Hair Advice at Your Fingertips!

30 Edgy Looks You Can Achieve by Embracing Brown Hair with Caramel Highlights

by
Serena Piper

Brunettes wishing to add interest to their hair, make it glossier, or go lighter without turning into a blonde actually have an answer to all the questions — brown hair with caramel highlights.

Caramel comes in many shades and levels of brightness, so you can achieve your hair goals by adapting this fascinating combo to your base color, complexion, and preferred maintenance level. Scroll through our selection of brown and caramel color schemes to see how diverse they are and, maybe, spot the one for your next hair color transformation.

1. Choppy Sun-Kissed Waves. Caramel highlights on brown hair will feel totally natural if you intertwine them with lighter and finer pieces, mimicking the non-uniform look of sun-kissed strands.

2. Streaky Dark Hair with Warm Highlights. You are welcome to opt for chunky highlights reminiscent of the ‘90s hair but in a modern, less contrasting version.

3. Textured Bob with Caramel Balayage. Add dynamics to your short brown locks with highlights placed throughout the perimeter and maximize the movement by creating wispy waves.

4. Glowing Golden Waves. Keep your highlights on the lighter, more golden side if you want your locks to catch the light readily and produce much better glow.

5. Soft Dimension. Showing no harsh lines and striking contrasts, this chocolate hair with tasty caramel highlights looks extremely rich and soft while promising to grow out gracefully.

6. Texture-Boosting Highlights. By placing the bulk of your highlights toward the bottom, you can accentuate the texture of your choppy ends and give the impression of more layered hair.

7. Big Highlighted Curly Hair. It’s a great idea to spice up your dark brown curly hair with caramel highlights, as they add definition to your curl pattern and make the style even more voluminous.

8. Medium Brown Haircut with Caramel Balayage and Shadow Roots. Fair-skinned brunettes may need some contrast to set off their complexion but make sure to stick to a medium brown to prevent the color from overpowering your skin tone.

9. Warm Face-Framing Highlights. Those wishing to spotlight their face and enhance their complexion should consider focusing highlights in the front and around the bottom, which will save the strands from excessive damage.

10. A Bold Mix of Shades. Why don’t you mix and match brown, burgundy, caramel, and golden blonde shades to arrive at an authentic, shiny, and eye-catching bronde?

11. Muted Brown with Caramel. Girls with cool skin undertones can safely sport caramel highlights, provided they are not overly red or orange, so keep them delicate rather than bright.

12. High-Impact Caramel. Here is a fascinating autumnal hair transformation bringing together a deep brown base and bright highlights spiced up with cinnamon and clove.

13. Illuminating Caramel Highlights. Actually, you don’t need to dramatically lift the color to make an impact, as proven by this light brown hairstyle with caramel balayage placed strategically along the face.

14. Espresso Brown with Rich Caramel. A dark brunette base provides a perfect canvas for warm caramel tones to pop out and show their light-reflecting power in the best possible way.

15. Strips of Caramel on Choppy Hair. Instead of going heavy on choppy layers, which may deprive your hair of the body, enhance movement and texture in your strands with root-to-tip highlights.

16. Graphic Caramel Balayage. A more neutral, beige-leaning shade is a safe bet for girls with cool and olive undertones in their complexion, and it still allows for striking hair contouring.

17. Fierce Caramel and Copper. Set your brunette waves on fire with a combo of caramel highlights and bright copper strokes running down along the face from the cheekbone level.

18. Black Brown with Added Warmth. We are thrilled with the idea of adding drama to long brown hair with beautiful warm-toned highlights placed against a nearly black base.

19. Reddish Caramel with Glimpses of Blonde. Brunettes wishing to dip their toe into reds should try and copy the exclusive look of this reddish brown hair with caramel and blonde highlights.

20. Soft Caramel Money Piece. Warm up your skin with some golden hues inserted around the face through a delicate balayage that starts softly at the top and gets thicker toward the mid-shaft.

21. Shoulder-Length Hair with a Caramel Drizzle. Darker caramel shades won’t require much bleaching, thus saving your hair from damage and producing more natural-looking results.

22. Caramel Highlights and Mahogany Lowlights. Sometimes, you cannot get the desired dimension with highlights only, and here is where lowlights come into play, delivering depth and contrast.

23. Subtle Caramel on Walnut Brown Hair. As walnut brown has some ashy undertones, it wouldn’t clash with cool complexions, and it chimes well with the subtle warmth of toned-down caramel.

24. Caramel Brunette with a Coppery Money Piece. Fair-skinned girls with light eyes are good candidates for copper, which can be nicely paired with mahogany brown and light caramel hues.

25. Hand-Painted Caramel Ribbons. This balayage offers a low-contrast approach to brown hair color with caramel highlights, with a few strokes of reddish brown painted along the face and around the ends.

26. Dimensional Brunette with High-Contrast Highlights. Well-blended strips of warm caramel incorporated into a dark brown base transform a blocky all-over color into a dreamy dimensional look.

27. Barely-There Caramel. You don’t need caramel to shoot out to enjoy extra shine and warmth in your brown — it’s enough to insert some babylights throughout and illuminate the face with a wider money piece.

Caramel Money Piece and Babylights
By Dani

28. Bronde Hair with Light Caramel. Go bolder with your caramel highlights if you want to seriously step on the blonde territory and create a more dramatic frame for your brown eyes and darker complexion.

29. Caramel and Mocha Brown. While mocha brown is a rich shade in its own right, it never hurts to upgrade it and make it glossier by mixing in fine golden caramel bits.

30. Auburn Caramel on Long Shaggy Hair. Girls with deeper skin tones look great with a healthy glow invoked by warm auburn hues that also add vibrance to their brown strands.

From quiet color combinations to showy color schemes, brown hair with caramel highlights may come in many iterations, and you are sure to find the one that will suit your base hair color and skin tone. Bring a reference picture, and discuss your hair goals with your hairdresser to adopt the timeless combo to your personality in the best possible way.