Smoky brunette is the trendy hair color that will help you turn a cruel summer into a cool fall.
Featured Experts
- Matt Rez is a celebrity colorist and Moroccanoil global ambassador
- Christopher Naselli is a celebrity hairstylist and expert colorist
What Makes Smoky Brunette So Cool?
According to celebrity hairstylist and expert colorist Christopher Naselli, the smoky brunette look stands out because of its cool tones.
“Smoky brunette is a deep brown hue with a shade of ash that has cool undertones,” Naselli explains. “This color has absolutely no warmth.”
For celebrity colorist and Moroccanoil global ambassador, Matt Rez, this color is known for its gray tones, which gives the hair that rich and deep look.
“Smoky brunette is the darker version of dishwater blonde,” Rez says. “The only difference is there is more of a cool gray tone and more of a cool green reflect.”
Who Looks Best as a Smoky Brunette?
“This color is great for those who want an absence of warm tones,” Rez explains. “This could work on most people with neutral skin tones, depending on how light or deep the brunette is. I would avoid on fair skin.”
Perfect for warmer skin tones with yellow undertones, like olive skin, smoky brunette complements gold and peachy shades. While fair skin might be washed out by the lack of warm tones, Naselli explains that the darker version of this color can work well on cool skin tones with pink or blue undertones.
“This color works best on someone with medium to dark brown hair and works best on skin tones with cool undertones,” Naselli says.
Trending Hair Colors to Start Your Fall
Whether you’re looking for a beachy brunette or a balayage blonde dream, there’s a perfect hair color out there to take you into the new season. With bobs and lobs still topping the trending cuts for the year, there has been more experimentation with hair color. We’ve seen everything from tonal highlights and low lights to Barbie blonde and milk tea hair. There’s no shortage of trending colors and techniques to take your look to the next level.
From Hailey Bieber’s winter gold hair to Jennifer Love Hewitt’s stunning auburn bob, fall is a great time to shift your color and welcome the changing season.
How to Get Smoky Brunette Hair Color
If your hairstylist isn’t familiar with “smoky brunette” hair color, having photos on hand is a great way to get you the color of your dreams. For the smoky brunette look, you’ll also want to ask to keep your colors cool-toned.
“This look is accomplished by eliminating all unwanted warm tones,” Rez explains. “I love Moroccanoil Color Calypso Demi Permanent Liquid Glosses (available to professionals) to create cool-toned looks. As a pro colorist, with the variation of colors in the cooler series of the line, I mix up to four shades and tones to create the perfect smoky cool results.”
Depending on your hair color, the process to achieving the smoky brunette look could involve adding highlights, toning down warmer colors or getting a full color job in the ashy shade of your choice.
“There are a few different ways to achieve this color,” Naselli says. “Depending on your base color you can add in cool-toned highlights or tone out the highlights you already have with a cool or ash toner or glaze. You can also do an overall single color that is a cool ash brown.”
Preserve Your Smoky Brunette Hair Color
The key to keeping the smoky brunette look is minimizing the return of warm tones.
“A color-safe shampoo and conditioner are a necessity,” Rez explains. “Moroccanoil Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner ($56) can help slow the fading of color as hair oxidizes. This is necessary to keep warm, red tones down.”
“Always use a color-safe shampoo and conditioner,” Naselli confirms. “If you feel that your cool tone is fading in between color services you can always use an at-home color gloss or use an at-home color that you would apply on the entire head for 10 minutes to give you a refresh until you get to the salon. AGEbeautiful at-home professional hair color ($12) has great shades of cool brown that can get you through until your next visit to the salon!”
