25 Brown Balayage Hair Ideas for a Fresh Fall Mane

Fall is a transitional season so it makes sense to want a wardrobe and beauty routine to match. While on the topic of beauty, have you thought about what you're going to do with your hair? You can absolutely rock your go-to look all year round, however, many people love shifting into the cooler seasons of the year with balayage color. Specifically, brown balayage hair ideas are taking over our social feeds for fall 2024.

As a refresher, balayage hair color is a hand-painted highlighting technique that makes for natural-looking dimension throughout the hair. While balayage can technically be achieved in many different colors, it looks best in neutral shades. So, without further ado, keep reading to peruse over two dozen brown balayage hair ideas for fall 2024. And while you're at it, make sure to screenshot your faves. “For me, this is the best way to communicate what you want to your colorist,” says colorist Stephanie Brown, noting that two to four photos is the sweet spot. “When looking at pictures, I always say to find people who have similar eyes, hair, and skin to you, so you have a better idea of what you like, because if you don’t like the color on someone who has a similar skin tone to you, you probably won’t like it on yourself.”

Meet Our Expert

• Jerome Lordet is a French stylist and the owner of Jerome Lordet Salon.

• Stephanie Brown is a Master Colorist at IGK Salon NYC.

• Ryan Dickie is a colorist at IGK Salon Miami.

Lived-In Light Brown Balayage

Cara Delevingne has rocked various balayage hair colors. Here, she’s showcasing light brown roots that melt into bronde ends. “This color looks great on her beachy waves and is a good option for someone who may want to go lighter for the warmer seasons but isn’t ready to commit to the look—no stress about harsh roots, and not a dramatic change, but still beachy and warm,” says stylist Jerome Lordet. “For fall, it’s easy to bring this shade darker again naturally. Ask for ‘bronde’ or a sandy dark blonde tone on the ends that blends into light brown about halfway through the hair.”

Copper Brown Balayage

A gorgeous brown balayage color combo for fall? Copper tones, as seen on Jasmine Tookes, above. “Using a copper hue as the lighter shade versus blonde or bronde can look more natural/seamless on darker brunettes,” Lordet says. “Jasmine’s roots are an espresso brown, and a few key highlights of copper near her face, combined with a lighter brown balayage, create a really dimensional brunette look.”

Soft Golden Bronde Balayage

To achieve a soft, golden bronde balayage, just bring this picture of Addison Rae to the salon. “This is a soft gradation in color but light,” Brown says. “It’s a beautiful golden neutral tone.”

Tousled Brown Balayage

Olivia Wilde has been a balayage fanatic for years, rocking the color-shifting style in various lengths and tones. “Her signature look is a light brunette balayage,” Lordet points out. “This is great for women with naturally light brown hair who want to lighten it up with less commitment. Ask for well-blended, light brown and blonde balayage about halfway up the hair, with a few face-framing pieces going higher—maybe a few random blonder pieces moving higher throughout. The effect is effortless-looking and relevantly easy to maintain.”

High-Shine Neutral Balayage

Tate McRae is a bronde stunner. “Tate’s signature bronde is a combination of techniques, starting with a classic foil, a concentrated face-frame, and a balayage on the remaining hair,” says colorist Ryan Dickie. “This will maintain more natural hair at the root while lightening nearly all of the ends. For this more dramatic, yet still true brunette look, you’ll want to ask for a more contrasted look, keeping the final gloss about four shades lighter than the base.”

Warm Wavy Balayage

Balayage can create ultra-fine highlights, as well as dimensional all-over color. “Tyla’s balayage is more of an all-over color,” Brown points out. “It’s higher up and closer to the root with beautiful warm tones.”

Honey Brown Balayage

Hoping to keep a darker hair color overall? Copy Lily Aldridge’s brown balayage style. “Lily is a great example of how to add some depth or interest to dark brunette hair while keeping it super subtle,” Lordet says. “Just a few lighter brown and honey colored pieces towards the end keep her hair from looking like one flat color without much noticeable change.”

Cool Light Brown Balayage

Craving a cooler brown balayage style? Take a page our of Daisy Edgar Jones’ book. “This is a more blended, melted together take on just adding highlights to brown hair,” Lordet says. “The lighter pieces are focused on the bottom layer and blend up into the top. This color combo is good for someone with Daisy’s cool-toned coloring—both the blond and brunette shades are quite cool.”

Reddish Brown Balayage

Cherry cola nails are trending for fall 2023 and according to Brown, the same color aesthetic works well for brown balayage styles. “Here is a great way to incorporate red to your hair without going all-over red, which is so popular right now,” Brown says, referencing Anitta.

Strawberry Brunette Balayage

Strawberry-tinted brown balayage exists, too—just look at Emma Stone. “Emma’s balayage is a unique blend of brunette with subtle strawberry tones, somewhere between brunette and redhead,” Lordet says. “Ask your stylist for strawberry brunette balayage that combines deep brunette with hints of soft strawberry highlights—it works well for warm, fair skin tones like Emma’s.”

Dark Brown Balayage

Another dark brown balayage we love? Richa Moorjani’s! “This is great for darker hair—it’s got pieces of light neutral balayage throughout,” Brown points out. (Also, can we take a moment to appreciate the flipped-out Y2K style? It really showcases the color-shift.)

Blonde Balayage

If you have lighter brown hair that you wish was a bit more dimensional, adding warm light blonde balayage to the mix will revive it. Hannah Dodd’s hair is proof! “This is great for the lighter brunettes who would like to try more blonde balayage,” Brown says.

Subtle Soft Balayage

Super dark hair can still be dimensional. Case in point: Ashley Park’s subtle espresso swirl hair. “This is a great way to add dimension to very dark hair without being bold,” Brown says. “It adds a softness and subtleness without taking away from your beautiful rich dark brunette.”

Golden Balayage

Not ready to kiss summer tones goodbye? Joey King’s all-over golden balayage is a nice way to brighten up brunette hair colors. “It’s less subtle but still natural looking,” Brown says.

Dark to Light Balayage

We love Madison Bailey’s color shift but OMG can we talk about that shine? “This is a beautiful, very dark to light balayage—it’s very pretty and neutral in tone,” Brown says.

Blonde Brown Balayage

Looking to dip your dark ends into blonde shades? Brown says to look to Vanessa Morgan for inspo. “This is for darker-haired people who really want blonde balayage pieces. What’s nice is there’s enough to make this look bold but not too much where it would be super damaging or high maintenance.”

Dirty Blonde Balayage

How pretty is Sofia Richie Grainge’s dirty blonde balayage? “I get asked for this color a lot—it’s a really pretty golden balayage,” Brown says.

Rich Mocha Balayage

Kendall Jenner’s hair color might look like she’s born with it (save for her latest foray into bright, all-over blonde) but if you look closely, there’s often balayage at play. “Kendall Jenner is known for her healthy silky natural brunette hair, but for some, it may be better to achieve this look by what we refer to as a ‘reverse balayage’, which is essentially adding depth instead of lightening,” Dickie says. “To do this, your colorist will want to choose a darker and deeper brown color and work from the top down, maintaining more of a lighter brunette natural color at the ends of the hair. This is for somebody who wants to undo their summer color, or just enhance a natural brunette with shine, depth, and tone.”

Brown Balayage Lob

Jessica Alba loves a good bronde balayage. “This can be a good way to disguise dark roots that you’re trying to grow back by bringing them down and blending them into blonde,” Lordet says. “To achieve this look with short hair like this, have the colorist take the lighter color to about the temples and begin blending into the darker brunette tone there.”

Chunky Copper Balayage Highlights

For a more high-impact, bold-contrast look, opt for chunky copper highlights like Joan Smalls’, shown above. “The look is high contrast within one color scheme (warm chocolate brown to warm orange/copper) that’s exciting but not so intimidating,” Lordet says.

Beachy Sand Balayage

Hailey Bieber has long been a fan of bronde balayage hair colors. “Hailey’s look features a soft sandy balayage that brightens her dark hair with a natural, beachy vibe,” Lordet says. “Ask for a soft sandy balayage that enhances the brunette base with subtle, beachy highlights.”

Light Golden Brown Balayage

Madelyn Cline looks like Old Hollywood royalty with her subtle golden-brown balayage, above. The glossy finish only enhances the dimensional color.

Long Brown Balayage

Still not sure how you feel about brown balayage for yourself? Even just a few swipes of honey blonde in dark brown hair can make a stunning end look. Check out Camila Coelho's hair, above, for reference.

Sun-Kissed Balayage

For a more effortless look, copy Emilia Clark’s soft and subtle shift. “It just adds enough brightness and dimension—it’s a beautiful sun-kissed look,” Brown says.

Platinum Brown Balayage

Another popular high-contrast balayage color combo? Brown and platinum blonde, as seen on Alejandra Espinoza, above. “This is a balayage look with a few bright and light bold pieces, not too many so the blonde pieces pop,” Brown says.

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