One of the biggest hair trends of the moment is the newest take on the traditional “bronde” (brown and blonde) balayage hair color. Balayage has been big in the beauty community – and even bigger for summer 2018 – due to it being famously easy to give your hair that “sun-kissed” look.

Although a more traditional warm-toned balayage is one of the most sought-after ways to add highlights, cool-toned balayage is the way of the future (and more specifically, the way from summer into fall).

What it is: Mushroom brown hair is a cool-toned brown balayage. Its highlights and lowlights sport a brownish-grey tone, rather than a golden or reddish tone. Mushroom brown hair looks great when paired with a cooler-toned base. That is, a darker, cooler-toned brown then fades into a lighter, cooler-toned brown. The more highlights and balayage that is added to the dark brown base, the more dramatic the look becomes. If you choose to keep the highlights to a minimum, your style will appear more subdued, while still giving your hair a cooler-toned, kissed-by-light look.

How do you know if this color will work for you? As with any hair color, it is important to take into consideration skin tone (and undertone), eye color and the tone of your natural hair. Are you naturally more warm- or cool-toned? What level (how light or dark) is your natural hair? Think about the colors that you enjoy wearing in your wardrobe. If you are warm-toned (like myself ) and enjoy wearing warm-toned clothing, you might want to take into consideration that the color of your clothes might appear slightly different next to your new hair color. Likewise, if you have been sporting a cool-toned blonde ’do and your favorite shirts are all light blue, you might want to think about that before you become a redhead. You should team up with your hair stylist to determine what color level and tone will be the most flattering and best suited to you.

What I personally love most about mushroom brown hair is that it is a different take on the balayage trend that really highlights brunettes who want to switch it up, but who don’t necessarily want to hop on the “dirty blonde” train. This tone is still dark enough that it will look great going into the fall (a time when many trade their sun-kissed highlights for more uniform, darker hues). Different, yet subtle, this color is sure to be on-trend for the next few seasons.

April Goddard