Does light or dark hair make you look younger?

There's no defined hair color that is more youthful. However, consider going for a more multi-dimensional hair color with lighter and darker pieces overall. Typically, a safe bet is to ask for balayage highlights that are around two shades lighter than your natural hue.

15 Hair Colors That Makes You Look Younger

Choppy Curly Bob — Photo: @leysahairandmakeup

When it comes to aging gracefully, there's no right or wrong answer, whether you prefer to keep it natural or go for a new look. On the latter, we're never too proud to turn down a little help. Just like applying daily sunscreen and nightly retinol serum, there are ways to tweak and style your hair to feel fresher than ever. Even the best of haircuts can be stifled by less-than-inspiring hair color, and choosing a new flattering shade can offer an instant dose of radiance and confidence.

No matter if you're sporting blonde, brown, red, or gray locks, consider reinvigorating your look with one of these 15 hair colors that'll make you feel (and look) years younger in an instant.

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Caramel

For brunettes, caramel highlights offer an easy way to add warmth and softness to facial features. Not only is it an update that's not overly extreme, but it can be made even more low maintenance by focusing solely on the ends and around the face.

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Bronde

With its darker base and warm blond highlights, bronde is great for any age, because it perfectly toes the line between blonde and brunette. You get the youthful glow of golden blonde without going too far outside of your natural base. Face-framing highlights are key to this fresh shade.

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Copper

It's hard not to feel a new fire for life when getting a dose of red hair color. Choose a shade that flatters your natural mane. For brunettes, a rich copper color makes for a unique and show-stopping choice.

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Golden Chocolate

We're pretty sure that coating any chocolate brown base with golden balayage might be the ticket to eternal youth. It creates a shade that will catch the sunlight like a blonde without having to stray from your brunette roots. Plus, framing the face with lighter golden pieces draws the focus away from any hollow areas, especially the cheeks.

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Champagne Blonde

This isn't your basic platinum blonde. This warmer, yellow-based blonde brings out the Goldilocks-esque tones of your natural hair shade for a brighter complexion overall. The smooth-as-butter color adds a young softness to the face as well, which perfectly counteracts the way that aging can cause loss of natural fullness and fat in facial features.

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Cool Gray

Embrace naturally graying hair by instead working with it, not against it. You can manipulate the tone of your gray hair using highlights, toners, and glosses. Ask for a bright cool-toned gray to neutralize any brassiness.

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Sun-Kissed Touches

Warm brown balayage is guaranteed to make any brunette look fresh and vibrant, every single season. Choose from chocolate brown to bright caramel. Balayage highlights over a medium brown base make for a perfect sun-kissed effect.

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Bright Scarlet

There's no time limit on go wild with color. Red will always feel playful and youthful, especially when paired with a personality-packed bob like this one. When going red, it's important to choose a tone and shade that you feel will flatter your skin tone.

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Chocolate Brown Babylights

A hair color change does not have to be drastic to make an impact. For dark brown or black hair colors, even asking for a slightly lighter shade from the middle to the ends will instantly rejuvenate your look.

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Honey Blonde

As we get older, skin and hair might lose some of its natural luster, so what better way to get it back than with golden honey balayage highlights? Adding this epic warmth to blonde hair will give your complexion a boosted glow, more shine, and incredible dimension.

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Soft Black

For those who gravitate towards inky black hues—or have a naturally deep black base color—it gets tricky as time goes on and can start looking a bit harsh. Instead, soften the shade into a muted black to create a healthier, shinier head of hair. The hair color sits just on the edge of the brown-black spectrum, and it's much more flattering than jet-black.

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Soft Tortoiseshell

When in doubt, go with multi-dimensional brown that uses balayage to create rich ribbons of color. Tortoiseshell uses chocolate browns, caramels, and warm gold together for a dynamic range of color, but keeping the look subtle and soft will avoid making it look overdone for any age.

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Silver

Hairstyles for Women Over 60 — Getty Images/Roy JAMES Shakespeare

Don't believe any misconceptions about gray or white hair. You can make the most of your natural hue by infusing it with highlights or a gloss to make it brighter.

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Strawberry Blonde

This bright blonde with hints of strawberry gives a bright option for blondes and redheads alike, especially those with cool skin tones that have naturally light, orange-red base tones. It's easy to maintain to boot. A gloss every six weeks or so will keep the reddish hues vivid and fresh.

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Auburn

A rich, red auburn will enhance brunettes and redheads alike and give the appearance of extra radiant skin by reflecting light around the face with its warm tint. The best thing about this deep red-brown is that it still has a kick of fiery vibrancy, no matter if you go subtle or ultra-bright.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does light or dark hair make you look younger?

There's no defined hair color that is more youthful. However, consider going for a more multi-dimensional hair color with lighter and darker pieces overall. Typically, a safe bet is to ask for balayage highlights that are around two shades lighter than your natural hue.