If you like styling your own hair, or have a friend who enjoys a bit of amateur hairdressing, here’s a new gallery of pretty and easy brunette hairstyles to try at home. You’ll love the fabulous patterns balayage and ombré highlights are creating on braids and twisty upstyles this season! I’ve chosen a mix of short and long hairstyle ideas, including new braiding techniques and fabulous free-form up-styles you can design yourself! With inspiration from these formal, semi-formal and every day styles you’ll find it easy to look up-to-date and gorgeous wherever you are!
Alluring bouffant French twist with flower accessory
And here’s another fantastic formal hairstyle for a bride or wedding guest. Thick, straight hair is teased into a very attractive bouffant shape with extra volume around the crown and a steeply angled line down to the nape. Loose tendrils soften the line around the face and miniature white roses provide the perfect finishing touch!
Scrumptious chocolate waves with honey and cream balayage
This style suits fine/medium textured hair and uses blunt-cut tips and tousled waves to add volume in the lower lengths. The trendy color design is a carefully harmonized blend of plum-red, caramel and honey with just a touch of white-blonde balayage. And you can see how the colors create a thicker, 3-dimensional density to fine hair!
Chic & simple twisty side-chignon
I’m such a fan of the trend for twisty, free-form chignons! They are chic and elegant, but with a casual vibe that I think always gives the impression of a capable and stylish woman. This lovely hair-twist asymmetrical chignon has a cute ringlet softening the line. It’s not too neat, nor too messy – but just right for day and evening wear!
Cheeky black pixie-cut with copper balayage
This is one of the original pixie styles which is perfect for thick, curly hair. It’s a low maintenance haircut you can just style with your fingers each morning! The forward movement is right up-to-date with current trends and a touch of orange/copper balayage on the top adds quirky individuality!
Sophisticated braid & wave up-style on thick hair
This is a subtly glamorous up-style appealing to sophisticated women looking for something elegant and polished. Thick hair is braided-in around one side and finishes in a chic, asymmetric knot. Tendrils of hair fall from the crown in casually tousled wisps and a lovely rose completes this classy look!
Fabulous freestyle updo in brown & gold braids
I know it looks complicated – but if you can braid hair you can do this style at home! The secret is taking thick hair and creating a pleasing pattern using large twists and very loose braids invisibly pinned to the head. It looks wonderful with copper and gold balayage/ombré and is a great wedding hairstyle idea!
Super semi-formal two-tone spiral braid
Braid updo’s continue to evolve into extremely creative looks, especially since the trend for blonde ombré became popular! This a chic, dual-color updo which gets the full artistic benefit from the contrast between brunette and gorgeous golden blonde hair!
Adorable coffee to caramel dip-dye on waterfall braid
Long layered hair always looks good with a circle braid adding extra detail and super patterning. This fabulous brunette dip-dye is suitable for black or dark-coffee hair and will give your whole look a lighter, brighter style-lift!
Amazing free-style braid with ash-brown balayage
The trend for free-style braiding is creating fabulous, casual and semi-formal styles. This dark-chocolate color has a subtle purple glaze and medium ash-brown balayage! So the wide braid at the back is beautifully highlighted drawing attention to the fantastic form and texture!
Groovy schoolgirl braids every day hairstyle
This is a grown-up version of the popular school-girl braids some of us had to wear to be ‘neat’. And this flat, fishtail braid pattern’s very easy to do at home from a center parting. It’s a cute and practical look for every day wear, which can be jazzed up with temporary purple balayage for evening!
Bouffant bridal hairstyle with flower design & braid
This elaborate style is the perfect way to show off lovely, long tresses for a formal or semi-formal event. The look has a vintage vibe in the beautifully coiffed ‘beehive’ at the crown. The nape is decorated with strands pinned into a modern, flower-petal design and trendy ash-brown balayage adds extra style!
Messy free-form chignon with purple gloss
This messy hairstyle is an inspiration for you to invent your own take on free-form braid up-styles! The front is styled off the face with a neat braided headband adding traditional style. However, the back is a totally creative area for you to experiment with braids, twists and loops pinned to the head!
Formal bridal chignon for thick hair
This formally styled chignon works well on coarse hair and is a lovely example of how to create attractive ‘patterns’ with texture and movement. The style creates curves over the crown, around the sides and in the neat chignon at the nape. And the dainty white floral accessory is the perfect finishing touch!
Lively kinky waves on natural black hair
On expertly layered hair, tightly curled waves create an energetic and lively look that’s very appealing! This style is low-volume around the forehead and flares out into full-volume on either side of the chin. It shows off a beautifully rounded forehead and is a good shape for thin and heart faces.
Stunning faux-hawk chic up-do on natural hair
This is a very special new hair design, which is as beautiful as any other work of art! It’s also a protective way to wear natural hair in a stunning contemporary style. Twists of hair are pinned invisibly to the head in a mohawk line, with a radiating-line pattern in the up-swept sides!
Rippling raven-haired princess waves
This gorgeous fall of ebony waves reminds me of illustrations of raven-haired princesses from my old fairy-tale books! It’s a wonderful, special occasion style that shows off glossy black hair to perfection with a cute, circle-braid detail around the head.
Fabulous formal up-style with bouffant crown
This is another of the lovely, classic up-styles favored by European royals attending formal events! The bouffant crown adds flattering height above a puffy, round chignon at the nape. And the braids encircling each bouffant section add a final touch of sophistication!
Elegant high ponytail with rippling waves
This elegant high ponytail styled back from the face is a sophisticated look with a semi-formal vibe. The lightly defined and separated mermaid waves make hair seem thicker, in this attractive style idea for ‘dressed-up’ work-places. For evening wear, just add a contemporary hair accessory like a silver clip or a flower!
Gorgeous natural glamor with brown lowlights for fine hair
Silky-soft fine or medium hair looks beautiful in tousled, loose curls draped over one shoulder. This is a lovely look for a bride, or any semi-formal special occasion. The subtle blend of brown shades in the waves creates 3-D color depth, without sacrificing the natural look of this romantic style!
‘Embroidered’ waterfall braid for girls
This 4-strand waterfall braid is perfect for girls who want to add some extra style to their long hair! The low-relief braiding creates a fashionably flat and wide pattern. A new twist comes from the line of hair running through the center which looks just like embroidered thread!
Some of these easy and pretty hairstyles are more difficult than others, but with the help of family or friends they’re all ideas you can copy at home. Why not throw a ‘hairstyling’ party and invite your friends for an evening of hairstyle experimentation that’s bound to be lots of fun! And you can find more brunette hairstyles on hairstylesweekly.com
