39 Winter Hair Colors For Brunettes That Will Warm Up Chilly Days
Baby, it’s cold outside – but your hair doesn’t have to play it cool. While everyone else is bundling up in fifty shades of gray, brunettes are about to have their most stunning season yet. Think deep chocolates that rival your favorite Swiss hot cocoa. Rich mahoganies that catch the light like amber in front of a crackling fire. Buttery caramel ribbons that make winter feel downright cozy.
These stunning hair colors will help make winter your signature season. Here are the most flattering brunette shades that’ll make you feel like a snow queen with serious style this winter.
1. Chocolate Brown Waves with Face-Framing Highlights
Chocolate-brown waves have an undeniable richness, and when combined with face-framing highlights, this look truly shines. The delicate highlights around the face brighten your complexion. This style is best suited for medium to thick hair, as it brings out the fullness of each wave. This look radiates warmth, giving you that cozy, glowing look all season long.
2. Highlighted Chocolate Brown Waves
Rich, highlighted chocolate brown brings a velvety depth to this long hairstyle. The waves flow gently, adding body and dimension to the hair. The highlights aren’t just for show; they add a hint of light that amplifies each wave, making the hair look more vibrant – perfect for winter’s softer palette.
3. Short Sandy Brown Layers
If you want to freshen things up, try short dark brown layers with sandy brown highlights. Sandy brown is a unique shade – it’s soft but brings warmth, blending perfectly with the deeper brown base. This short haircut for winter is great for fine hair, as the layers create instant volume and lift.
4. Honeyed Caramel Brown Waves
Warm, honeyed caramel tones weave through soft brown waves, creating a look that’s downright radiant. These waves have an inviting depth, perfect for adding a bit of glow to your winter style. Thick hair benefits most from this look, as it brings out the natural fullness and richness.
5. French Roast Brown Waves
French roast brown has a bold, earthy richness that’s grounding for winter. This shade creates a sense of warmth, perfect for colder months. The waves add that luscious, touchable texture that feels like a natural extension of the hair color itself.
6. Deep Chocolate Brown Shaggy Layers with Bangs
For a textured look, deep chocolate brown shaggy layers are a stunning choice. This shade is rich, deep, and ideal for winter. The deep shade shines in layers that create movement and texture, giving your hair a relaxed look, especially when paired with bangs.
7. Chestnut Brown Waves with Golden Highlights
Chestnut brown waves with warm golden highlights bring a much-needed brightness on cold winter days. The golden tones glisten in the light, adding a luxurious feel without overshadowing the chestnut base. This look is especially flattering for women with long hair, as the golden highlights create a natural flow through the length, amplifying the depth of each wave.
8. Chocolate Brown Waves with Brown Highlights
Chocolate brown waves with subtle, lighter brown highlights have a depth that has an understated elegance. This color combination adds layers of warmth to your hair, creating a look that’s so natural looking. The soft waves keep it relaxed, making it perfect for fine to medium hair that could use a touch of dimension.
9. Light Mahogany Brown Cropped Layers
A touch of mahogany brings warmth to cropped brunette layers. Light mahogany brown is an ideal shade for winter – it’s rich without being too intense, giving short hair a burst of color that stands out. This style works best on fine to medium hair, as the cropped layers add fullness. Try a texturizing paste to bring out the shape of each layer and keep the layers defined.
10. Chestnut Brown Highlighted Waves with Bangs
Deep chestnut tones offer a luxurious, warm base to this long bob. The subtle layers give the style a playful, textured lift, making it anything but flat. To keep the color looking vibrant and avoid brassiness, try a color-safe, hydrating shampoo.
11. Long Dark Brown Hair with Warm Caramel Layers
Think of the depth of dark chocolate with just a hint of caramel drizzled through. That’s exactly what you get with this rich, dark brown base, brightened by caramel layers that give a subtle sunlit effect (perfect for the winter doldrums). Those caramel pieces pop beautifully against the deep brown, adding warmth and a bit of glow to each strand.
12. Gray Blending for Dark Brown Hair
Gray blending on dark brown hair is pure elegance. This isn’t about covering up but embracing and enhancing. The rich, dark brown mingles seamlessly with soft, natural grays, creating an incredibly chic multidimensional shade. (Use a lightweight hair oil to keep those silvery strands looking fresh and luminous.)
13. Espresso Brown Side-Swept Bob with Subtle Highlights
Espresso brown is rich, intense, and oh-so-sophisticated. In a side-swept bob, this shade is absolute magic. The barely-there highlights aren’t about flash – they’re about dimension, a soft touch of light that keeps the dark brown from feeling too heavy.
14. Chestnut Brown Waves with Blonde Highlights
There’s something endlessly cozy about chestnut brown. This shade is warm and heavily lightened by golden blonde highlights, creating a soft, approachable look that’s perfect for winter. Those soft layers give the waves a touch of bounce, bringing life and movement to the beautiful shade.
15. Deep Espresso Waves with Subtle Warm Highlights
If you’re drawn to bold, dark tones, deep espresso waves are your perfect match. This shade has an intense richness, a true, inky brown that feels almost velvety. It’s contrasted by warm highlights for added depth and lovely dimension. The waves soften the intensity, giving thick hair that gorgeous, touchable movement.
16. Sleek Shoulder-Length Brown Waves with Caramel Highlights
Shoulder-length waves paired with caramel highlights are the ultimate mix of sleek styling and warm shading. The dark brown base has a refined smoothness, and the caramel highlights add the perfect amount of light, keeping everything from looking too dark and one-dimensional.
17. Golden Bronze Waves
Golden bronze waves bring warmth and radiance to long hair, especially during the cooler months when the sun hides away. This shade has a certain richness that looks like it’s kissed by winter sunlight. It’s bright without being overpowering, adding a vibrant feel that looks natural. Ideal for women with thick hair, the bronze tones add depth to each wave.
18. Ashy Mocha Brown Lob
The ashy mocha brown lob has this cool, smoky appeal that feels refreshingly modern. The mix of mocha and ash tones gives it a soft, muted vibe—like that cozy gray winter sky right before the snow. It’s a little bit moody, a little bit edgy, but totally chic for the season.
19. Cinnamon Brown Layers with Highlights
Cinnamon brown with highlights is all about adding a little spice, so to speak, to your hair. The dark base is warm and inviting, with those cinnamon and golden highlights bringing in that extra bit of light to make everything feel fresh. This hair color works great on layered cuts, creating an interplay of tones that really makes each layer stand out.
20. Dark Chestnut Brown Layered Bob
Dark chestnut brown in a layered bob brings a luxurious depth that’s on-trend without trying too hard. This shade has an earthy warmth that’s incredibly flattering in the winter months when deeper tones add a cozy feel. The layers add much-needed volume and structure, making this style ideal for fine to medium hair.
21. Golden Balayage on Dark Brown Hair
Golden balayage in this style adds just the right sparkle to your look (think beams of winter sun glinting through the trees). The warm golden highlights weave through the dark brown, creating an eye-catching contrast that gives you a soft glow. This color combo is ideal if you want a touch of brightness without fully committing to lighter hair.
22. Long Rich Auburn Waves
Turn up the warmth this winter with these luscious auburn waves. This shade is bold yet soft, with a fiery undertone that shimmers through every wave. This shade looks fabulous on longer hair, where the vibrant red-brown tones can truly shine.
23. Long Milk Chocolate Brown Layers
Smooth, creamy, and effortlessly beautiful, milk chocolate brown is the perfect shade for brunettes who want to stay on the lighter side. This soft brown shade has a natural glow that complements your skin’s warmth, ideal for dull winter days. (A hair gloss treatment can make this shade look even more radiant.)
24. Tousled Honey Brown Shoulder-Length Curls
Nothing says winter warmth like a honey-brown hue with a tousled finish. This shoulder-length cut is fantastic for natural curls or waves, where the warm hair color can boost each curl’s shape. The honey tone has a golden touch, lending softness and depth to your hairstyle.
25. Chocolate Brown Waves with Highlights
Rich, glossy, and oh-so-smooth chocolate brown waves bring an air of luxury to any look. This deep brown shade is all about sophistication, making your hair look thicker, shinier, and more vibrant. The chocolate tones have just a hint of warmth with subtle highlights, making them versatile enough for straight, wavy, or curly textures.
26. Ash Brown with Light Balayage on a Dark Brown Base
Multidimensional is the word to describe this long hairstyle for winter. This hair color blends cool, ash-brown highlights with a deeper, darker root, giving your hair a smooth and sophisticated look. The light balayage adds a soft, smoky quality that’s perfect for winter.
27. Coffee Brown Lob
This rich coffee brown shade is like your favorite morning brew – deep, comforting, and full of depth. The lob (long bob) length is perfect if you’re after something that’s easy to style. The shade is a rich blend of espresso tones with subtle undertones that enhance your skin’s natural warmth.
28. Curly Espresso Layered Bob with Copper Highlights
Deep espresso brown has a gorgeous richness, while copper highlights add playful pops of warmth, perfect for accentuating natural curls like these. This layered bob shape is ideal for showing off curly or wavy textures, giving each curl its own moment to shine. This color combination is playful and bold!
29. Chocolate Brown Long Bob with Golden Highlights
This chocolate brown shade with golden highlights is warm and inviting, like a cozy winter evening by the fire. The golden highlights add a soft sparkle, creating dimension without taking away from the richness of the brown. Ask your stylist for thin, scattered highlights to keep it natural and low-maintenance.
30. Espresso Brown Waves with Golden Highlights
Deep, velvety, and full of elegance, highlighted dark chocolate brown waves give your hair that rich, polished look that’s just right for winter. The delicate highlights subtly peek through, adding a soft shimmer that brings out the dimension in each wave. This color and texture pairing is especially stunning on long, thick hair, where the dark hues enhance volume and density.
31. Copper Brown Long Bob
If you’re looking for a hair color that brings warmth and life to the shorter, chillier days, this long copper brown bob is the perfect choice. The deep copper tones add a soft glow (as if your hair is catching the last autumn sunset). It’s an understated look that speaks volumes.
32. Long Mocha Brown Hair with Caramel Highlighted Layers
This high-volume mocha brown waves, accented with caramel layers, is like wrapping yourself in a cozy winter latte. The caramel highlights add a beautiful glow that plays off the mocha backdrop, creating a rich and vibrant shade blend. To keep your layers looking soft and smooth, use a shine serum on the ends after styling. It’s a little touch that goes a long way!
33. Brunette Waves with Honey Blonde Highlights
Long brown waves with honey highlights are the perfect blend of warmth and brightness, especially in winter when a little extra glow is most welcome. The subtle honey-blonde streaks contrast the golden brown, making your hair look like it’s catching the winter sun.
34. Warm Chestnut Brown Lob with Caramel Highlights
This warm chestnut shoulder-length long bob (lob) has a chestnut brown shade that is rich and inviting. The caramel highlights add a bit of sparkle that keeps the look fresh, especially around your face. The lob length is practical AND stylish, easy to maintain, and versatile enough for all kinds of styling.
35. Sleek Espresso Bob with Subtle Highlights
Nothing says sleek and polished quite like this sleek espresso bob. The deep, rich espresso shade provides a stunning base for the barely-there highlights to add a hint of contrast. This look shines best on straight, smooth hair textures, giving off a clean, minimalist vibe.
36. Midnight Brown Layered Waves
This midnight brown, almost black shade adds depth to wavy hair. Midnight brown is universally flattering and pairs well with every skin tone, making it a great choice if you want something timeless. To keep the volume in those layers without adding weight, go for a volumizing mousse or spray before blow-drying.
37. Chocolate Brown Medium-Length Waves
Chocolate brown is a classic choice, and this medium-length wavy cut gives it a soft, playful feel. The rich, warm tones of chocolate brown give you that winter glow. It’s a versatile look that feels warm and inviting.
38. Multidimensional Blonde and Copper Highlights on Dark Brown Hair
This look is all about depth and contrast, with warm golden blonde and copper highlights that make your dark brown waves pop. The blonde and copper add a vibrant twist, bringing fiery warmth to the winter months. The streaky mix creates a unique, multidimensional effect, making your hair look lively and quite unique.
39. Dark Chestnut Brown Waves with Golden Blonde Highlights
These dark chestnut waves with warm blonde highlights bring a touch of sun to the colder months. The chestnut brown gives your hair a deep, warm base while the golden highlights lift and brighten, creating a stunning contrast that’s super cozy. Tip: A light hydrating shampoo and conditioner will help keep those waves soft and prevent dryness during the colder months, so you can enjoy this vibrant look all winter.