Mocha Brown Hair-Color Season Is Here—and It’s Universally Flattering

There’s something about this time of year that makes everybody want to go darker. From their nail polish to their wardrobe, it’s a turn toward rich, darker shades. So it’s only natural that hair color would follow suit, going deeper and darker too. This winter in particular, it’s all about mocha brown.

What is mocha brown hair?

Also called mocha chocolate, the rich, glossy shade was first popularized by celebrity colorist Jenna Perry, whose multidimensional brunette wizardry has fans like Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber. Since then, the smooth and chocolaty hue—which combines darker espresso tones with lighter, milkier brunette shades—has become popular with a much wider section of the A-list, with Hailey Bieber and Daisy Edgar-Jones among the latest devotees.

“It reminds me of a chocolate mousse or a rich chocolate cake,” Perry tells Vogue. “That’s where the name came from. I thought mocha chocolate resembled the decadence of this shade of brown.” In line with sweater weather, Perry has churned out individualized takes on what she calls the “universally flattering brunette hair color” for a slew of stars, including longtime client Emily Ratajkowski and Amelia Gray. “A deep, rich brunette is chic,” Perry says. “The color reflects warmly in the sun, so it doesn’t ever look drab.”

How do you achieve the mocha brown hair color?

According to Stephen Buller and Anita Rice, founders of Buller and Rice salon, these cacao tones feel luxurious for winter, particularly when the color isn’t completely flat. The key? Having a varied tone. “This is important throughout the lengths and ends so it reflects light and feels expensive rather than looking like one solid block of dark color,” they say. “This also gives clients who have had years of balayage an opportunity to go darker without feeling as though they’re simply covering everything up.”