You’ve been scrolling through celebrity photos for hours, wondering if brunette could be your next hair move. Maybe you’re tired of blonde upkeep, craving something richer for the cooler months, or simply ready for a change that feels grown up and polished. The problem is finding the right shade of brown that works with your skin tone, lifestyle, and personal style. Too dark feels severe, too warm looks brassy, and you need real inspiration from women who’ve made the blonde to brunette switch successfully.
This article walks you through five standout brunette celebrity transformations that prove going brown can be absolutely stunning. From Hailey Bieber’s glossy rich brunette to Dakota Johnson’s signature soft brown, you’ll see exactly how these stars switched things up and why their new shades work so well. Better yet, each look includes practical guidance on recreating these celebrity inspired colours at home with Smart Beauty’s vegan, plex enriched hair colour range. Whether you want chocolate brown, warm caramel tones, or a subtle highlighted finish, these five transformations offer genuine inspiration for your own brunette journey.
1. Smart Beauty DIY brunette transformation
Before you dive into the celebrity looks, you need to understand that achieving these brunette celebrity transformations at home is completely doable with the right products and approach. Smart Beauty offers vegan, plex enriched formulas that protect your hair while delivering professional results in your own bathroom. You skip the salon price tag but still get rich, glossy brunette shades that rival anything you’d pay hundreds for.
Why go brunette at home with Smart Beauty
Going brunette at home with Smart Beauty means you control the timing, the shade, and the investment. You save money on salon visits while using cruelty free formulas that are gentler on your hair than many professional products. The plex technology works during colouring to strengthen your strands, so you finish with healthier looking hair rather than damage. Smart Beauty’s range includes everything from warm chocolate browns to cool ash brunettes, giving you genuine choice without the commitment of a salon appointment you might regret.
"Professional quality brunette colour at home puts you in complete control of your transformation."
Who a Smart Beauty brunette suits best
Smart Beauty brunettes suit anyone ready for a change, whether you’re naturally blonde, previously highlighted, or already working with brown tones. These shades work particularly well if you want low maintenance colour that grows out gracefully or if you have sensitive skin that reacts to PPD, ammonia, or resorcinol. The formulas cater to different starting points, from light blonde hair needing multiple applications to dark blonde bases that take colour in one session.
How to pick your Smart Beauty brunette shade
Pick your Smart Beauty brunette shade by considering your natural colouring and the celebrity look you want to recreate. Warm skin tones suit chocolate browns and caramel brunettes, while cool undertones look stunning in ash browns or deeper espresso shades. Check the collections organised by your starting hair colour to find shades that will actually work with your base, then browse the trend inspired ranges that match the celebrity transformations you admire most.
2. Hailey Bieber rich brunette era
Hailey Bieber’s transformation from beachy blonde to rich brunette stands out as one of the most successful brunette celebrity transformations in recent years. You might remember her as a lifelong blonde, but her switch to deep brown proved that sometimes you need to try something completely different to discover what truly suits you. The glossy brunette shade she chose complements her warm skin tone perfectly and adds a sophistication that her blonde hair never quite achieved.
From beachy blonde to glossy brunette
Hailey spent years perfecting beachy blonde waves before making the dramatic switch to brunette. Her blonde phase featured highlights and sun kissed tones that looked beautiful but required constant maintenance and salon visits. The brunette transformation happened quite suddenly, with Hailey appearing at events with deep chocolate brown hair that shocked fans who’d only ever known her as blonde. This single process colour gave her a completely different look that felt more mature and polished than her previous blonde aesthetic.
Why this warm brown flatters Hailey
This warm brown shade flatters Hailey because it matches her natural colouring perfectly. Her brown eyes and warm complexion work beautifully with chocolate brunette tones, creating harmony between her hair, eyes, and skin. The rich brunette colour also adds depth and dimension to her face, making her features pop in a way that blonde hair couldn’t achieve.
"Warm brunette shades create natural harmony with brown eyes and warm skin tones."
How to recreate Hailey inspired brunette at home
Recreate Hailey’s brunette at home by choosing a warm chocolate brown from Smart Beauty’s collection. You want a shade that sits between medium and dark brown with warm undertones rather than cool ash tones. Apply the plex enriched formula to dry hair if you’re starting from blonde, working in sections to ensure even coverage. Leave the colour on for the full processing time to achieve that deep, glossy finish that made Hailey’s transformation so striking.
3. Kaia Gerber glossy chocolate brown
Kaia Gerber’s shift to glossy chocolate brown represents one of the most refined brunette celebrity transformations of 2024. You’ve probably seen her with lighter, highlighted hair throughout her modelling career, but her recent move to a single, rich brown tone shows how simplifying your colour can actually make more impact. The uniform chocolate shade gives her a polished, sophisticated look that photographs beautifully and requires far less maintenance than her previous highlighted style.
Kaia’s move from highlighted to all over brown
Kaia previously wore brunette hair lightened with blonde, honey, and caramel highlights that created dimension but also meant frequent salon touch ups. Her transformation to solid chocolate brown happened in June 2024, marking a clear shift toward simpler, more elegant styling. The single process colour eliminated the highlighted sections completely, giving her hair a glossy, healthy appearance that stands out precisely because it doesn’t try too hard.
What makes this chocolate shade so wearable
This chocolate shade works so well because it’s deep enough to flatter most skin tones without going too dark. The warm brown tone avoids the harshness that very dark brunette can create, making it suitable for everyday wear rather than just special occasions. You get richness and depth without the severity that jet black or very cool browns can bring.
"Medium chocolate brown delivers richness without the severity of darker shades."
How to copy Kaia’s chocolate brunette at home
Copy Kaia’s chocolate brunette by selecting a medium to dark warm brown from Smart Beauty’s range. You need a shade with warm undertones rather than ash or cool tones to recreate that glossy finish. Apply the plex enriched colour evenly through your hair, ensuring you work it through from roots to ends for that uniform, single tone effect that makes Kaia’s transformation so striking.
4. Rihanna brunette with soft highlights
Rihanna’s return to brunette in 2024 proves that even the boldest beauty transformations can be temporary when you find what truly works. You might have seen her expensive blonde phase for the Fenty Hair launch earlier in the year, but within months she switched back to brunette with chunky highlights and added a side fringe. This latest look shows how versatile brunette can be when you add strategic lightness through highlights rather than committing to solid colour.
Rihanna’s latest switch back to brunette
Rihanna’s latest switch brought her back to familiar territory after experimenting with blonde. The brunette base with highlights creates dimension that solid colour lacks, while the side fringe adds softness to frame her face. These chunky highlights sit throughout the brown base rather than concentrating at the ends, giving movement and depth that works beautifully with her skin tone and features.
"Strategic highlights through brunette hair create dimension without full blonde commitment."
How the cut and colour work together
The cut and colour work together by using the side fringe to showcase the highlights while the brunette base grounds the overall look. Your chunky lightened sections catch the light and draw attention to the fringe, creating interest without looking overly styled. This combination means you get the benefit of both dark and light tones working in harmony rather than competing.
How to get Rihanna inspired brunette at home
Get Rihanna’s highlighted brunette at home by starting with a medium brown base from Smart Beauty’s collection. Apply your base colour first, then use a lighter brown or caramel shade on select sections through the mid lengths and around the face. Space these highlights strategically rather than doing fine woven sections, creating those chunky pieces that give Rihanna’s look its character.
5. Dakota Johnson lived in brunette
Dakota Johnson’s brunette transformation stands out among all the brunette celebrity transformations precisely because she made it permanent. You might know her as the daughter and granddaughter of two very famous blondes, Melanie Griffith and Tippi Hedren, but Dakota chose brunette early in her career and never looked back. Her soft brown shade became so synonymous with her image that most people don’t even realise she wasn’t always brunette, proving how successfully she adopted this colour as her signature look.
How Dakota made brunette her signature
Dakota made brunette her signature by choosing it before her major film roles, particularly before playing Anastasia in Fifty Shades of Grey. Her character’s dark hair became iconic, cementing Dakota’s association with rich brown tones rather than the blonde hair of her famous family. This early commitment to brunette allowed her to build her entire public image around the shade, making it feel completely natural rather than a temporary experiment.
Why this soft brown suits so many people
This soft brown suits so many people because it sits in that perfect middle ground between light and dark. You get depth without severity, warmth without appearing brassy, and versatility across different skin tones. Medium brown like Dakota’s works beautifully whether you have warm or cool undertones, making it one of the safest choices if you’re unsure about going too dark.
"Medium brown delivers flattering depth that works across different skin tones and undertones."
How to recreate Dakota’s soft brunette at home
Recreate Dakota’s soft brunette by selecting a medium brown with neutral to warm undertones from Smart Beauty’s collection. Apply the plex enriched formula evenly through your hair, focusing on achieving that uniform colour rather than adding highlights or dimension. Process for the full recommended time to get that rich, lived in finish that makes Dakota’s brunette look so effortlessly polished.
Your brunette next step
These five brunette celebrity transformations show that going brown can be absolutely stunning when you choose the right shade for your colouring and lifestyle. You’ve seen how Hailey Bieber’s warm chocolate, Kaia Gerber’s glossy brown, and Dakota Johnson’s soft brunette each created signature looks that work beautifully in different ways. Whether you want rich, single process colour or brunette with strategic highlights like Rihanna, the right shade exists for your specific needs.
Your next step is choosing your shade and getting started with high quality, ethical products that deliver professional results. Browse Smart Beauty’s complete range of brunette shades to find your perfect match, from warm chocolates to cool ash browns. Every formula includes plex technology for hair protection, ensuring your transformation leaves you with healthy, glossy brunette hair rather than damage.