All products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
While copper made a splash over the summer, it’s mocha chocolate that’s now dominating as the must-have brunette hair color for fall and winter. At the forefront of the trend is New York colorist Jenna Perry, who coined the term after coloring Bella Hadid’s lengths the deep, caffeinated shade for the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. “We were going for a deep seductive brown,” says Perry, who mixed up a warm, dark brown and added a little ash to the formula to give the supermodel s waist-skimming lengths an opaque effect. “After seeing photos of her in France, the color reminded me of something decadent and dense like a chocolate mousse or a rich chocolate cake,” she continues. “So that’s where the name came from—I thought mocha chocolate resembled the decadence of this shade of brown.”
Amid sweater weather, Perry has churned out individualized takes of the “universally flattering brunette hair color” on a slew of stars including former blondes Chloë Sevigny and Dianna Agron, and longtime client and brunette bombshell Emily Ratajkowski. “A deep rich brunette is chic,” says Perry. “The color reflects warmly in the sun, so it doesn’t ever look drab.” Between Perry’s clientele and the slew of other stars going dark, such as Hailey Bieber, Ashley Olsen, and Sofia Richie, it’s stirring up inspiration not just for the change of season, but the ever-present ‘90s redux, too. “Sofia s new hair color is giving me MAC Espresso lip liner and she s too young to appreciate the reference,” wrote Nicole Richie on her Instagram Stories, sharing a snap of her younger sister’s newly darkened waves.
As the holiday season arrives, mocha chocolate shades offer an equal parts sensual and sophisticated switch-up that pays dividends. “It complements and warms up the winter season,” insists Perry. Not to mention, it’s decidedly less maintenance than blonde or copper. The key to pulling off the deep brunette shade is complementing your skin tone with a well-calibrated chocolate base—honeyed tones can help warm up cool skin, while ashy tones can help balance out warmer skin—and ensuring there’s an undertone of warmth achieved with a touch of gold “so the hair doesn’t look wig-like,” says Perry. For example, Hadid’s mocha chocolate hue is more on the ashy side, while Ratajkowski’s has a bit more warmth to it.
Another important pillar of mastering the mocha chocolate look is keeping hair strong and shiny. “What makes this hair color so incredible from the start is having healthy hair,” explains Perry, adding that it’s vital to preserve pigments with a color-safe shampoo and conditioner. “My favorite at the moment is R&Co Bleu Primary Color Shampoo and Conditioner,” says Perry. “They’re incredibly hydrating and give a great shine.” You can also look to an at-home gloss or color conditioners, like the dpHUE Gloss or Christophe Robin Shade Variation Hair Mask, to prolong the vibrancy of your hair. If a rich shade of mocha chocolate sounds like a delectable prospect, trust there s no time like the present for a Godiva shade all your own.
- The Best Met Gala Beauty Looks of All Time
- Olivia Wilde on Making Sustainability Sexy, Freeing the Nipple, and the Importance of a Social Media Cleanse
- 14 Healthy Meal-Delivery Services for Easy At-Home Dining
- Six Approaches That Will Help Redefine Your Daily Nutritional Habits
- Sign up for Vogue’s shopping newsletter, The Get, to receive the insider’s guide to what to shop and how to wear it