How to Choose the Right Hair Color for Your Brown Eyes

Lucy
By Lucy
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They are deep and earthy, they are warm and comforting, they are chocolaty… No, we are not raving about our chocolate cravings! We are talking about something equally enticing: your deep brown eyes1. But just like one cannot have enough chocolate, those dark brown eyes leave you wanting more.

Paired with gorgeous tresses, brown-eyed people are a head-turner, literally! As if it was not enough, brown is neutral, so it goes well with every color and is a perfect companion.

But Just because brown goes well with every other shade doesn’t mean you could slather on any hair color and expect a charm! So, what could go wrong when pairing your gorgeous brown eyes with the right hair color? 

Let’s unlock the hidden nuances of charming locks that pair fabulously with brown eyes. 

1. The Right Hair Color for Your Brown Eyes

As we said, brown is a standard eye color that goes with any color, for real! The reason is that in makeup applications, brown results from mixing three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. Interestingly, brown also turns out to be one of the five neutral colors.

There are various shades of brown eyes, raging from lighter shades of brown, which sometimes look like hazel eyes or even like the rare amber eyes in bright light, to dark shades of brown

how to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes
Source: Pixabay

1.1. In Step With the Browns

With a suitable matching hair color pair for your brown eyes, it would be a fiery, intimate tango. Depending on your skin color and tone, brown eyes meeting a sultry brown shade or a feathery blonde will feel natural, like meeting your twin. 

Brown eyes are naturally warm and are best complimented by warm hair color tones. Warmth oozes through caramel brown with a hint of red and cinnamon brown with traces of orange colors. Warm and toasty chestnut brown or lighter butterscotch brunette shades are lighter options. Red-brown is a low-maintenance, warm-toned option. 

For a neutral tone, flaunt the gorgeous auburn-toned or reddish mahogany-toned brown. Try ash brown, mushroom brown, or gorgeous espresso for cooler browns. 

1.2. Going Lighter with Naturals

Sandy’s blonde hair2 color with a mix of blonde and light brown livens up light brown eyes and gives warmth to the complexion. For a cooler look, opt for ash blondes, champagne blondes, or platinum blondes, depending on how light you want to get. 

You can always switch up the warmth with an ombré of caramel lowlight or a lighter ‘baby light.’ Choose a sun-kissed honey, strawberry, or butterscotch blonde color for warmth. For a slightly darker and richer caramel blonde, which also goes well with darker lowlights.

1.3. Daring Darks

Brown eyes look stunning with cooler dark hair colors. It is a chic deviation from browns and blondes.

how to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes
Source: Unsplash

While blue-based jet black is a statement-making option for some, it is difficult to pull off by lighter skin tones. Charcoal black, an ombré finish of slate brunette with platinum blonde ends, or an onyx espresso color with a reflective sheen could leave people trying to decipher you. 

2. Tough Coloring Decision Made Easy

Do you feel happily spoilt for choices? We know! And if picking one is giving you the hair-twirling drama, we surely understand. Follow these helpful pointers to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes. 

2.1. How to Pick the Right Hair Color

The right color is what makes you happy. And we will progressively take you to find your ‘happy’ hair color!

2.1.1.  What is the Purpose

First thing first. Other than to reveal a dashing you, let’s ask why you want to choose a hair color.

Do you want to go lighter for summer or switch to a darker shade for a more professional demeanor? Or, have you got a feeling of now-or-never and want to try that pastel shade you always wanted? Is your primary goal gray coverage? 

Prioritize what looks is important for you because you don’t want to draw side-eyes in a professional meeting instead of wide-eyed admiration!

2.1.2. Find Your Original Hair Color

By the rule, your current hair color decides how far you can venture off on the color scale. Whether you have colored your hair recently or have virgin tresses, determining your current hair color is simple. 

how to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes
Source: Pexels

Neatly section off a part of your hair away from the rest and match it against a color selector tool. Pull away from your face a few layers deep where bright sunlight does not naturally lighten. This will prevent you from mistaking the color as lighter than it is.

2.1.3. Skin Tone

Typically, the tone of hair color should be the same as your skin’s undertone. So, if your skin has cooler undertones, the hair color tone could be ‘ash.’ So the color names would sound like ‘ash blonde’ for a lighter color or ‘mushroom brown’ for a darker color. 

As always, there are exceptions, and with quite several good reasons. If you are too pale, adding a cool undertone would instead make you appear… ghostly. To avoid that, choose a warmer undertone like gold or copper.

2.2. Changing Shades

The most natural look is achieved by staying within two shades darker or lighter than the current hair color. But the process doesn’t end here. 

how to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes
Source: Pixabay

2.2.1. Undertone

Undertones give warmth or coolness to a color and, more importantly, a healthy glow to your overall look. It prevents you from looking either washed out or like a blazing furnace! 

2.2.2. The Play of Warm and Cool 

Within the two-shade color range, neutral tones bring out your original hair’s natural highs and lows. Additionally, you may safely choose a warm or cool undertone for your color, depending on whether you want to downplay or elevate your skin tone’s warmth or coolness. 

However, hair has natural warm tones that become more apparent as you deviate into lighter colors, even if the colors are cool-toned. So, if you don’t want that ruddy look, neutralize with more cooler tones. 

As a word of caution, if you have virgin hair that has not yet been chemically processed, do the necessary patch test and choose cruelty-free products for yourself and the environment. 

2.3. Layered Coloring for a Natural Look

Are you not ready to transform the whole mop in one sweep? Maybe you don’t like the flat look of unnatural hair dye? Trust or not, you are in luck, as natural looks are in trend and don’t need root touch-ups nearly as often! Check out how effortless the process is!

How to: Balayage Ombre with cool brown - Hair Color for Women

2.3.1. Ombré

Get the ombré look with two or more colors. The result is diffused highlights that run from the midshaft to the end with a gradual fade effect. Or, a smoother sombré, short for ‘soft ombre’ with gentler gradations through the hair length. 

A more defined foiling method can achieve these full or partial highlights. Better still, get a more natural transition for multi-hair color with the balayage technique, which means painted hair in French.

2.3.2. Money Piece

You can put your money on it. Well, why not? This highlighted look can be easily created at home with minimal effort, color, and care. Here, the colored part of the hair frames your face. Wear this style by itself or by highlighting the rest of the hair.

2.3.3. Mix Mix Mix

Want to bring that beach vacation back home? Mix blonde and brown to achieve a unique sun-kissed look called ‘bronde.’ Get the roaring ‘tiger’s eye’ look with highlights of brown and caramel, or bring out the cute feline in you with the ‘tortoiseshell’ look with darker browns, caramel, and beige.

how to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes
Source: Unsplash

2.4. Gray Coverage or Transitioning

Ombré look is excellent for covering grays and a great way to create a classy look. Add depth to your hair with lowlights with medium or darker shades of brown. 

Gray hair is cooler in tone, so cool brown shades like ash brown or chestnut brown could blend well with brown hair going gray. For blonde hair, add ash blonde or icy blonde hues as lowlights. 

Because of their built-in transition looks, these looks require fewer touch-ups and are less hassle to maintain, especially when transitioning to natural gray hair.

2.5. Feel Lively in Pretty Pastels

You want a change, something different, and we hear you. Coloring hair in pastels can bring a whole new dreamy dimension to your brown eyes. Pastels have little saturation, Unlike jewel tones, allowing for a soft yet statement-worthy look. 

Pastel colors look different, with darker or lighter undertones. More saturated pastels look great with a lighter base, whereas completely washed-out pastels look anime-grade fabulous on a dark brown base or lowlights.

how to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes
Source: Pexels

3. Coloring Hair Like Professionals

Assuming you want to color your hair at home using one of the products available. Or, you might want to beeline to a hair color expert in a reputed salon for the summer. Whatever you choose, you will get a gorgeous hair makeover if you know the numbers on the hair color packages. 

Also, it is important to maintain healthy hair, and for this, it requires the right balance of nutrients. Incorporating protein powder into your diet can also support hair health from the inside out. With its ability to provide essential amino acids necessary for hair growth and strength, protein powder can complement your efforts in achieving vibrant and resilient hair.

3.1. Numbers = Shades + Tone

The unassuming numbers on the hair color boxes are the key to what’s inside. The format follows a number, followed by a slash (/) or a decimal (.), and one or two-digit numbers. For example, the box could read 5.13, which means a medium brown color with a calm tone and a warm ‘reflect’ or secondary tone. 

Let’s check out how this numbering spells magic on your hair.

3.1.1. Dark or Light

When choosing hair color, our first thought is usually about the color itself, how dark or light the hair color is. 

The number before the slash or decimal means just that. It denotes the ‘color level’ or the shade. Usually, the numbers range between 1 and 10, Level 1 is black, Level 10 is the Lightest Blonde and Level 5 borders between brown and blonde shades.

how to choose the right hair color for your brown eyes
Source: Pexels

3.1.2. Warm or Cool

The nuanced magic doesn’t end there. If you look closer, not all hair colors look the same. And the reason is the underlying tone. It is all about how ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ a shade or a level is. 

The number right after the slash or decimal denotes the ‘undertone’ or the primary tone. After coloring, this appears as the dominant tone of your hair. 

Each hair color brand may have a different numbering format, but usually, the lesser numbers denote cool colors, and higher numbers mean warm colors. A ‘one’ (.1) on the scale means a cool ash tone, and a ‘four’ (.4) is a warm copper tone. 

3.1.3. Color in Movement

Did you ever notice the beautiful colors that appear to surface and disappear as the hair moves? That is called ‘color reflect3’ and it mimics hair’s natural depth and vibrancy for colored hair. The number next to the undertone denotes Color Reflect, also called the secondary tone. 

At times, abbreviated tone names as letters replace ‘tone numbers.’ For example, a ‘G’ for primary gold ‘tone’ or a secondary gold ‘reflect.’ 

Conclusion

Brown eyes are a win-win. Now you know why! It is your end’s winner hue for no-fuss makeup, but the accolades keep coming from the onlookers. Almost all hair colors, painted right, from blacks to brunettes and blonde shades, bring out a different drama with brown eyes. And now you know the right hair color for your brown eyes.

Such versatility is truly enviable that it would cause a war. But luckily, among the different eye colors, brown eyes are an almost universal sovereign, and everyone gets to have their own story to tell with the perfect hair color. 

  1. MENON, I. ARAVIND, et al. “Quantitative determination of the melanin contents in ocular tissues from human blue and brown eyes.” Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics 8.1 (1992): 35-42. ↩︎
  2. Heckert, Druann Maria. “Mixed blessings: women and blonde hair.” Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology 31.1 (2003): 47-72. ↩︎
  3. White, T. E. (2020). Structural colours reflect individual quality: a meta-analysis. Biology Letters16(4), 20200001. ↩︎

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Payel is an avid writer. She hails from the community and public health fields. She has an insatiable knack for traveling, meeting people, and knowing their cultures and customs. Her writing reflects her passion in the lifestyle and health genre. Through her writings, Payel weaves words to bring out the nuances and angles of our lives and things that matter to us. Education MPH, MSc Specialization in Public Health and Biology Certifications/Qualifications MPH MSc in Biology
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