47+ Flattering Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights to Inspire Your Next Hairstyle

47+ Flattering Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights to Inspire Your Next Hairstyle

By: Avatar photo Andy Jones Updated: Mar 10, 2024

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Straying away from the rambunctious and colorful summer hair colors, fall calls for brown hair with blonde highlights. Not only does brown hair with blonde highlights look natural and warm, much like the season itself, but this cute easy hairstyle also flatters most skin tones and hair types. The golden layers will seamlessly drip through a natural brunette and match with the serene sunsets and withering leaves of autumn.

Conveniently, you wouldn’t have to worry about fading either since the blonde will effortlessly camouflage with your natural hair color as time goes on, making this a convenient hairstyle for women. After all, blonde and brown hair is a match made in heaven. Highlights inherently add a level of volume and depth to hair that wasn’t there before; so don’t hesitate to experiment with this type of coloring if you haven’t had this hairstyle done before.

47+ Elegant Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights Ideas to Try This Season

50 Flattering Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights to Inspire Your Next Hairstyle

Before going into specific styles of highlights, it’s important to understand the method used to achieve brown hair with blonde highlights. The most common techniques that colorists use to achieve this look are called balayage and foil. Although the techniques are pretty standard, there are some parameters to consider before starting the process.

The first is to decide the size and placement of your highlights with regard to your crown and hairline. Let the stylist know what type of look you’re going for and they can help you make a decision. For example, the placement of the highlights would vary depending on how many faces framing you want and whether or not you want the highlights to merge at the end of the strands when you pull your hair back. The amount of highlights you want depends on how much contrast you desire. The more contrast, the more obvious the highlights appear.

The lightness level of the color you end up choosing will also alter the overall contrast of the look. If you desire a more natural look, then try not go more than three hues lighter than your natural shade of hair color. If you want your highlights to truly pop, then feel free to go lighter than that!

1. Scrumptious Shoulder-Length Waves with Ashy Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

This glow-up hair idea is perfect for ladies with naturally dirty blond locks. These shoulder length hair tresses are the ideal remedy for long, tired, and dull ‘dos. A little bit of bounce goes a long way, which is why we are obsessed with these easy-to-replicate round brush waves. Plus, ashy bases swallow grays and roots. That buys you time between touchups.

2. Pin-Straight Blonde Hair Highlights Balayage

Dark Brown Hair with Subtle Blonde Highlights

This pin-straight, golden blond balayage looks great on ladies with naturally dark manes. We love the way the soft, faded ends soften up dark hair. The free-handed paint job gives the locks a seemingly sun-kissed appearance. The placement of these brassy blonde highlights might even make it possible for you to skip a touchup or two. It goes to show that balayage really can be used on all hair shades.

3. Soft Blonde Balayage with Undone Waves

Dark Brown Hair with Subtle Blonde Highlights

This summery hair idea consists of a subtle mix of honey, caramel hair color highlights, and toffee blonde highlights over a dark, ashy and dark brown base. The sun-kissed stands give these undone below-the-shoulder waves a welcome lift. Would you believe that those sleek, textured waves were the product of overnight braids and a bit of frizz-eliminating product?

4. Billowing Brunette Waves with Caramel Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Honey Blonde Highlights

Elevate your long, dark locks with a couple of strategically placed baby-lights. We adore the way the light ricochets off these itsy, bitsy honey blonde highlights. Work with your stylist to find a hue that pairs well with your natural hair color. Then, use a curling iron to add a bit of contour to your otherwise long and stagnant mane. Curly hairstyles are undeniably romantic.

5. Fun and Wavy Layered Hair Look for Brunettes

Dark Brown Hair with Ash Blonde Highlights

Are you tired of watching your hair fall flat? Amplify your long, dull locks with a spectrum of blonde highlights, long layered hair, and strategically placed waves. This look is perfect for ladies who want to update their current look without attracting too much attention. At first glance, these blonde highlights look as though they could have been the product of a vitamin D-rich vacation. The tapered blond streaks help conceal root growth.

6. Beautiful Layered Golden Honey Blonde Highlights in Chocolate Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Honey Blonde Highlights

The contrast between the two colors in this combination of highlights against dark hair adds depth to the waves overall. When taking a closer look, you’ll notice that the outer layers especially pop and make the waves appear much thicker than they would naturally. The ends merge to form a waterfall of golden loose curls.

7. Fun and Subtle Beach Waves with Natural Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Ash Blonde Highlights

Since the base of this hair is already a lighter, chestnut brown, the highlight color of a dirty blonde is only three shades away from the natural hair color. As a result, you get this slight yet natural shine to the hair that neither distracts nor goes unnoticed! Choose a style like this if you want a completely natural, woke up this way vibe.

8. Natural and Curly Brown Hair with Fiery Ash Blonde Hair Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Ash Blonde Highlights

For girls sporting natural hair, highlights are still very much an open option! Although the method of obtaining the highlights may differ from those used on straight hair, the results are just as stunning. Add an extra oomph to your already bouncy, voluminous curls with a bright, auburn blonde color!

9. Bright Blonde Ombre Honey Blonde Highlights in Loose Waves

Dark Brown Hair with Honey Blonde Highlights

These gradient highlights gradually shift from naturally dark roots to an astonishingly bright blonde as the luscious strands come to an end. This ombre look merges well with multiple hairstyles and looks fantastic from the back. The lighter colored ends also tend to look fuller and more voluminous than their dark and lifeless counterparts.

10. Simple and Voluminous Golden Babylights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Although the color in these particular highlights is toned down on purpose, they still add depth to those loose waves. By opting for a duller color, hair tends to look sleeker and less dramatic, resulting in a cool and chic look without trying too hard. Baby lights also tend to be low maintenance and can be managed without frequent salon visits.

11. Dramatic Blonde Highlights Pulled Back in a Braid

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Choosing such a light blonde for such dark brown canvas results in a dramatic final product. This high contrast always guarantees that the hair presents with a lot of texture. The colors also add volume to any hair, resulting in an effortlessly easy hairstyle regardless of what it may be.

12. Light Blonde Highlights in Short Bob Hairstyle

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

People tend to associate highlights with just long hair, but they work just as well with a short bob hairstyle like this one. Everything is proportional, so the colorist will just adjust the length and size of the highlights to fit your length. As seen here, a dramatic ombre transition style is still possible with short hair.

13. Easy Strawberry Blonde Balayage Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Strawberry Blonde Highlights

These easy highlights require a classic and simple method known as bayalage to achieve. Despite being quite effortless to achieve, this look still presents a complicated final product by adding layers of depth and color to otherwise flat brunette hair.

14. Natural Brown and Blonde Hair with Subtle Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

This harmonious mix of brown and blonde looks exceptionally natural, making people second-guess whether you actually got your hair colored or simply naturally shine a golden blonde. These subtle streaks are perfect for someone who wants more of a low-key look.

15. Pintura Highlights for Natural Curly Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Pintura literally translates to “painting” in Spanish, which denotes the method used to get these highlights. Yes, someone goes in and hand paints each individual curl to achieve this unique look! If that doesn’t make you feel special enough as is, then the way these highlights stand out will!

16. Beautiful Natural Blonde Highlights for Light Brown Hair

Beautiful Natural Blonde Highlights for Light Brown Hair

Light brown hair with blonde highlights is to hair as a winter complexion is to skin. Basically, the addition of blonde highlights to light brown hair will make the overall color of the hair appear paler, resulting in a fresh, cute and natural look for the colder months!

17. Contrasting Blonde and Light Brown Hair with Lowlights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Lowlights serve as a contour for hair, adding more depth and texture to a plain canvas that lacked these traits before the treatment. The more you contrast the highlight color with your natural hair color, the more noticeable the highlights will be.

18. Wavy Short Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

These blonde highlights show what can be done with decreased length. Although a gradient pattern is possible with shorter hair, this example shows how layering highlights with a lighter superficial layer and darker deeper layers can create a beautiful illusion of depth that wasn’t there before. This is a particularly cute hairstyle for girls who want short blonde hair due to its bouncy and playful look. Consider this if your hair is on the thinner side.

19. Short Bob Hairstyle with Ombre Waves and Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Honey Blonde Highlights

This easy hairstyle works wonders for women who are constantly on the go! These face-framing highlights do all the work in any low maintenance hairstyle by contouring the face appropriately. This simple style can work for any face shape or complexion.

20. Medium Length Hair Pulled Back with Layered Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Contrary to popular belief, layers can look just as pretty pulled back as they do when left down. The cute hairstyle proves that and is best for girls who like keeping their hair out of their face! Looking carefully, notice how the highlights still add an illusion of volume to the crown?

21. Pretty Golden Sombre Blonde Highlights in Long Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

These unique and easy blonde highlights beg for attention in all their golden glory. Messy hairstyles such as this one work well with highlights because regardless of how messy the hair gets, the highlights will always add a touch of structure and form to the dark brown base.

22. Cute Ombre Platinum Blonde Highlights in Dark Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

If you’re hesitant to go full platinum blonde, then experiment with this glamorous color in the form of highlights! Not only does this shade add a wonderful contrast to dark brown hair, but it also adds a great deal of shine and depth. The lighter color will also make hair appear thicker.

23. Best Buttery Blonde Highlights in Light Brown Hair

Best Buttery Blonde Highlights in Light Brown Hair

These highlights almost look like they’d drip off the hair, like warm butter off a pan. The size of these highlights is narrower, which gives off the illusion of greater texture. This concept works especially well for shorter haircuts and messy or low maintenance styles.

24. Awesome Champagne Blonde Ombre Highlights in Chocolate Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Get a fancy hair idea with this variant shade of blonde that’s different from all the others! Whether you believe this color resembles the shade of a freshly corked bottle of bubbly or not, the chic overall look that it bestows upon hair is undeniable.

25. Simple Silver Blonde Ombre Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

The most noticeable characteristic of these highlights is the sheer size of them! In this style, the highlights are sparse but wide, giving the hair a distinct appearance. If you’re into dramatic, asymmetric looks, then this one is the best for you!

26. Beautiful Blush Blonde Highlights Hair Idea

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

This modern hairstyle mixes a hint of every girl’s favorite color into the classic platinum blonde shade. Pink and blonde, as demonstrated by Barbie, form a perfect match made in heaven! Also, with this style, all your rose gold jewelry will always be matching. This is the best style for those who love to accessorize.

27. Caramel Blonde Highlights in Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Any food related cosmetic ideas make for pretty hairstyles! Caramel blonde is inherently a delectable color, so having these highlights will make your hair look absolutely delicious. Give this one a go in the spirit of the season!

28. Cute Strawberry Blonde Highlights in Brunette Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Strawberry Blonde Highlights

If you have a warmer skin tone, then a warmer color like strawberry blonde will really bring out the best of your complexion. These highlights will make your skin glow just as much as they accentuate your hair. It’s also a really fun color to try out during the fall months.

29. Peachy Blonde Highlighted Tips

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

These reverse layered highlights add a unique twist to traditional highlights, which usually take turf superficially. These highlights are perfect for those who don’t want to distract from their natural hair color, but still, want some depth added to their hair. The ends, which most women struggle to style, will still look voluminous.

30. Awesome Chestnut Blonde Highlights in Dark Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

This woody and earthy color is perfect for warmer skin tones. Although it looks pretty good in the hair, it will bring out a golden complexion in your face as well. Give this a try if you want a color that will complement something beyond just hair!

31. Simple Icy Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

An epitome of winter, this icy blonde hints back to a certain popular Disney princess. This shade of blonde is the perfect fit for a wintry backdrop complete with snow and hot chocolate! Do be careful if you have a warmer skin tone as this shade can make you appear washed out. This is a shade that works best with cooler skin tones.

32. Golden Platinum Streaks in Loose Waves

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

These light blonde highlights have some warmth to them, making them the best fit for neutral skin tones. It will bring balance to an in-between complexion. The gradient look in these ombre highlights also adds structure to the hair. Complement your gorgeous ombre nails with this hairstyle.

33. Subtle and Easy Caramel Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Caramel Blonde Highlights

These subtle caramel highlights give off a barely there, all natural look! With these, you can fool people into thinking that your hair takes on a lighter shade once out of the sun long enough. This look is perfect for girls who want to look effortlessly good.

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34. Sandy Blonde Highlights in Straight, Medium Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Chunky Blonde Highlights, Medium Brown Hair

Highlights in straight hair really do justice to how much texture and depth they add to otherwise flat hair. Waves inherently induce volume, but with straight hair, it’s hard to get that blow out look. With highlights, you won’t have to worry about spending time styling your hair and can stick to an easy, low maintenance look.

34. Vanilla Blonde Face Framing Highlights in Short Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Chunky Blonde Highlights

Face-framing can flatter any and every face shape. Whether you want your face to appear slimmer or more structured, face-framing highlights are the way to go. They contour the shape of your face similarly to a foundation, only without the mess, time and effort!

35. Spotlight Blonde Highlights Curly Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Chunky Blonde Highlights

This shade of blonde takes brown hair with highlights to the next level. With this color, the light reflects off the hair to give an iridescent look, making sure that you turn heads both indoors and outdoors! The noticeable contrast allows for a dramatic effect, meaning that your hair will always be camera ready.

37. Cool Buttercream Blonde Babylights in Medium Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights, Medium Brown Hair

Heavily emphasized towards the bottom length of the hair, these babylights add much-needed volume to the ends. Hair tends to get thinner as it reaches the ends, but opting for lighter colored tips makes them appear thicker and fuller.

38. Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights in a Cute Bun

Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Even when put up and away in a bun, these chocolate blonde highlights don’t fail to shine through. This just goes to show that brown hair with highlights continues to work with a variety of hairstyles, up or down. The versatile nature of this cute easy hairstyle will always keep you looking your best.

39. Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights in Loose Curls

Dark Brown Hair with Chunky Blonde Highlights

The dark brown roots that remain in this look are what allow for that illusion of depth that cascades down all the way to the ends. When picking a color so many shades lighter, be prepared for the distinct contrast between your natural color and the dye. The loose curls emphasize the texture in this style.

40. Muted Ginger Blonde Highlights for Long Dark Brown Hair

Dark Brown Hair with Dark Blonde Highlights

These highlights run through the hair in a disorganized fashion, letting the natural brunette hair peak through the ginger blonde color. This particular style allows for a more muted appearance for those who don’t enjoy dramatic effects. Even with straight hair, the coloring allows for an illusion of thickness and texture.

41. Dirty Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Dark Blonde Highlights

This sporty look is perfect for a girl with short hairstyles who don’t want to mess with their hair every single day. The dark roots and bright highlights play together to form a naturally messy and tousled look. Simply run a comb through those strands, give it a voluminous side part and you’ll be ready to go!

42. Natural Chestnut Dark Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights

Dark Brown Hair with Dark Blonde Highlights

This hairstyle for women gives off a sophisticated appearance with the more mature color selection. Since it suits older women, the highlights aren’t as dramatic and look very natural. Whether worn to work at the office or down and messy at the club, this coloring transition between various settings exceptionally well.

43. Baby Blonde Highlights in Loose Waves

Baby Blonde Highlights in Loose Waves

If you’re looking for a more youthful appearance, baby blonde highlights are the way to go. This shade of blonde is reminiscent of the hair color that most children have before it darkens with age and sun exposure. So, to sport this color again is an ode to adolescence and hints at a younger looking appearance. The natural shade also merges beautifully into brown hair.

44. Blonde and Brown Hair with Face Framing Highlights

Blonde and Brown Hair with Face Framing Highlights

It is also possible to go with two different color options for the highlights. Here, you can see a much lighter shade of blonde used for the face framing layers while a darker, more natural looking blonde is used for the breadth of the hair. This method creates an extraordinary texture that can’t be accomplished with just one shade of blonde. Give this one a try for its face-framing effect!

45. Messy Platinum Blonde Highlights Waves

Messy Platinum Blonde Highlights Waves

Brown hair with blonde highlights is evident in this style of messy curls that seem to have never-ending layers. Not only are the roots kept dark, but so are the deeper layers of curls, creating a shadow effect that hints at a greater depth than there actually is. This is a great style for those who are concerned about thinning hair.

46. Beautiful Cream Soda Blonde Highlighted Long Waves

Beautiful Cream Soda Blonde Highlighted Long Waves

These luscious waves almost look like a dripping cream soda from an old-fashioned diner! They seamlessly merge into the natural, light brown hair color and give off an intricate facade of volume that darker colors would fail to accomplish. If you’re a lighter brunette, this color would work very well.

47. Modern Hairstyle with Bright Golden Blonde Highlights

Modern Hairstyle with Bright Golden Blonde Highlights

This pretty hairstyle shows what you can really do with highlights. Although not much has to be done to parade brown hair with blonde highlights, this simple messy half up and a half down style shows just how much of a difference the color makes. The messy braid culminates the entire look by showing off just how much texture the highlights give otherwise flat hair.

48. Dark Chocolate Brown Hair with Fair Amber Blonde Highlights

Dark Chocolate Brown Hair with Fair Amber Blonde Highlights

If you’re into chocolates, then this style will look delectable! The fair amber highlights mixed with the dark chocolate brown hair almost mimic a bite of a mocha truffle. Dripping in cocoa, this luscious color combination with make your hair look delicious! Of course, this look is best achieved with dark brown hair colors; otherwise, the contrast will not appear as obvious.

49. Cool Frosted Blonde Heavy Highlights in Dark Hair

Cool Frosted Blonde Hair with Heavy Highlights in Dark Hair

This cool and frosty shade of blonde would be an ode to winter as it mimics the weather of the season. This light shade of blonde against dark brown hair makes the highlights appear super obvious and creates a contrast that is very much noticeable. This style is perfect for those who prefer dramatic looks that people won’t miss on the streets.

50. Beach Blonde Highlights Concentrated on Ends

Beach Blonde Highlights Concentrated on Ends for Blonde Hair

Reminiscent of the warmer days spent on the beach, this look pairs perfectly well with messy beach waves. The color is mostly concentrated on the ends, making the hair look as if it’s dripping with sunshine. The choice to focus the highlights towards the ends of the hair also allows for a more voluminous look since hair gets thinner towards the bottom as it grows out.

51. Café Au Lait Highlighted Brunette Layers

Café Au Lait Highlighted Brunette Layers Blonde Hair

Layers are hard to make noticeable in dark hair, so it’s hard to get that theatrical side-swept look that many celebrities sport on a daily basis. However, highlights can fix this issue, especially if they’re concentrated on the layers as seen in this example. By focusing the highlights on each individual layer, the depth achieved is insurmountable.

52. Dark Ashy Blonde More Highlights in Dark Brown Hair

 Dark Ashy Blonde Highlights in Dark Brown Hair

This pretty ashy blonde color gives off modern and chic vibes. Although not the most natural shade, this color is fitting for the season and can easily mesh with cafes, campuses and the streets. The ombre effect allows for a gradual change from brown hair to the blonde, allowing others to ease into this unique look.

53. Bright Golden Blonde Highlights in Chocolate Brown Hair

Bright Golden Blonde Highlights in Chocolate Brown Hair

Dark brown hair can often look flat and lifeless if there’s no other color to it. However, these bright golden blonde highlights ensure that that’s not the case with this hair. The golden hue catches and reflects light in a mesmerizing pattern, proving that brown hair with blonde highlights can effortlessly elevate any style to the next level. Give your rose gold hair a twist with this hairstyle.

54. Short Bob Hairstyle with Fiery Blonde Highlights

Short Bob Hairstyle with Copper Blonde Highlights

A sporty bob is specifically a cute hairstyle for girls. A bob doesn’t have to be dainty, however, as seen by this feisty and fiery color selection. A blonde with a more reddish hue best suits girls with warmer undertones, but can work well with most other skin tones as well. This is also a perfect autumn shade as it mimics fireplaces and falling leaves.

55. Peachy Blonde Gradient Highlights in Short Hair

Peachy Blonde Hair Gradient Highlights in Short Hair, Copper Blonde Highlights

This is a more natural look with the ombre coloring and choice of a more natural blonde shade. This particular style would suit women of all ages as it is professional enough to wear to work, but also adds more depth and texture for a more youthful and fun appearance. The dark roots help to accentuate the shadow effect for depth.

47+ Stylish Brown Hair with Blonde Highlights for This Fall

Now that you have a good idea of what type of hairstyle you want, it’s important to do some research before picking where to get your hair done. Don’t gamble and take risks because if the job goes wrong, you’ll be stuck with that hair for a while. Pick a professional colorist who has experience doing brown hair with blonde highlights or your fantasy hair will remain as just that. To keep your hair looking great, it is important to follow the care regimen the stylist recommends you use. Coloring can dry hair out, so make sure that you’re keeping your hair hydrated with the appropriate masks. Be clear about what color highlights you want and feel free to show the stylist an example from above! And if you want a more edgy style, try the pixie cut or curly pixie cut ideas!

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About the AuthorAvatar photo
Andy Jones

Andy focuses on getting readers familiar with the latest and trendiest hairstyles. There’s pretty much no style she has yet to try, and her mission is to help everyone find the perfect look they seek. When Andy is not gushing about hairstyles, she spends most of her time reading through her giant collection of sci-fi books or watching old Star Trek shows. See all articles from Andy.