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50 New Balayage Hair Ideas to Try in 2025

by
Ema Globyte

46. Soft Caramel Beach Waves. If you’re a brunette and want to get the most natural effect, you can use such win-win shades as caramel, milk chocolate, and coffee brown. You’ll end up with an awesome and rich color shine.

Sure, each of you at least has heard about balayage hair or maybe even tried it – well, today it’s one of the biggest color trends! This technique is amazing and so well-loved because it doesn’t require frequent visits to the salon and, undoubtedly, is able to make your mane look many times more beautiful, and your image – much more stylish. In addition, balayage is a technique #1, which visually adds volume and enhances the texture. Isn’t it exactly what we always want the most?

What is balayage?It’s a special hair coloring technique, related to highlights. It’s mainly used to give soft shades to the locks and to create a natural sun-kissed effect. The bleaches are applied to individual strands and not from the roots, but at some distance, so that the emphasis of the new color is mainly on the tips of the strands.

The dye is applied to the strands in vertical strokes in a V shape, while the intensity of the coloring is unequal all over the head – so the transitions between the shades are soft and smooth. In such a way a colorist can emphasize the shape of layered and textured coifs, as well as create a beautiful face-framing effect. This is especially important in case you have a non-standard face shape.

There is a huge variety of colors used in this type of coloring, starting from the natural hair shades and ending with all the colors of the rainbow: pink, lavender, blue, yellow, burgundy, purple etc. Which one to choose? It depends on your preferences and courage!

1. Bright Tiger Eye Coloring. Soft amber-chocolate shades of the “tiger eye” look great on brown-haired women and brunettes with a warm skin tone and brown, green or hazel eyes. Works for both long and short manes.

2. Strawberry Blonde with White Highlights. The combinations of warm and cool shades are very in. White blonde and strawberry blonde strands give completeness and a luxurious look to the image.

3. Shoulder-Length Dark Root Dye Job. Shorter crops are an excellent base for experimenting with color. The caramel highlights with dark roots look attractive and quite natural as if slightly burned out in the sun.

4. Caramel Mocha Blend. Toffee and caramel highlights are among the most fashionable color trends. You just have to decide whether you want to refresh the ends or to make caramel highlights along the entire length.

5. Cinnamon Brown Highs and Lows. If you want a natural-looking yet unusual color, search no more. Cinnamon brown is the hue that will blend with a dark base perfectly, creating a stunning gradient and contributing to the overall glow of your locks.

6. Brunette with Warm Sandy Highlights. This color job keeps most of the mane on the neutral side, except for the brighter front pieces warmed up with strategically placed splashes of gold.

7. Partial Highlights for Dark Manes. The beige blonde color blend contrasting with a dark base is a beautiful sight. Add highlights to the front strands so that they frame your face and make you look even more irresistible!

8. Dark Base with Auburn Color Scheme. There is a variety of color options that work incredibly well with brunette manes. Auburn, cherry, and burgundy red are great shades to try if you are up for adding some fire sparks to your usual look!

9. Brown to Blonde Contouring on a Bob. Dark roots and a smooth transition to the bright blonde tips: seems impeccable and fits almost everyone! Strands near the face are lighter than in the back of the head, which makes the appearance more expressive, and gives more depth to the main color.

10. Caramel Blend with Bleached Ends. With a soft brown melt like this, you can grow your mane in style, as well as see for yourself whether blonde suits you or not.

11. Aptly Highlighted Wavy Lob. Highlights work perfectly with all lengths. Yet, there is something extra alluring about a lob with partial highlights. Look how classy and chic it is!

12. Iced Coffee Brown Waves. The dark coffee-toned base gains tons of dimension and movement with medium brown highlights carefully painted atop the waves to accentuate their pattern and intensify the light reflection.

13. Lived-In Blonde Highlights. The hand-painted light blonde ‘surfer’ dye job on a dark base offers wonderful dimension. The flashes of both icy and honey blonde undertones added some enticing glitz to this long mane.

14. Subtle Bronde Color Melt. If high contrasts are not your cup of tea, some muted color melt can still work for you. Try this simple variation that creates a soft gradient from the roots to the ends and enjoy a refreshed look!

15. Bronze Partial Highlights. This dyeing technique is beloved by many ladies for the classy and trendy look it creates. So, if you want to freshen up your appearance, this delicate bronze scheme will do the trick!

16. Sparkling Beige Blonde. The darkened blonde is so mouthwatering and for a good reason. The freshness of cool blondes meets the depth of darker browns, creating an altogether hypnotizing dimension.

17. Beige Strawberry Face Framing. This piece of color goes much lighter toward the ends to land a fairly beige blonde look yet inserts the highlights into the mid-length sparingly to ensure a low-maintenance grow-out.

18. Illuminated Brunette with Golden Highlights. This beauty shows how to upgrade your brown and score a twofer — her medium brown locks get plenty of shine from the golden hues while her olive skin glows with the added warmth.

19. Brown with a Touch of Apricot Honey. This honey bronde formula offers a stunning concoction of brown and blonde hues ranging from natural walnut and greige to gold-tinted saffron and butter cream.

20. Shiny Honey with Sparkles. A gentle and warm honey hue creates a compelling color variation. Combine it with shades of gold and amber for an even more attractive blend fit for a Hollywood star!

21. Dark Blonde with Vanilla Accents. Here, the highlights are used to create impressive dimension on medium-length tresses by melting a creamy golden blonde shade into a neutral base.

22. Caramel Ribbons with Dark Underneath. The caramel looks as sweet as it sounds! This delicious shade will really catch the eye in contrast with a dark base and contribute to your romantic style.

23. Chocolate Mane with Bronze Strokes. Use your favorite dyeing technique to bring more volume and movement to your waves. Some delicate babylights are a flawlessly stylish way to do so.

24. Low-Maintenance Toasted Blonde. Highlights for brown hair come in a variety of hues. All you have to do is pick those that suit your skin tone and eye color best! Some great shades are vanilla, honey, caramel, and sandy blonde.

25. Soft Face-Framing Candlelit Brown. If you are looking for the hottest trends in the brunette world, these layered and softly bronzed strands shimmering against the dark chocolate base will give you a clue.

26. Vivid Caffè Latte Streaks. Apart from the shine invoked by the bright blonde bits popping out here and there, this creamy color scheme delivers amazing depth and dynamics created by the hand-painted streaks flowing from the crown.

27. Partial Caramel Highlights for Brunettes. Make your brunette locks twice more fun with random highlights woven through the length. Not only will it look fresher, but also beneficial for your facial features.

28. Ash Brown for Soft Curls. Ash brown is a classy color scheme that will not keep you waiting for compliments! It is a tasteful styling choice that looks especially flattering with waves or soft curls.

Partial Blonde Balayage for Dark Hair
By Mika

29. Money Piece and Muted Highlights. Need highlights that draw instant attention to your face? Try money highlights. An amazing splash of color frames your face and brightens your complexion.

Light Brown and Blonde Balayage Highlights
By Mick

30. Smokey Blonde Melt. Do you want to become a platinum blonde, but hesitate to make this bold leap? Lay it on the color melt – bright blonde ends will, of course, attract a lot of attention, but the shade of the strands near the face will be warmer and softer, blended with your natural root color.

31. Golden Blonde Highlights. The golden blonde color family is seriously in vogue right now, and combining golden butterscotch highlights with a touch of very light blonde is a great way to elevate your color game.

32. Fall-Ready Copper Chocolate. The depth of this autumnal red-brown mane gets even more stunning with the light streaks of copper scattered across the perimeter, not to mention the extra sheen they produce.

33. Sunny Light Brown. The statement sun-kissed color scheme shines all over this fabulous mane. The shadow root is a smart move – it keeps the whole look fresh even when new growth begins to sprout.

34. Face-Spotlighting Honey Blonde Drama. You are wrong if you believe that high-contrast colors are out of style since this mix of caramel and honey hues is extremely flattering for olive skin and, thus, totally timeless.

35. Seamless Beige Blonde Blend. Beige blonde is another top pick of the season, and this scheme blends warm and cool hues in the right proportions to conjure a pale yet perfectly neutral bronde look.

36. Caramel Mocha Highlights. Starting at the midshaft and becoming more pronounced down to the ends, this caramel sweeps through your strands dripping fascinating glow and allure.

37. Golden Caramel Brilliance. Ideal for long and very long lengths: some strands are lightened almost from the very roots, and some are colored only at the tips. The blend of warmth and shine is rich and gives this unsurpassed brilliance to the curls.

38. Delicate Touch for Brown Hair. You can bring color and shine to your brunette coif with this technique. That’s why highlights are so popular. Leave your base dark and untouched and use a soft color to lighten up the rest of your mane.

39. High-Shine Caramel Blonde. For lots of dimension and seductive waves, give this shiny blonde a go. Add chunky curls to feel like a hot Hollywood star.

40. Red with Dark Brown Roots. Ask your stylist to mute your roots. Shadow root will reduce the number of touchups. As your roots grow out, they blend in softly with the colored sections.

41. Chunky Blonde Streaks. Paint chunky blonde highlights on your dark hair for a classy flair. These allow you to achieve splashy strips of color like in the picture below.

42. Rooty Blonde Highs and Lows. A good color job is not only about lifting the color, so this one adds shadow roots and beige lowlights to better set off the creamy blonde pieces and make the whole look more dimensional.

43. Dark Mocha with Chunky Highlights. Girls with olive skin can opt for an ashier take on brown, such as this toned-down combo of warm and cool caramel hues, that still falls within the neutral range.

44. Smokey Short Black Hair. After you’ve got a chop, get some fitting highlights to add a sun-lit glossy finish to your coif. This combo is gorgeous!

45. Seamless Red Brown. One more thing to love about this color technique is the way the highlights blend in seamlessly with your base color. This makes for better depth and more natural-looking locks.

46. Soft Caramel Beach Waves. If you’re a brunette and want to get the most natural effect, you can use such win-win shades as caramel, milk chocolate, and coffee brown. You’ll end up with an awesome and rich color shine.

47. Sandy Blonde with Platinum Ribbons. This blondie rocks a darker version of cream-colored, beige-tinted blonde spiced up with bright platinum spots around the face and through the mid-length — the perfect fit for her fair skin with pink undertones.

48. High-Contrast Strawberry Bronde. Here is another gorgeous example of dramatic contrast created with blonde highlights against a brown base, but this time, it has a more muted feel due to the neutral shades and the denser highlights placement.

49. Metallic Caramel Brown Highlights. Imagine a jar of salted caramel poured over your head with a high shine effect added. It’s definitely how we’d describe this mouthwatering sun-kissed honey bronde color to our stylist when making the much-needed appointment.

50. Dimensional Dark Blonde. A natural dark blonde looks very stylish. You can create a wide variety of shades and soft highlights that resemble sun-bleached strands.

Don’t be afraid of changes. It’s never too late to make your image even more stylish and modern. And popular coloring techniques are the best ways to achieve it!