32 Best Medium-Brown Hair Colors for Every Skin Tone in 2024

Avery Hunt
Avery Hunt Hair Colorist

Medium-brown hair is the middle shade of brown between light and dark. Medium-brown is one of the most common hair colors because of its color diversity and because it’s a great shade to compliment any skin complexion.

Brown is your color if you wanna have extremely natural-looking, dimensional hair with lots of options. With the infinite hairstyle options, you’ll always have styles – layers, bangs, waves, and highlights – it all depends on your features and, of course, your personality and lifestyle. No need to worry about maintenance, as this tone promises ease and beauty at the same time!

Before your next hair appointment, check out these photos of popular and stunning medium-brown hair color ideas.

Photos

#1: Cool Medium Hair

Cool medium-brown hair is smooth and silky mirror hair. It’s pretty and makes your hair look and feel extremely healthy and glamorous. To create a cool brown shade, I recommend you use Label M anti-frizz products: shampoo and conditioner. You don’t need a straitening iron when you use those products. This hair color is created by KC Professionals’ ice-coffee toner.

Golden brown ombre for older women

#2 Golden Brown Ombre for Older Women

This golden brown ombre is perfect for older women looking to add a youthful touch to their hairstyle. The ombre effect seamlessly blends a warm brown base with lighter, sun-kissed ends, creating a natural, low-maintenance look. Ideal for medium to thick hair, this style adds volume and dimension, while the waves enhance the overall softness and movement. It’s a beautiful option for those wanting to embrace a sophisticated yet modern hair color.

#3: Light Brown Color Melt

Consider a color melt and a hair dye if you want to go lighter. Lighter ends with a darker root help to give a softer, lived-in feel. It also will make the re-growth less harsh. The main thing to remember is not to go much darker than your natural color. It will help keep things lower maintenance.

Woman with luxurious deep-wave curly medium brown hair

#4 Luxurious Deep-Wave Curls

These luxurious deep-wave curls exhibit a natural cascading effect, perfect for those with thick, medium-length hair looking to enhance their natural volume. The rich, dimensional color blend featuring shades of medium brown enhances the depth and movement of each curl. This hairstyle is ideal for anyone with a diamond or pear-shaped face, as the volume of the curls balances the facial structure beautifully.

Woman with layered cinnamon swirl wavy hairstyle

#5 Layered Cinnamon Swirl Waves

This hairstyle showcases beautifully crafted layered waves with a striking cinnamon swirl color blend, perfect for adding volume and movement to the hair. This style is flattering for those with round or square face shapes, as the voluminous waves can help elongate the face and soften the angles. Using a light mousse or wave-enhancing spray can help achieve this texture without weighing down the hair. It’s a fantastic option for someone looking to add both color and volume to their look.

Woman with elegant medium brown layered hairstyle

#6 Brown Layered Cut

This elegant hairstyle features a beautifully layered cut that softly frames the face, ideal for enhancing natural facial features. The hair is cut at a flattering collarbone length with subtle long layers that add volume and movement without sacrificing the overall length. The medium brown shade is versatile and suits a variety of skin tones, offering a rich, dimensional look that appears both natural and sophisticated.

Woman with medium brown hair and caramel highlights

#7 Cascading Caramel Highlights on Medium Brown

This stunning hairstyle features cascading caramel highlights expertly blended into a medium brown base, creating a warm, inviting look. The layers are cut to add volume and movement, enhancing the natural flow of the hair. This style works wonderfully on medium to thick hair, providing body and a luxurious texture. While the look is versatile and suitable for both formal and casual settings, maintaining the vibrancy of the caramel highlights may require occasional touch-ups and the use of color-protecting hair products. It’s a beautiful choice for someone looking to add depth and dimension to their hair without a drastic change.

Woman with soft golden brown wavy balayage hairstyle

#8 Soft Golden Brown Waves

This hairstyle showcases soft golden brown waves that flow seamlessly down to mid-back length, creating a stunning visual of light and shadow through a balayage technique. The color transitions from a deeper brown at the roots to lighter golden hues at the ends, making this style perfect for adding a sun-kissed effect to the hair. This coloring method not only brings out a multi-dimensional look but also masks root growth, making it a low-maintenance option for busy individuals.

Young woman with sleek straight medium brown hair

#9 Brown Style

This hairstyle is a perfect example of classic simplicity with its sleek, straight haircut at a flattering mid-length. The subtle layers around the face gently shape the hair, enhancing its natural smoothness and providing a slight lift at the ends for a bit of texture. This style is particularly suitable for those with fine to medium hair types as it maintains a clean and polished look without appearing too heavy. The straight cut complements oval and long face shapes, drawing attention to the eyes and cheekbones. While this look is low-maintenance on a day-to-day basis, using a smoothing serum or lightweight oil can help keep flyaways at bay and preserve the silky appearance of the hair. It’s an excellent choice for someone seeking a versatile, easy-to-manage style that works equally well for professional environments and casual outings.

Woman with sleek medium-brown blunt haircut

#10 Sleek Medium-Brown Blunt Cut

This sleek, medium-brown blunt cut is a fantastic choice for anyone seeking a polished and contemporary look. The hair is cut straight across at about mid-back length, providing a clean, precise edge that enhances its natural sheen. Ideal for those with naturally straight or slightly wavy hair, this style minimizes the need for daily styling and reduces the appearance of split ends, maintaining a neat appearance longer. However, it might require regular trims to keep the edges sharp and well-defined.

Dark to Light Medium Brown Ombre
Instagram @gustavomigli

#11: Dark to Light Medium Ombre

A dark brown to medium ombre is perfect for women with oval faces. The middle part of this shoulder-length wavy hair can accentuate brown eyes. Medium brown hair colors like this allow you to show them you are ready to dance on heels!

#12: Brown with Rose Tint

Switch it up with a brown with rose tint at your next appointment. Ask your stylist to add a rosy toner to your highlights for a neutral brown hair color. The rose doesn’t stay long, but a color-safe shampoo helps prevent this color from fading too fast.

#13: Thick Brown Hair with a Bright Blonde Money Piece

Make your locks look luxurious with shiny, thick brown hair paired with a bright blonde money piece. A big bold money piece is one of the most trending looks. By feathering your face-framing highlights, you can make the maintenance less but still get a bold pop of color. To keep your color fresh, tone every 4-6 for healthy shimmering locks.

Wavy Medium Brown Color
Instagram @lamacasias

#14: Wavy Brown Color

A wavy look combines brown and rose gold hues blended with a shadow root, creating a seamless color-melted look.

#15: Espresso Medium-Brown

Go rich with an espresso medium-brown hair color. When looking for that perfect coffee hair color, ask your stylist for a subtle color melt with a darker shadow root that is only a level or two different from the rest of the hair. For added depth, ask for a neutral base with a warmer mid-length color for that natural sun-kissed effect.

#16: Medium Mousy Brown Hair

Medium mousy brown hair complements warm and cool skin tones, making it universally flattering. It’s on-trend as well as a low-maintenance style. Before blow-drying, spray in Mister Fantastic Blowout Spray by EVO for body and style support, and finish with EVO’S Love Drops serum for added shine.

Mushroom brown for medium-length hair
Instagram @les_812

#17: Mushroom Brown for Medium-Length Hair

Choose this hue if you love the darker cool-toned browns coupled with the tones of violet and ash. Remember, the cooler the shade, the more opaque the hair color will look. Avoid this hue if you prefer brighter and warmer sun-kissed tones.

Medium mocha brown hair color
Instagram @chiriac.ionela

#18: Medium Mocha Brown Hair Color

A medium mocha brown hair color can be achieved by balayaging blonde pieces on dark brown hair and then using a mocha toner to tone them down. The mocha color is a mix of warm and cool tones, making it suitable for every skin tone or complexion.

Medium honey brown with subtle highlights for over 50

#19 Medium Honey Brown with Subtle Highlights for Over 50

Medium honey brown with subtle highlights for women over 50 adds dimension and brightness. Honey brown can add enough warmth to the hair without going to gold. Honey brown color looks beautiful on warmer skin tones, but with so many shades of honey brown, you can find one to compliment any skin tone.

#20: Reddish Color

Medium red-brown hair color is subtle yet stunning at the same time. The color can give your natural hair a new edge. A charming and natural look for date night – this layered cut with loose ringlets also screams romance!

medium to dark brown hair with auburn highlights

#21 Medium to Dark Brown Hair With Auburn Highlights

These auburn and brown highlights are for ladies with thick hair looking to add more volume with soft and loose curls. The color in this dark brown with highlights is also ideal for blondes who like to try something new.

Chocolate Brown Hair with Medium Brown Highlights
Instagram @belllbelle

#22: Chocolate Brown Hair with Highlights

A homecoming queen will look great with dainty loose curls on long wavy locks! This shade of brunette hair can amp up locks’ natural color and is sure to match most undertones or skin tones.

#23: Rich Brown Hair with Caramel Highlights

Are you taking a break from styling? These medium-brown tones with highlights are a favorite of many chic ladies for an everyday style. What to love best about this shade of brown with blonde highlights is its low-maintenance yet classy.

Warm-Toned Medium Chestnut Brown Hair
Instagram @tatiana.janae

#24: Warm-Toned Medium Chestnut Brown Hair

No more boring hair day for you gals with luscious long locks if you rock this warm-toned chestnut brown color. Add volume to your hair by adding loose curls towards the tips, and you’ll instantly add dimension to your mid-brown locks.

#25: Golden Brown Hair

Color your chest-length hair with a golden brown balayage tint to give it new life. Mimic the look by opting for a sleek effortless-looking beach wave that’s made more stunning when paired with this glittering shade of golden brown hair dye.

#26: Medium Brown with Honey Blonde Highlights

With these honey blonde highlights, you’ll experience having blonde hair that requires low maintenance. A fabulous curly texture would be perfect for a hassle-free night out.

#27: Medium Ash Brown Hair Color

Freshen up your long bob with this ash brown color! The outcome creates a cool brown hair color, appearing subtle yet glorious at the same time. To prevent your shoulder-length, straight hair from looking flat, add waves for extra texture.

Medium Copper Brown
Instagram @maxineeglynn

#28: Medium Copper Brown

Go for a medium-brown copper-gold color. The best thing about it is its strong bronze tone and shiny shimmer of copper gold. Pairing it with a soft wave helps to bring out that shimmer.

#29: Medium-Dark Brown Ombre

This medium-dark brown ombre has a “lightness” throughout their highlights without the color coming across as too blonde. Medium-brown locks can have a slight reddish tint with certain color combinations.

#30: Medium-Brown Balayage

This is a soft medium-brown balayage with a soft-layered hair cut to keep density at the ends. The loveliest thing about this hue is the seamless blend from chocolate brown to caramel with no harsh starting points.

Light Medium-Brown Balayage
Instagram @madi.jcsalon

#31: Light Medium-Brown Balayage

This light medium-brown balayage is both lightweight and full of body. There is such soft, subtle movement between the volume and curls that it looks elegance and ease.

#32: Rich Brown and Dark Burgundy Hair

The lusciousness that these shades of brown hair display perfectly matches thick hair density. And with soft waves on a long-length cut, these rich brown and dark burgundy shades look chic. Style this brown color hair with a half-up top knot, and you’re bringing that bombshell vibe!