20 Winter Highlights for Brown Hair: Expert-Approved Shades to Transform Your Look This Season
Adding highlights to brown hair creates depth and dimension during the winter months.
The right shade can brighten your look and add warmth to your natural color when days get shorter and darker.
Your winter highlights will last longer with proper care. This includes using color-safe shampoo and washing your hair less often to protect the shade.
Many brunettes choose winter highlights because they require less maintenance than full-color treatments while still offering a fresh change.
1: Warm Caramel Highlights for a Cozy Look
Caramel highlights add rich warmth to your brown hair. The golden-brown tones create a soft, natural look that works well for winter.
You can choose light or dark caramel shades to match your skin tone. These highlights blend smoothly with your natural brown base color.
2: Subtle Ash Blonde Streaks
Add a gentle touch of brightness to your brown hair with soft ash blonde streaks. These cool-toned highlights blend naturally with your base color.
Your stylist can place thin, delicate strands of ash blonde throughout your hair to create depth without looking too dramatic.
3: Chocolate Tones with Golden Highlights
Your chocolate brown hair can shine with strategically placed golden highlights. These warm tones create a sun-kissed look that brightens your face.
The combination adds depth and movement to your hair while keeping the rich chocolate base color natural-looking.
4: Icy Blonde Tips on Brown Hair
Icy blonde tips create a striking contrast against brown hair. This cool-toned look gives your hair a frosty, modern edge that works well in winter.
You’ll need regular touch-ups to keep the icy shade bright and prevent it from turning brassy.
This style works best on darker brown base colors to showcase the dramatic difference.
5: Deep Brunette with Auburn Highlights
Auburn highlights add warmth and depth to deep brunette hair. The rich reddish-brown tones create natural-looking dimension that catches the light beautifully.
You can ask your stylist to place the auburn highlights strategically around your face to brighten your features. The contrast works especially well on dark brown base colors.
6: Rich Mocha Balayage
Rich mocha balayage adds warm, subtle highlights to deep brown hair. Your stylist will paint lighter shades from mid-length to ends, creating natural-looking depth.
The blend of dark and light browns gives your hair movement and shine. You can choose soft caramel tones or stick with cooler mocha shades for a more subtle look.
7: Sandy Highlights on Chestnut Brown
Sandy highlights add a soft, natural glow to your chestnut brown base. You’ll get a balanced look that works well in winter without being too dramatic.
The sandy tones bring warmth to your hair while keeping it subtle and sophisticated.
Your stylist can place them strategically to frame your face and create gentle movement.
8: Cool-Toned Lowlights for Depth
Cool ash brown lowlights add stunning dimension to your winter hair color. The darker ashy tones create a sophisticated contrast against your base shade.
A mix of cool-toned highlights and lowlights helps eliminate unwanted warmth while giving your hair rich depth and movement.
9: Golden Honey Highlights
Golden honey highlights add warm, sun-kissed tones to your brown hair. These natural-looking streaks create depth and brightness that works well in winter.
You can ask your stylist to place these highlights around your face for extra glow and warmth.
The golden tones blend smoothly with dark or medium brown base colors.
10: Soft Amber Accents
Soft amber highlights bring warmth and radiance to brown hair.
These gentle golden-copper tones create natural-looking dimension that catches the light beautifully.
Your stylist can place these highlights strategically to frame your face and add subtle movement to your hair.
11: Cool Brunette with Silver Strands
Silver highlights blend beautifully with brown hair to create a modern, eye-catching look.
These bright strands add a cool shimmer to your natural brunette base.
Place the silver pieces near your face to brighten your features and create striking dimension in your hair.
12: Neutral Brown with Champagne Highlights
Neutral brown hair with champagne highlights creates a soft, sophisticated look that works well in winter.
The warm champagne tones add shine and dimension to your natural brown base.
You’ll love how these highlights brighten your face while staying subtle enough for a professional setting.
The neutral combination suits most skin tones and requires minimal maintenance.
13: Melted Caramel and Blonde Blend
A soft blend of caramel and blonde highlights creates a warm, natural look in your brown hair.
The mix of light tones adds brightness and depth that works perfectly for winter.
The gentle transition between shades gives your hair a sun-kissed glow without looking too dramatic or artificial.
14: Platinum Highlights on Dark Brown
Platinum highlights create a bold, eye-catching contrast against dark brown hair. These bright, silvery streaks can make your hair look more dramatic and dimensional.
You can place platinum highlights around your face to brighten your features. This style works well with both straight and wavy hair textures.
15: Sunlit Brown for a Radiant Glow
Sunlit brown highlights add soft, natural-looking warmth to your brown hair. The golden-tinted strands create a sun-kissed glow that brightens your face.
You can choose lighter or darker golden tones to match your base color and skin tone. This style works great with wavy or straight hair textures.
16: Warm Mahogany with Bright Streaks
Your brown hair can get a cozy makeover with warm mahogany tones. Add some bright golden streaks to create a rich winter style that stands out.
The golden highlights make your mahogany base glow and catch the light. This combo works great for cold winter days when you want your hair to look warm and radiant.
17: Bronde Highlights for Natural Blending
Bronde highlights mix brown and blonde shades for a smooth, natural look. This style works great on brown hair and creates soft transitions between colors.
You can get this effect with balayage technique, which places highlights strategically to mimic sun-kissed hair.
Your stylist will blend warm golden tones with your natural brown base.
18: Dark Espresso with Copper Highlights
A rich espresso base color with copper highlights creates a stunning winter look. The warm copper tones add dimension and movement to dark brown hair.
19: Natural Sun-Kissed Highlights
Natural sun-kissed highlights blend warm tones into your brown hair base. The gentle color transition creates a soft glow that looks like you spent time in the sun.
You can achieve this look with light browns and honey shades painted onto your hair. The result gives your brown hair a bright, fresh update for winter.
