Mysteriously Marvelous Brunettes

Eva Mendes

Jessica Alba

What is it about dark hair that says “femme fatale” more than any golden blonde ever could? Seductive and lively, its depth and richness implies unknown depths of the woman’s personality. There are so many shades of brown that virtually any woman can come over to the dark side, and play up all the mysterious sexiness we attribute to iconic dark-haired sirens like the late Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Sophia Loren.

Rachel Weisz

Sadra Bullock

Anne Hathaway

Demi Moore

Today’s iconic brunettes run the gamut from brown sugar (Eva Mendes and Jessica Alba) to mocha and mink (Rachael Weisz and Sandra Bullock), from cinnamon brown (Anne Hathaway) to dark chocolate (Demi Moore), to the deepest cool brown that is just-this-close to black (Salma Hayek, Halle Berry, Lucy Liu). 

Salma Hayek

Halle Berry

Whatever brown you choose, whichever movie star you wish to emulate, the dark colors must be treated with special care and the proper products designed to protect color-treated hair. But most of all, it is the choosing of the right hair colorist to help you find the right shade of brown for you and execute it. 

Lucy Liu

Single-tone brown can be too blah on its own; the most beautiful browns are infused with multiple brown tones, like a cocktail of chocolate and cinnamon intermixed to create just the right shade for a woman’s skin tone. As a general rule, the lighter the skin tone, the lighter the shade of brown (cinnamon, milk chocolate, copper browns) and the more reddish the family of tones; the more ash tones, the darker the colors (think sable, bitter chocolate, espresso). 

Courtney Cox

Megan Fox

Eye color is also a big determinant in what shade of brown will flatter – lighter eyes, lighter brown. But there are many stunning exceptions to the rule, like Courtney Cox’s and Megan Fox’s ice-blue eyes and almost-black hair.

Finally, with dark hair, shine is very important, so take good care of your milk chocolate, mocha, cinnamon, espresso, dark chocolate haircolor by using the right products and treating it well. Blonde hair is bright and conveys the idea of shiny, new, gold – it seems to have its own light. Brown hair needs to be shiny and reflective as well, and for that we rely on our colorist to steer us to the right products that will give darker tones the necessary shine.

Until next week, ciao my beauties!