Light brown hair color ideas for fair skin

Whoever said brown is boring never met these rich brunette shades. Honey, toffee, espresso—we're craving every single one.

By Andrea Arterbery

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  Fair Skin Tone With Cool Undertones

  Jessica Biel

  Dark roots are key when re-creating Biel’s lush shade of brown. “It’s a few shades darker at the roots, with a lighter gradual golden brown gradation,” Nicole Tresch, colorist at Rita Hazan Salon in New York, says. The key to maintaining this shade is to get regular root touch-ups. “If you have grey, ask the colorist to put conditioner on your already light ends to protect the base from running through during washing,” Tresch says. “Also, don’t tone down the sun kissed ends. If the ends aren’t already light, add bayalage or foil some ombre ends and tone them with a subtle velvet brown on brown tone.”

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  Dimitrios Kambouris

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  Fair Skin Tone With Cool Undertones

  Dakota Johnson

  Dakota Johnson’s hair color isn’t exactly 50 shades of brown, but more like one shade of chocolate brown with fleck of auburn overtones, according to celebrity hair colorist Sharon Dorram. “To create this color, start with a rich semi-permanent light to medium brown to richen up the natural base color,” Dorram tells Allure. “Then, paint in soft highlights strategically on the ends and around the face frame. Finish with a semi-auburn gloss to create warmth.” Keep this hair color from fading by not using alcohol laced styling products (like mousse and hair spray) and to over shampooing, Dorram advises.

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  Fair Skin Tone With Warm Undertones

  Kate Middleton

  “Kate’s is a maintenance color to remove the odd grey add depth and dimension,” celebrity colorist Nicola Clarke says to describe Middleton’s shiny, picture perfect hair. By not going darker than your natural color, Clarke says you limit the amount of time you have to go to the salon for regrowth. “It’s perfect for busy women like Kate,” Clarke says. Use a sulfate-free shampoo like the Color Wow Color Security Shampoo to keep color looking fresh.

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  Fair Skin Tone With Warm Undertones

  Cara Delevigne

  It comes as no surprise to us that cool girl Cara Delevingne is wearing what Dorram describes as flattering. “It brings a glow to almost anyone who chooses it,” Dorram tells Allure. “No makeup needed.” To recreate it, ask your stylist for layers and layer of amber highlights. Keep the look from fading by using a protectant like the Aveda Sun Care Hair Veil before direct sun exposure.

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  Todd Williamson

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  Fair Skin Tone With Warm Undertones

  Megan Fox

  Tresch says the key to creating this dark chocolate brown base with ombre and auburn reddish highlights is to keep the lightness towards the ends. “If your hair is dark, keep your natural color and ombre only a few big pieces to make your hair pop,” Tresch says. “You should ombre mostly at the bottom and tone it with a warm auburn brown, only a couple of shades lighter than the base.”

  If your hair isn’t dark and you’d like for it to be, Tresch advises asking a hair colorist for a demi permanent or vegetable dye to avoid having a line of demarcation. “It’s also important to gloss often since warm reddish tones tend to fade the fastest,” Tresch says.

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  VALERIE MACON

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  Medium Skin Tone With Olive Undertones

  Selena Gomez

  If we had hair like Selena Gomez, our hands would be in it, all of the time. According to Clarke, it’s a much darker and richer shade of brown, but goes great with her olive complexion. To get this look, Clarke says to ask for a base color or a semi-permanent dye, which gives you a richer and denser effect.

  The great thing about this shade is that it doesn’t need regular touch-ups, but if your lighter roots start to grow back, Clarke suggests filling them in with Color Wow Root Cover Up. “It’ll extend the color and fill in any gaps you may see with the richer hues,” she says.

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  Medium Skin Tone With Olive Undertones

  Katie Holmes

  “This warm golden brown color makes her skin glow and look sun kissed,” Tresch says about Katie Holmes’ hair color. Tresch, who describes this look as low maintenance, says it will require highlights about two to three times per year. “This look is subtle baby fine highlights that pop enough to show the movement of the haircut, but are toned down to only a few shades lighter than the natural color,” Tresch says.

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  Medium Skin Tone With Olive Undertones

  Jessica Alba

  Jessica Alba’s hair color is honey done right. “This is a great choice for olive toned skin,” Dorram says about her hair color. To recreate the look, Dorram advises asking your stylist to weave in layers of highlights and lowlights keeping contrast at the roots and lighter pieces on the ends. “Be careful not to over shampoo hair to keep ends from fraying and drying out,” Dorram says.

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  Olive Undertones

  Shay Mitchell

  Shay Mitchell’s low-key color is one that we love. To steal this look, Clark says to ask your stylist to keep your natural color around the face and mix in highlights throughout the hair, not starting at the root. “You want to keep the blonde on the warmer side and have the ends on the creamier lighter scale,” Clark tells Allure. “This will create gorgeous dimension and won’t give the look of hair washing out (or clashing) with your complexion.” Keep the color in strands nourished and hydrated by styling with the Color Wow Coconut Cocktail Bionic Tonic.

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  Olive Undertones

  Eva Longoria

  Weaving in layers of highlights and lowlights is key to recreating Eva Longoria’s chocolate honey hair color. To get this look, Dorram suggests asking your stylist for a medium to dark brown base or chocolate brown with honey highlights.

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  Olive Undertones

  Chrissy Teigen

  “Chrissy Teigen’s highlights add depth and dimension, giving her the pop she needs with this cut especially,” Tresch tells Allure. “Being a version of brown and blonde works best when you have features that are darker.”

  If your base is dark, Tesch says you might need to do a base break to lift and warm up your natural color just a shade. If your hair is blonde, Tesch says to deepen it a drop and then highlight just beyond the root directly onto it for a more lived in, messy sexy look that’s not too done. “This makes the highlights a bright honey blonde and that is a good match for a rich, brown base,” Tresch says. “Anything lighter or too ‘white’ may appear too frosty.”

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  Dark Skin Tone

  Jourdan Dunn

  “Here you can see a slightly darker color framing the face and she has a few warmer tones running through the hair giving it a fabulous richness and expensive-looking gloss,” Clarke says about Dunn’s shade. Highlights throughout the hair—not at the root—is what it takes to recreate this look.

  “I would run a few foils with a richer tone to the base color and go a couple of shades lighter throughout to get give hair a sleek, 3D effect,” Clark advises.

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  Dark Skin Tone

  Kerry Washington

  Kerry Washington’s hair color is handled. To steal this look, Dorram suggests asking your stylist for soft subtle amber highlights. “The contrast comes by leaving the roots darker and highlighting strategically around the crown,” Dorram says.

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  Dark Skin Tone

  Joan Smalls

  “This base, which is on the darkest side of brown without being black, looks good on her dark skin tone and is softened by adding a few face framing bayalage ends,” Tresch says of Joan Smalls’s hair color. To get this look, Tresch advises asking your stylist to keep the depth of your natural hair by adding just a few face framing highlights away from the roots. “You won’t need to use anything harsh or strong, as you only want one to two levels of lift tops,” Tresch says. “Then gloss it for an extra shiny look.”

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