An Expert Reveals the Most Flattering Hair Colors For Brown Eyes

Picking your new hair color clocks in as the No. 1 most daunting beauty task of them all. As if selecting the shade of nail polish for your next manicure or landing on a lipstick color for the day weren't hard enough, hair color lasts months. Because it's a decision you don't want to take lightly, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration: your base color, the upkeep, and how it'll look with your skin tone. And, if you're feeling particularly stumped, looking at your eye color can help guide your decision, too.

Truth be told, the eyes aren't the first thing hairstylists look at when recommending hair colors to clients, but basic color theory suggests that it also can't hurt to consider your eye color. Just as certain hair colors complement different skin tones, the same goes for eyes. If you have blue eyes, various shades of blond, reds, espresso browns, and raven blacks will look the most flattering on you. If your eyes are green, warm-toned colors, such as shades of copper and gold will suit you best. But for brown eyes, the suggestions are completely different.

Even within the brown-eye category, there are many different shades and depths to think about. Ahead, we asked a hairstylist to break down the best hair color ideas for brown eyes to make picking your next shade easy.

Hazel-brown eyes can go two different ways: warm-toned or cool-toned. "Hazel eyes have many color tones, so choose the right color for your eyes," Robert Bennett, colorist at Maxine Salon in Chicago, tells POPSUGAR. If you have hazel-brown eyes with hints of gold, sticking to soft, warm hair colors will be the most flattering. This includes caramel-brown, honey-blond, cinnamon-brown, red-brown, and golden-blond shades.

However, if your hazel eyes read more cool-toned with tinges of blue and gray, Bennett recommends looking for equally cool-toned hair colors. "For example, highlights need to be ash or pearl tone, and for all-over color, you need to use neutral colors," he says. Sandy blond, dark chocolate, ash brown, ashy blond, and more are all great options.

With classic brown eyes, Bennett says "there's no limit" as the color is pretty universal. You can experiment with red brown, golden brown, and warm caramel brown to "bring out the contrast with your eyes."

However, if your brown eyes have a tint of red to them you can benefit from picking a hair color with more warmth to it to "make the eyes pop." Warm caramel browns, honey and golden blonds, cinnamon browns, and red-brown hues are all great options. "If you feel a little riskier, you can do a bolder highlight with some soft golden-blond balayage as a nice alternative to foils," Bennett says.

Very deep black-brown eyes are strikingly beautiful and you want a hair color that emphasizes them. "I personally think that dark brown works well, but not black," says Bennett. "You can also put some undertones of red to give a magical pop of color."

Get inspiration for your next salon appointment by looking at celebrity examples of the best hair colors for brown eyes ahead.