Style Hair Tortoiseshell Hair Colors for Brighter Brunettes By Kaitlyn Yarborough Kaitlyn Yarborough Part of the Southern Living team since 2017, Kaitlyn Yarborough is a Georgia native living in Austin, Texas, who covers a wide variety of topics for both the magazine and website, focusing on culture and lifestyle content, as well as travel in the South.She earned a B.A. in Journalism at the University of Georgia. She hopes to inspire your travel bucket list with her features on road trips through Texas Hill Country, bourbon tours in Kentucky, and the best beach getaways on the Gulf Coast. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on May 26, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: @haleyvalentinehair When your crown feels more lackluster than lustrous, it's time to head to the salon and refresh. From root beer to rose brown, this year's hair color trends for brunettes are taking dull brown strands from monotone to magnetic; and tortoiseshell hair color is leaving brunettes feeling shiny and new with its rich blend of warm shades. (And yes, it's inspired by your favorite tortoiseshell sunglasses.) Tortoiseshell hair mixes dark shades with touches of warm caramel, honey, and gold. Teetering a perfectly sun-kissed balance, this shade often starts with a chocolate brown base and uses techniques like balayage, babylights, ombré, and shadow rooting to create a seamless, low-maintenance finish. So why not liven those locks with a few strokes of honey here, a few ribbons of caramel there? Check out these tortoiseshell hair color inspirations before your next salon trip. 01 of 14 Caramel Ombré @mizzchoi This melting of color feels fresh and light, even though the roots are almost a cool mocha shade. The subtle ombré covers all of the tortoiseshell hues: chocolate, chestnut, caramel, and gold. We love the way the warm blonde color works with the long, face-framing layers. There's no doubt they'll be catching the sun all season long. 02 of 14 Baby Balayage @mizzchoi Want to spice up your bob? A deep chocolate base color gets a welcome kick from baby balayage highlights in rich chestnuts and caramel. Piecey highlights and heavy face-framing help add texture and blend the color. 03 of 14 Honey Brown @maddiemelts For those who just want a low-maintenance, not-too-noticeable change to their classic chocolate brown, these honey-tinged tresses will do the job. Ribbons of randomly placed honey balayage highlights add just the right amount of shine and reflection. 04 of 14 Blonde Tortoiseshell Pinterest/Anh Co Tran Think of this tortoiseshell shade as its cool, beachy partner-in-crime that lets a dirty blonde or bronde base melt into a gorgeous caramel, honey, and golden finish. It's the perfect laid-back, lived-in, warm blonde look. 05 of 14 Toffee Touches @johnnyramirez Complement olive skin and brown eyes with rich strokes of toffee and caramel, focusing heavily around the face and on the ends. Using chestnut brown to melt the dark base into the sun-kissed touches is key to a low-maintenance, lived-in look. 06 of 14 Sweet Cola @haleyvalentinehair This syrupy brown injects some serious touches of liquid gold into a sweet layered hairstyle, and it even accents hints of reddish-brown chestnut near the cola brown roots. We're all for this shiny tortoiseshell blend. 07 of 14 Deep Mocha @hairbyrachellenicole Though tortoiseshell is full of warm shades of browns and caramels, nothing says deep brunettes can't get in on the action with some perfectly placed balayage. A black-brown base color gets warmth and lightness from chestnut, amber, caramel, and gold. 08 of 14 Amber Balayage @juliahengel This tortoiseshell blend works well for lighter brown or bronde hair. Rich honey and amber highlights enhance a light chocolate base. The super subtle balayage makes for easy upkeep and natural-looking results. 09 of 14 Sombré @lesleylouhoo When hair color looks totally natural, you know you've done it right! This incredibly subtle soft ombré starts with a warm brunette base and melts into a robust covering of caramel. This blend will pop on olive or tan skin tones. 10 of 14 Tortoiseshell Ribbons @hairbysaiphetkhosa For this bold tortoiseshell look, blend a few different hair shades—such as golden blonde, rich caramels, toasty chestnuts, and darker brown—using ribbon highlights. This style adds a little extra honey blonde, making it summer-approved. 11 of 14 Golden Caramel @hairbylexiiii Talk about some summertime sunshine. Fall head over heels for the rich caramel-gold balayage that coats every inch of this chocolate brown mane, from midway down to the ends. You can't go wrong with this bright blend of color. 12 of 14 Bronze Sombré @salsalhair We're swooning over the rich metallic finish of this bronzed tortoiseshell mane. Bronze is characterized as a shade of brown that emphasizes gold and red undertones. A little extra honey and gold around the face and ends make this color look naturally sun-kissed. 13 of 14 Heavy Caramel @mizzchoi This warm caramel lands right in the middle of the essential chocolate and golden blonde shades, and it's perfect for those with fair skin who want to go lighter. Heavy face-framing and shadow rooting make it super flattering and low maintenance. 14 of 14 Chestnut Balayage @bloom_beautybar If you want the tortoiseshell look, but you're worried it will look too overdone or too bold, keep the look subtle and soft. This multi-dimensional chestnut brown uses rich ribbons of color to achieve the perfect blend. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit