6 Delicious Formulas for Mocha Brown Hair Color
This season, make it a mocha. Even if it isn’t your coffee order of choice, it’s set to be your go-to brown hair color as we head into autumn/winter ‘21. A mocha brown mane is as rich and delicious as the drink it’s inspired by. Think deep, dark, dimensional and distinctly natural-looking, with plenty of shine mixed in.
Here, we’re breaking down exactly how you can create a mocha hair color for your clients – plus tricks that will keep the shade looking ultra-glossy in between salon appointments.
How to Create Mocha Brown Hair Color
This isn’t a one-tone brown. Mocha manes are all about movement and multi tones, so you’re looking to play up the highs and lows in your client’s hair. If they’re blonde, a few mocha lowlights will break up the brightness to create a more dimensional look. And if they’re brunette, a host of fresh highlights will give them the chocolate coffee shade of dreams. Try these tricks.
1. Add Mocha Lowlights to Blonde Hair
Anyone who’s ever sipped a mocha will know it’s always a rich, chocolatey brown. However, the mocha blonde trend is a mixture of blonde highlights against a deep brunette base. For blonde clients who want to try the mocha look, but are unsure of going so dark in one sitting, this coffee-inspired combination helps them get a small taste of next season’s most delicious shade.
Keep it low-commitment for these clients with a demi-permanent product, like Color Touch, which you can use to add mocha lowlights to natural or highlighted blondes. Some of our favorite choco-coffee shades include 5/3, 6/0 and 6/35. For permanent color, you could also try Illumina Color 9/7 or Koleston Perfect 8/73. Apply as a root shadow and sweep through the lengths to bring dimension to a warm-toned blonde.
2. Stroke Mocha Highlights Through Brown Hair
This is how you create a true mocha brown. On an existing brunette base, your goal is to add almost-imperceptible highlights that gently glitter through the lengths. When the light hits, those lighter pieces pop and pump up the shine, whether you apply them from root to tip or with a brunette balayage technique. Try lifting with BlondorPlex for a boost of our hair-strengthening No1 Bond Maker. Then refine the color using permanent Illumina Color for a sheer result, Koleston Perfect for intensity, Color Touch for soft regrowth or semi-permanent Color Fresh for true-to-tone fading.
6 Mocha Brown Hair Colors
True Mocha Brown Hair
Image Credit: @topknotbalayage
This is as chocolatey as mocha brown gets. You’ve got the coffee base and the milky highlights, coming together for a delicious look that’s brimming with healthy shine. To create the look, Amanda Leaman painted highlights close to the hairline for a soft yet striking face frame, then added Color Touch 7/97 + 7/73 to her glossing formula.
Mocha Dark Chocolate Brown Hair
Image Credit: @dyeingwithdee
Proving dark brunette hair can be anything but blocky, Darienne Fujikawa used two formulas close in tone to create subtle highlights that enhance her client’s waves. Her product of choice? Permanent Koleston Perfect, which she applied in 6/71 + 5/0 for the base, and 6/71 + 5/71 through the ends.
Light Mocha Hair Color
Image Credit: @hausoflt
There’s a little extra milk in this mocha hue. With a lighter shade in mind, Haus of LT’s hairdressing team stroked bountiful chunky highlights through their client’s dark brown hair. Then, to finish this light mocha look – the dreamiest mocha bronde – they toned hair from root to tip with high-shine, demi-permanent Color Touch 8/71 + 1.9%. Consider us obsessed.
Caramel Mocha Hair Color
Image Credit: @xobeautybynicole
Mix some caramel into that mocha for one of the sweetest brunettes around. Just look at the glisten and gleam we’re getting from these bumped-up, golden brown highlights. Wella Passionista Nicole first created the lift with Blondor Freelights – our freehand hair lightener – then added Color Touch 9/97 + 7/97 + 7/1 with a dash of 8/71 to a glossing service formula.
Mocha Highlights
Image Credit: @romeufelipe
Hello, mocha highlights. We love how Wella Professionals Global Ambassador Romeu Felipe has defined these curls with caramel coffee tones. To recreate the effect, sweep through highlights with Blondor Soft Blonde Cream first, then try toning with Color Touch in shades from the Rich Naturals collection, such as 8/3, 9/3 or 9/36.
Mocha Blonde Hair
Image Credit: @terricolours_bloominhair
Mocha brown is the perfect base for a scattering of blonde highlights. Add a high volume of golden half-head weaves, so that the chocolate brown shade underneath merely peeks through. Here, Wella Colorist Terri Harris has used Color Touch Plus 66/07 + 4% to cover grays and touch up roots. Then, the Color Fresh Mask in Golden Gloss has been used to give highlights a gilded glow.
How to Maintain Mocha Brown Hair
Because mocha hair is all about shine, your client needs to keep up with their care regimen. Make it easy by recommending products they can use at home to enhance their brunette hues.
1. Suggest a Shampoo Switch-Up
First up, a color-caring shampoo is a must. Recommend INVIGO Color Brilliance Color Protecting Shampoo, which is pH-optimized to prevent brassiness and keep shade fade at bay. There are two versions available: one for fine or normal hair, and one for thick or coarse hair, meaning they can tailor their formula to their hair type.
2. Talk About Color-Depositing Conditioners
While the INVIGO Color Brilliance Vibrant Color Conditioner is perfectly paired with your client’s shampoo, they may want to add a color-depositing conditioner to their routine, too. Educate them on the Color Fresh Mask; a nourishing, tinted treatment that refreshes their salon color in just 10 minutes. All they have to do is smooth it through, wait for it to develop, then rinse. Shades like Chocolate Touch and Caramel Glaze are perfect for enhancing mocha brown hair, while Golden Gloss will give mocha blondes just the right balance of warm, golden tones.
3. Hero Heat Protection Products
Don’t underestimate the color-protecting power of heat protection products. Rising temperatures are responsible for turning brunette highlights brassy, so clients need a safeguarding spray in their kit. When locks are damp, they should mist hair from root to tip with EIMI Thermal Image, then let strands air-dry or use a blow-dryer, before misting once more before tongs or straighteners are used.
