Chocolate and caramel hair color? Yes please! Daniel M @danielmbeauty created this delicious confection using the new Redken Natural Chocolates collection.

Get ready for the year’s most delicious hair color. Chocolate hair color is trending and nobody is mad. Because truly, who doesn’t love chocolate?

So what exactly is chocolate hair color? According to Redken Ambassador Johnny Ramirez, @johnnyramirez, it’s a rich, balanced, neutral shade. Chocolate tones can be light or dark, blonde or brunette. “Think chocolate kisses, peanut butter cups, chocolate almonds, light chocolate melts,” he says.

“I’m loving the new chocolate browns,” says Johnny Ramirez, @johnnyramirez. Here, he used Redken Shades EQ Bonder Inside 04NCh Dark Chocolate from the Natural Chocolate collection to enrich and refresh this brunette shade. 

Up until now, achieving that perfect, neutral chocolate hue has required quite a bit of mixology. Pros usually head to the dispensary to combine cool and warm tones in order to come up with the most satisfying brown blend. But now there’s a new, candy-sweet collection of chocolate shades from Redken that get it right without mixing. The Natural Chocolate shades strike the perfect balance of cool, rich and balanced brown and blonde tones supported by ash and mahogany reflects. Each shade combines a calibrated ratio of blue to tone down brassy or yellow undertones; delicate red/violet mahogany tones for depth and richness without too much warmth and a brown to tan background for the most natural-looking blondes and brunettes.

“We’re going deep this season,” says Rachel Redd, @rachelredd, who created this dimensional brunette. “Give me all the chocolate!”

The Natural Chocolates are available in two sweet lines—Redken Cover Fusion and Redken Shades EQ Bonder Inside. In both formulations choose from:

• 4NCh/04NCh—Dark Chocolate

• 6NCh/06NCh—Ganache

• 7NCh/07NCh—Fondue

Redken Cover Fusion will create neutral, cool results with modern, multi-dimensional coverage. You’ll get 100 percent gray coverage on hair that is 50 percent or more gray. Cover Fusion is pre-blended and low in ammonia.

Shades EQ Bonder Inside Natural Chocolates are color matched to serve as refresh shades for Cover Fusion, as well as to lowlight and gloss. It’s an all-in-one toner and bonder that tones and repairs in one step, strengthening the hair fiber with a triple acid complex of Citric Acid, Taurine and Erythorbic Acid.

A Dark Chocolate Makeover

Recently, Redken Ambassador Matt Rez, @colorbymattrez, put Natural Chocolates to the test. “My client wanted a warm brown result that was richer than her existing color,” he says. “The Natural Chocolates were perfect. They are cool toned but contain mahogany to add a degree of warmth.”

To achieve the transformation, Rez first lifted the base with Redken Chromatics 50g 5NW + 10g 7C + 60g Chromatics 20-volume developer, processed for 40 mins and then pulled the formula through the mids and ends for a total of 50 minutes. After rinsing and shampooing, he glossed roots to tips with Redken Shades EQ Bonder Inside 2 oz 06NCH + 1 oz 04NCH plus a cap of Yellow Kicker. “I processed the gloss for 10 minutes to connect and correct her hair,” he says. “I’m very excited about the Natural Chocolates,” he adds. “They really give the most balanced color result.”

Craving something sweet for your neutral-loving clients? Learn more about the new Redken Natural Chocolates collection.