Hair Color Trends in 2026 (And Which Will Look Dated by Next Year)

Every January, hair magazines declare a new color of the year. Half are real movements that walked into salons all year. Half are publicist fantasies invented to fill a slow news week. Here is what actually happened in salons through the first quarter of 2026, what is sticking, and what will look dated by spring 2027.

What is actually trending in 2026

Expensive brunette

The biggest movement of the past 18 months. Cool, multi-tonal, glossy brunette with subtle dimension — usually achieved with babylights or low-contrast balayage. Costs $250-450 the first time, $150-250 every 12 weeks for upkeep. The appeal is that it does not look done, which is exactly why it costs so much.

Likely to age well. This is not really a trend, it is a return to natural-looking color after a decade of harsh contrast. It will be called something else in 2028 but the same look will still be dominant.

Copper and ginger revival

Driven by Sabrina Carpenter, Sophie Turner, and the Outlander effect, copper exploded in 2024 and is still going strong. Variants from soft strawberry to vivid penny copper. Maintenance is brutal — copper fades fastest of any color, requiring color-depositing shampoo and gloss treatments every 4-6 weeks.

Mixed. The natural-looking copper will stay. The vivid neon penny version is at peak saturation now and will look 2024-coded by 2027.

Cherry cola and red wine

Deep red-violet brunettes. Hugely popular on TikTok in late 2025 and still climbing. Looks black-cherry in low light and red-violet in sun. Easier to maintain than copper but still demands cool-toned shampoo.

Will age okay. A natural fit for cool undertones, hard to over-saturate. The hashtag will be dated; the actual color will not.

Money piece highlights

Bright face-framing pieces around the front, often a full shade lighter than the rest. Originally a 2021 trend, refused to die, now considered standard rather than trendy. Salons charge $100-180 as a partial highlight service.

Already past peak. Still flattering on most people. Will not look dated, just less novel.

Lived-in blonde

A reaction against the harsh ice-platinum era of 2018-2022. Warmer, rooty, beachy. Less commitment, less damage, more gradient from root to tip. Costs the same as a full highlight ($200-350) but lasts longer between visits.

Will age well. The whole point is that it does not look fresh from the salon — by definition it cannot look dated.

What will look dated by 2027

• Bleached eyebrows + white hair. A 2024 fashion-week moment. Will look like a costume in three years.
• Hot-pink ends on otherwise natural hair. Peak in 2025. Already declining.
• Chunky 2000s highlights revival. Briefly popular in early 2026 as a Y2K nostalgia play. Already losing steam.
• Mermaid hair (multicolor pastel). Long past peak. Still on Pinterest boards but rare in real salons.
• Black-to-platinum ombre. A 2014-2017 trend that briefly returned. Already gone again.

What is quietly emerging

• Dark cherry brunette. Cherry cola minus the violet. Looks almost black indoors, deep red-brown in sun.
• Strawberry blonde 2.0. Softer, peachier than the 2024 copper wave.
• Mushroom brown. Cool ash-toned brunette with subtle taupe. Hard to do badly.
• True natural color. A measurable trend of clients asking salons to match their actual natural color so they can grow it out cleanly.

How to figure out which trend works on you

The cheapest mistake-prevention tool is AI try-on. Color trends are particularly risky because the photos that go viral are taken under specific salon lighting, on a specific person, after three hours of glossing. Your version of cherry cola may look different.

1. Take a clean front-facing photo, indoors, even light, no filter.
2. Try the trend in 2-3 variants — for example, expensive brunette with cool tones, neutral tones, and warm tones.
3. Check the result against your skin tone (more on this in our hair color for your skin tone guide).
4. Save your favorite. If you are still happy with it three days later, book the salon.

The actual rule

Hair color trends are mostly variations on five themes — natural, lived-in, bright, deep, and dimensional. Pick a theme that matches your skin and your maintenance budget. Skip the named trend. The named trends come and go; the underlying themes do not.

If you are deciding between specific techniques, our balayage vs. highlights vs. ombre breakdown is a useful follow-up.

Clipd includes 38 hair color presets — including expensive brunette, copper, cherry cola, lived-in blonde, and most of the trends above. Try them on your photo before you book.