Hair Colors You'll Be Asking For In 2023

It's hard to believe that 2022 is coming to an end already. And what a year it's been! Packed with historical events and shocking pop culture moments, and of course, we can't forget the many, many trends. In 2022 we saw the return of Y2K fashion with low-rise jeans and micro-mini skirts. And there were so many colorful and expressive makeup looks and hair trends that we hope to see more of. Though it's hard to say goodbye to 2022, as we move into the new year, there are even more exciting trends to explore.

New years are a time for fresh starts, and one of the best ways to feel renewed entirely is by trying a different hair color. Whether you're just looking to refresh your current style or want a new you, 2023 brings plenty of hair color trends to pick from. We've rounded up some of our favorites that are currently trending on social media and are likely to blow up in the coming year. Between blondes, brunettes, auburns, and bold fashion colors, there's truly something for everyone. And we've included advice from hairstylists for the best ways to pull off and maintain these 2023 hair color trends.

You'll likely see a move towards natural-looking, warm brown tones in the coming months. Celebrities like Hailey Bieber have moved away from blonde in favor of golden brown tones like this. While the color seems like a simple brunette, it has a more glossy and expensive look thanks to the almost invisible high and low lights. The most popular brown tones will have golden and honey highlights throughout. Hair colorist and owner of Josh Wood Atelier, Josh Wood, spoke about the trending style to Net-a-Porter, saying, "This color still needs definition ... The addition of some highs and lows will look glossier than one flat color."

The warm tones also help warm up your skin tone. If the darker color is washing you out, you can always incorporate more warm, golden highlights to lighten the shade. Nicola Clarke of John Frieda advised those with naturally paler skin to avoid going too dark. "If you are losing your summer tan, your hair may feel a bit boring after going from brighter blonde tones," she said. "But tans always fade, so be careful not to go too dark."

Money pieces have been a big trend for the past year. For the distinct style, the front pieces of hair are bleached lighter than the rest of the hair. Hair colorist Kim Bonondona explained the trend to Cosmopolitan, saying, "Because the piece is right in the front, it becomes the focal point of the client's hair and draws attention to their face ... The highlight is usually the lightest and the boldest piece of the hair."

While bold chunky money pieces were a big trend in 2022, stylists predict a more subtle take on money pieces in the coming seasons. Instead of the heavy bleached pieces, many will be opting for "smudged money pieces." This technique blends the money piece more seamlessly into the rest of the hair. While it still has the same face-framing effect, it's not as obvious as the chunky highlights. "I like to smudge a slightly more lifted root back into these pieces, so you don't get that obvious line as it grows back," hairdresser Robert Eaton told Net-a-Porter. "Face-framing pieces are a brilliant way of really creating an accent area of color at the front of any haircut, but particularly longer styles and balayage."

Gorgeous shades of red have been popping up all over Instagram and Tiktok, and that trend isn't going anywhere. The great thing about red is how versatile it is. From strawberry blonde to deep auburn, there's a shade for every skin tone, and you can expect to see all of them in 2023. Brooke Jordan, hair stylist and co-founder of The Bird House, told Ipsy, "for winter, look out for an abundance of deep, warm reds, evoking the cozy vibes we all need right now."

Though we'll see a lot of bright and deep ginger shades, if that seems a little too bold, there are more subtle ways to incorporate this trend into your look. For brunettes, try a warm red-brown. This is the perfect transition color to try some auburn tones and see how you like them before fully committing t the redhead look. It's a natural brown with red highlights that aren't too extreme. Hairstylist Irinel De Leon told Women's Health that this is a great color to dip your toe in the redhead trend. "It's a more toned-down version of the coppery trend."

Or, if you want an easy transition hair color for blondes, try "auburn spice." This color blends warm blondes with some light red tones. Hairstylist Michelle Schindler said, "Adding warm tones into the hair is one of my favorite ways to transition summer blondes... this is a great way to show clients versatility with hair color."

While all kinds of red hair colors are trending, copper is one specific tone that's taking off. It's a warm, orangey golden shade perfect for anyone who wants a bright redhead look. Hair color experts told Real Simple, "The copper hair trend exploded after Kendall Jenner's Prada autumn/winter 2022 show appearance and generated 123 million views on TikTok ... Even though it's a brighter hue, it can be tailored and made to work for any skin tone and undertone."

Hairstylist Min Kim told Women's Health that you'll be seeing this trend particularly take off in curly hair. Natural curls have been having a big moment over the past few years, and this bright color only makes the ringlets pop more. Kim said, "A major curl color trend will be bright and bold copper ... The effortlessly sexy nature of natural curls match perfectly with these warm and striking red colors."

Speaking of curl trends, you'll be seeing a lot of beautifully highlighted curls in the coming season. A great way to brighten up curls and add some definition to your hair is with subtle highlights. Rather than bleaching the same throughout the whole head, this trend involves using lighter colors towards the front and at the bottom of the curls. The balayage technique adds more dimension to the curls.

Hairstylist Michelle Schindler advised Women's Health on the best way to get your curls highlighted and talk to your stylist to get this look. "It is a great way to play with color, texture, and tone," she said. "I like to do teased highlights throughout the whole head and really saturate each foil with lightener. I always go heavier with my foiling in the front of the head because the surface layer of the hair is more exposed to the sun, and taper off the foils and intensity of the color towards the back of the head and the under layer that is less exposed to the sun."

This caramel-blonde trend is a great way to bring warm tones into a classic bleached look. The gold tones are slightly darker, like "toasted caramel." The warmer tones make this the perfect blonde option for the winter, and it will warm up your skin tone even in the cold months. It's also an easy color to transition to from other shades of blonde. If you already have blonde highlights or a balayage, you can keep the same placement and easily move into this trendy color.

Hairstylist Michelle Schindler told Women's Health that this is a great color to transition into from bleach blonde. You can add richer, darker honey and gold tones for a warm blonde. "By adding gold to the formula, it will richen the color and add more depth," Schindler said. "The great thing with this color, is that it can be created by doing a full head of baby lights, playing off of existing color placement, or enhancing the color with a money piece and pops of color on the ends."

The copper hair trend or strawberry blonde color are great options for anyone with naturally light hair or anyone who doesn't mind the maintenance of a lighter color. But, if you're a brunette wanting to dabble in the red hair trend without any bleaching, you can bring in darker red shades and violet tones over your natural brown.

Shvonne Perkins, the lead colorist for Madison Reed described this color trend as cherry cola, according to Women's Health. The combination of deep red and purple tones can create a "cherry-cola look with mahogany tones that sit between red and violet," Perkins said, "You'll see the depth of the brunette stay the same, but the red sheen shines through in the light." You can create this trend by adding pops of scarlet over dark brown hair. Try this trend out with a temporary hair mask to see how you like it before fully dying your hair red.

If you're looking for a way to liven up bleached hair, you can try your favorite pastel colors in 2023. Stylists predict we'll see the cool pastel trend continuing, so for those of you wanting to dabble in fashion colors, now is the time. Accomplishing these trending pastel colors is easy if you have a bleached base to work with, and you can add light pink, purple, blue, or other shades over the top.

Once your hair color has been professionally lifted, you can even add these pastel colors at home. But remember that while it's cheaper to do a DIY color, it's also harder to get an even and exact color. And if you add color yourself, be sure to inform your stylists of the products you used when going back to the salon.

Although the pastel colors are eye-catching, they're difficult to maintain. Speaking to Byrdie, colorist Madison Rae Garret said, "Pastel colors do not have a lot of longevity ... You get a few shampoos, and then it's usually out." If you want to keep the color longer, she advised going more vibrant at first since super light pastels will fade faster. But, the short nature of pastel colors may be part of their appeal. After having a week or two with brightly colored hair, you can easily return to something more natural. Garret added, "There are products made to remove pastel colors without using more lightener or causing any damage."

Chunky highlights are one of many 90s trends that have made a comeback, and it seems like it's here to stay in 2023. Unlike classic highlights, which brighten the hair subtly with a seamless blend of lighter pieces, chunky highlights bleach wider strips of hair, creating a more dramatic differentiation between the high and lowlights. Celebrity Stylist Guy Tang recommended using caramel highlights for anyone wanting to try this trend. "Caramel highlights work for all skin tones and are a great way to brighten up the complexion," he told Real Simple.

Chunky highlights are a great 90s throwback, but they're more than just a throwaway trend. If you have thin hair, the alternating colors can make it look thicker. Celebrity hairdresser, Sinéad Kelly, explained the benefits of chunky highlights to Stylist, saying, "On fine hair, chunky highlights can help to create the illusion that the hair is fuller, with more body, due to the placement of contrast between light and dark tones. It's similar to contouring your face with make-up."

This style is great if your hair has a natural curl or wave, but Kelly warned the color is harder to show on straight hair. For that reason, she advised, "a key thing to take into consideration if you have straight hair is how much time you'll take to style the look ... If you're able to braid the hair, to achieve a wave, kink, or curl, it will really enhance the color."

The classic chunky highlights may be a recycled trend from the 90s. But gen z has taken the trend a step further with striped hair transformations trending on TikTok. The key difference is that striped hair has a more extreme contrast between the light and dark hair pieces. Some of the chunky striped hairstyles use brunettes and blondes, while others move away from blonde to incorporate fashion colors, like black and red striped hair.

This bold style was also probably influenced by "skunk hair" made famous by Dua Lipa and others (via Byrdie). The skunk hair trend involved heavy portions of bleached hair, while the remainder of the hair stays more natural, usually dark brunette. This look was quite popular in 2021 and 2022 and will likely still be around for a while.

By combining the chunky highlights with this bold skunk look, people have started to get creative, combining unexpected and dramatic colors into fun striped looks. Though it may seem like a wild trend, it's not too different from styles we've seen before. One hairstylist made a TikTok video pointing out how similar this trend is to the type of styles she used to do. In the video, she showed one of her clients getting the new striped hair trend and said, "I remember when I started doing hair 12 years ago, and all the older ladies wanted chunky stripes." She captioned the post, saying, "everything comes full circle."

Although warm honey and caramel tones will definitely be a big deal in the coming year, you can still stay on trend with cool, wintery blondes. Actress Anya Taylor Joy has worn this beautiful color on red carpets since 2021 (via Vanity Fair). And with Kim Kardashian now rocking the long, bleach-blonde look, we predict more and more people will be going for this bold, color-lifted look. Kardashian showed just how showstopping a change from a dark brunette to blonde could be, and for anyone wanting to copy that transformation, there's no time like the present. Chris Appleton, the stylist who gave Kim her new blonde look, advised anyone wanting to go blonde not to try it at home. "If you've got super-dark hair and you want to bleach your hair to a platinum, I would never do it [at home] because you need to tone, you need to lighten the hair," he told E! Online. "It really is a process."

But if you're willing to put in the time and the upkeep, then this winter blonde is 100% worth it. Speaking to Glamour about this trending blonde color, colorist Mark DeBolt said, "There is just something about that one-tone, even color that is a high-lift, or double-process, blonde. This color is great for the person that wants to stand out in the crowd—this blonde can transport you back to glamour of Old Hollywood beauties like Marylyn Monroe and Jane Mansfield."

Though bold trends like bleach blonde and pastels are beautiful, a lot of maintenance goes into keeping the color. Stylists recommend root touchups every 4-6 weeks, which can be time-consuming and expensive. Luckily, if you want something more low-maintenance, then you can skip frequent appointments by trying this shadow-root trend. A shadow root makes maintaining your highlights easier by incorporating your root color into the style, giving your hair a more natural, lived-in look. Essentially your stylist will add hair dye similar to your natural color so that when the roots start to grow out, it blends seamlessly with your dyed color.

This is great because it gives you more time between touchups, but it is more elegant than just letting your roots grow out. It's the perfect style for anyone wanting to lighten their hair without worrying about frequent salon visits. To achieve this look, hairstylist Brittany Johnson told Real Simple that you can "Ask your stylist to create a blended shadow root that melts into the mid-length and ends with a shade of your choice."

It's time to give some love to rich, dark brunette shades. Dark colors like this chocolatey brown are great because you don't have to damage your hair with bleach to achieve them. The rich tone also looks natural, sleek, and classic but still has some drama. Laura Gibson, professional colorist, and RUSK Artistic Director, told Real Simple that dark chocolate is "the perfect shade for brunettes with medium-dark skin tones." Treating this simple brown shade with a gloss is the key to making it look shiny and expensive. Gibson recommended, "Make sure to ask your stylist for a dark chocolate gloss to enhance shine on this deep color." You can also maintain that glossy feel by using an at-home gloss treatment.

Although this dark color is easier for natural brunettes to maintain, anyone can participate in the trend. It just takes a little extra upkeep for natural blondes to keep the dark tones. Redken brand ambassador Ryan Pearl told Hair.com, "This color can be used on just about anyone and can be tweaked for different skin tones to achieve the most natural look." It's just a matter of working with your stylist to find the tones that best match your skin, and you can always add caramel highlights or other dimensions that play up your natural features.

Mushroom blonde is a trending color that you will likely be seeing more of this fall and going into winter 2023. So, what exactly is it? Mushroom blonde is a cool-toned shade that lands somewhere between blonde and brunette. It has been popular for a few years. Stephanie Brown, a master colorist at New York City's IGK Salon Soho, defined the trending shade to Glamour, saying, "It's right in between light brown and dark blond, like an ashier version of brond." Because of its in-between nature, mushroom blonde is an excellent shade for both brunettes wanting to try something a little lighter and blondes wanting a richer tone. The cool and ashy tones elevate the in-between shade from a mousy brown or dirty blonde to something more sleek and sophisticated. Although this color has been trending for a few seasons, The Zoe Report predicts we'll see a modern twist on this blonde tone with light brown highlights to enhance the colors.

Though this mushroom shade is beautiful, cool tones like this are notoriously hard to maintain. The cool blondes tend to go brassy after a few washes. Expert stylist Ashley Streicher told The Zoe Report her go-to products to avoid this are Vegamour ENSO 02 Shampoo and Conditioner. "The best way to keep colors vibrant and rich is to be sure to use good natural color-safe products," she said.