Photos: Getty Images Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story If the past few years of brunette hair trends have taught us anything, it's that brown doesn't have to mean boring. Espresso brown is a particularly delicious example: deep and rich enough to feel sultry, but with subtle golden warmth that keeps it from looking flat or overly severe. It's the kind of brunette that can look almost impossibly glossy in one light and reveal a soft melange of tones in another.
“We're finally embracing warmth again and realizing just how flattering it can be,” says Nataly Maldonado , colorist and owner of Velvet Palm Studio in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. “For so long, the goal was to eliminate every bit of warmth from hair, but warmth is what gives brown hair its richness, movement, and that beautiful, reflective touch.”
Unlike a nearly black brunette or a cool, ashy brown, espresso has enough golden richness to make dark hair look dimensional and incredibly polished without an obviously highlighted look . The result is a brunette that feels natural, expensive-looking, and shiny as hell.
It can be a relatively easy adjustment for a natural brunette, but getting the shade right can involve considerably more color chemistry if you're not starting from an already brown jumping-off point, like blonde , gray , or even dyed-black. Here's what colorists want you to know before placing your order—or, rather, making an appointment—for espresso.
Maldonado describes espresso brown as “a deep, dimensional brunette with a golden reflect.” That combination gives the shade its signature richness while keeping it from looking overly harsh; and because it’s so dark, the golden aspect serves more as an undertone than an obvious cast. This also creates contrast without making your complexion look washed-out, she says.
Espresso brown has the depth you'd expect from a very dark brunette, but it isn't trying to erase every trace of warmth. “It's the type of shade that has people questioning how you were born with such an impossibly beautiful shade of brunette,” Maldonado says. “You weren't—but it looks like you were.”
Quia Querisma , a colorist in Dallas, similarly calls espresso brown “a very rich and velvety brown with a slightly golden reflection in sunlight.” The color is versatile enough to work across a wide range of complexions, she says, although an experienced colorist can determine whether a warmer or cooler version will best complement your skin tone .
Temur Hamilton , a colorist and the owner of Temur in New York City, emphasizes another reason the shade feels particularly alluring: It has “beautiful dimension that comes from blending slightly lighter and darker shades.” Espresso brown doesn’t read as one solid block of color. For natural brunettes, that makes it an especially good way to change your look without making a dramatic transformation. “It looks natural, but elevated,” he says.
How your colorist gets you to espresso depends enormously on where you're starting. Simply layering a brown dye over your existing color isn't necessarily going to produce the result you're envisioning.
If you already have dark brown hair, you have the easiest path, of course. Hamilton says darker brunettes can often transition to espresso brown with the subtlest of highlights or lowlights. Maldonado says a natural brunette (which hair colorists will recognize as around a level 5 to 6) ma…