Arrojo. 

3 of 8

Medium With Cool Undertones 

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Arrojo says that a neutral brunette shade like Bella Hadid's charcoal toned brown pairs well with a medium complexion with cool undertones. 

Advertisement

4 of 8

Medium With Warm Undertones 

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

If you have a medium complexion that leans on the warm side, Arrojo says that a light chocolate brown shade such as Katie Holmes, is the perfect balance for your skin tone. 

5 of 8

Olive

Andrew Toth/Getty

For olive complexions like Selena Gomez, Arrojo suggests opting for a dark chocolate brown that will create a striking contrast with your complexion. 

6 of 8

Dark With Cool Undertones 

John Shearer/Getty

Arrojo says that multidimmensional like Beyoncé's ribbons of color add softness and warmth to dark skin tones with cool undertones. 

Advertisement

7 of 8

Dark With Warm Undertones

Karwai Tang/WireImage

To enhance the natural warmth of this skin tone, Arrojo recommends a rich, dark coppery brown shade like model Jourdan Dunn's tousled strands

Replay gallery

Share the gallery

Up Next

Advertisement