Best colors for olive skin brown hair

Finding the right hair color for olive skin tones, which are complexions that have a dusky, slightly greenish undertone, can be challenging. Choosing the right hair color can be a difficult and overwhelming process. That’s why we did some digging so you don’t have to! Check out our top hair color ideas for olive skin tones:

Top 15 Hair Colors for Olive Skin

1. Ash Brown Hair Color for Olive Skin

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Try an ashier hue with thin highlights to make the color work for your skin tone. Photo credit: Indigitalimages.com

Many women with olive skin tones tend to shy away from ash brown colors as the look may blend in with their natural skin, and hence make them look washed out. If you do want ash brown, however, there’s a way to get around it: Opt for thin ribbons of blonde to help create the perfect contrast.

Ed’s tip: To keep your hair on the matte side, use a dry shampoo like Dove Refresh+Care Unscented Dry Shampoo to keep oil at bay.

Best colors for olive skin brown hair

Best colors for olive skin brown hair

For OIly Hair

Dove Unscented Dry Shampoo

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2. Auburn Hair Color for Olive Skin

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Try a rich auburn color to experiment with some subtle red.

While dark browns look amazing against olive skin, reddish browns are just as nice and help provide good contrast (red + green are opposite on the color wheel!). Opt for an auburn hue to make your skin glow.

3. Balayage on Olive Skin

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Brighten up your look with blonde balayage. Photo Credit: Arianna Sharfman

If you don’t want to make a drastic change with your hair color but are looking for something that will complement your olive skin tone, you can’t go wrong with balayage. With this technique, you can keep your natural hair color at the root and just rock specific fame-framing highlights to brighten your countenance.

4. Brown Waves on Olive Skin

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Simple warm brown is always a classic.

Want to get a color that feels like a subtle change? You can’t go wrong with a warm shade of brown. Pair it up with soft defined waves to make your new hair color stand out. Style your hair with TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Shine Serum to keep your waves frizz-free and polished.

Best colors for olive skin brown hair

For Smoothing

TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Shine Serum

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5. Mocha Hair Color

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Consider this rich mocha color for a natural hue.

There are many shades of brown to choose from. However, if you want to stick with something that looks natural and blends well with your skin tone, stick with this mocha hue.

6. Deep Brown Hair

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
A deep brown is always perfect for any season. Photo credit: Craig Alexander

It’s not everyone that has olive skin year-round. Some women tend to get a golden olive hue after getting a tan. If you’re looking for a hair color that works with any skin tone as the seasons change, go for this shade of brown.

7. Hair Color for Olive Skin with Highlights

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Face-framing highlights will make your olive skin tone pop!

A few face-framing highlights to accentuate your face and skin color can make a difference in your overall look.

8. Ombré on Olive Skin

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Update your hair color with ombré.

Looking for a fun update that also creates an impact? Go for ombré. Stick with light browns to avoid creating a super high contrast. Want to recreate this look? Use a salt spray like Nexxus Between Washes Beach Waves Tousled Texture Sea Salt Spray to enhance the definition and texture of your waves.

9. Two Tones of Brown

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Pick two tones of brown to create some depth. Photo credit: Arianna Sharfman

Another way to incorporate two different colors into your look in a more subtle way than balayage or ombre is to go with two tones of brown. Adding light brown highlights to a deep, cool-toned brown will add dimension to your look–creating more depth and fuller-looking hair.

10. Light Brown

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
A light brown complements olive skin beautifully. Photo credit: Arianna Sharfman

Keep it cute and simple with a shade of light brown. For some olive skin tones, this hair color will be very close to their skin color, making for a fun low-contrast vibe.

11. Dark-Rooted Blonde

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Dark roots help deeper skin tones pull off blonde hair. Photo credit: Craig Alexander

Despite shades of brown looking amazing on olive skin tones, that doesn’t mean that blonde can’t be a great shade, too! Ease into a shade of blonde by maintaining dark roots. This will make the transition look more natural and be less harsh against your skin tone.

12. Black

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Jet black is bold, edgy and a must-try. Photo credit: Craig Alexander

Go for a bold, jet black color. This shade is deep, rich, and creates a beautiful contrast on olive skin tones.

13. Pop of Neon

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Go bright and bold. Photo credit: Roisin Murphy

Ready to take your color to the next level? Neons look phenomenal on olive skin tones. We love how rich and bright these colors are and they help make your skin look softer when up against a bold neon.

14. Chestnut Highlights

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Try lightening the style with some chestnut brown highlights, as it helps make everything pop.

If you’re looking to warm up your olive skin tone a little bit, then some subtle red highlights are the way to go. Chestnut highlights are warm toned and do a great job of creating natural warmth to your look, without overdoing it. This color is great to warm up hair in the colder months.

15. Cool-Toned Brown

Best colors for olive skin brown hair
Cool tones make all of your features bright and vibrant.

We love how cool tones can help lighten deeper eye colors and bring out the cool tones in your lips. This is a great color for those who aren’t feeling the warmer browns and want their hair to be closer in tone with their olive skin tone.

When it comes to choosing your hair color, there are no wrong choices; it’s whatever you decide! However, if you’re looking to complement your olive skin tone, then we highly recommend giving these colors a try. Good luck!

What hair color looks good on olive skin tone?

5. Sun-Lightened Golden Brown. Golden undertones in any color are a sure bet for olive skin tones. This beautifully lightened golden brown features subtle sun-kissed dark blonde balayage for natural-looking color that really brightens and flatters an olive undertone.

What color highlights olive skin?

Caramel-kissed Curls Hauck agrees, saying, "Caramel highlights will always be a safe zone for people with olive skin. It's always sexy and always complements light or dark eyes." She recommends choosing a colorist whose work shows plenty of warmth in the desired color and asking for subtle highlights toned to caramel.

Is olive skin tone warm or cool?

Olive skin has both neutral and warm undertones along with green, an undertone that is considered unique to olive skin only. If you have olive skin, then you might find that certain colors in all three undertones suit your skin.