40 Best Red Highlights in 2025 for Brown, Blonde & Black Hair

Avery Hunt
Avery Hunt Hair Colorist

When you hear “red highlights,” you might think of bright fire engine red! But just wait until you see the variations of red highlights below. They can be bold and bright, fiery copper, wine-colored like burgundy, or soft shades of strawberry blonde highlights. Your colorist can place red highlights all through your hair or strategically enhance your haircut and face shape with red balayage, cherry red babylights, or piecey highlights. The red color highlight options are endless!

While some people might prefer a very warm-toned red hair color, others might benefit more from a red with a pink or purple tone. Shades like a red-violet or a red-brown are deeper in tone, making them great options if you want a hint of red in your hair but don’t want to go too crazy!

Photos
Edgy But Conservative Red hairstyle
Instagram @angiem_beauty

#1: Edgy Red Highlights on Dark Hair

Opt for a red hair color that’s edgy but cautious. Contradictory, right? The vibrant color gives you a bold and fearless feel, but it’s a little more conservative! Considering the ombre-style highlights don’t go directly to the root, this look is great because it lets you be expressive without going too crazy by going all-over red. One great thing about these highlights in red hair is that they don’t come directly from the root. They are softer, more natural-looking, and easier to maintain.

Romantic Red Highlights for dark hair
Instagram @ongiga4__

#2: Romantic Red Highlights

Opt for a romantic red highlighted style. Try a seductive and edgy color choice for long hair. Ask your colorist for dimensional highlights and lowlights of dark brown or black with a bright red. You will do all-over highlighting first and then color melt or gloss a gorgeous vivid red.

Gorgeous Red Balayage Highlights for ladies with long wavy black hair
Instagram @ongiga4__

#3: Gorgeous Red Balayage Highlights

If you want a bright change, this gorgeous red balayage highlights may be the answer for you.

#4: Sleek Straight Dark with Highlights

Red streaks in your hair work great on any hair color, especially a dark one, as it brings your hair to life with its vibrancy.

Long Waves with a Reddish-Copper Money Piece Highlights
Instagram @deeprootsatx

#5: Long Waves with a Reddish-Copper Money Piece

Long waves with a reddish-copper money piece will make a statement. It’s a hair color and style that will look great for everyone. It would be best to be cautious not to lighten all of the ends of your hair. For example, darker colors on top throughout your ends will make your hair look more natural. This makes for a better grow-out, too. Not to mention, this will add depth and dimension to your hair color.

Stunning red highlights on dark brown hair
Instagram @badgal.beautyy

#6: Stunning Red Highlights on Dark Brown Hair

The bold, striking rich highlights on dark hair make your base stand out without effort and add dimension and movement to your hair, especially with those elegant curls at the ends. This medium-length cut will also be a great transition style if you’re going from long hair to short hair.

#7: Bright Highlights on Short Hair

Have fun under the sun with vibrant highlights on short hair, painted on a layered stacked wavy bob that helps make your colors stand out amazingly! Hair painting will help you bring out your inner fiery side!

#8: Sultry Red and Brown Highlights

Red and brown highlights are for you if you want to stand out and have fun with your hair. The color placement will grow out nicely and easily.

#9: Gorgeous Highlights on Brown Hair

This chocolate cherry look was a color correction. It can be recreated on most red-highlighted hair. The style includes a medium brown color for the shadow root and glazing for the rest, including the highlights, with a red violet. This highlighted effect can be worn spicy or subtle.

#10: Copper Red Highlights on Light Brown Hair

Opt for the chunking method because copper highlights on light brown hair come out best when you have medium golden brown hair as the base. Chunky copper red highlights blend nicely with your natural hair color, yet it creates the perfect pop of color for spring and summer!

Beautiful red highlights on curly brown hair
Instagram @samantha.emm

#11: Beautiful Red Highlights on Curly Hair

Check out this textured, tapered bob haircut, with lots of dimension from the highlights that complement the versatility of the styling. You will love the texture and movement.

#12: Subtle Highlights on Dirty Blonde Hair

This is a long layered haircut with blonde and red highlights added to create dimension and brightness.

#13: Modern Auburn Highlights

This auburn red hair is simple. The cut is forgiving, can be worn in any style, and is long enough to be pulled back. You will fall in love with the red tones in your highlights and how they come alive with your curls.

#14: Vibrant Short Brown Hair with Red Highlights

This is a red balayage, where some of the foils have been taken up quite close to the roots. It is strong yet softly blended. The foils accentuate the inner part of the haircut to create texture.

Vivid Red Balayage hairstyle
Instagram @jldoeshair

#15: Vivid Highlights

Consider a vivid red balayage because of how nicely it grows out with your natural root.

Wearable Red Bob with Red Highlights hairstyle
Instagram @kfisha

#16: Wearable Bob with Red Highlights

Choose these highlights and cut combo if you want red hair that is fierce and daring but still wearable.

Gorgeous Amber Tones hairstyle
Instagram @hairartbynaomi

#17: Gorgeous Amber Highlights

You will fall in love with these gorgeous amber tones. The best thing about this look is that there is so much dimension and depth to the strawberry red hair with blonde highlights.

#18: Reflective Highlights in Brown Hair

This hair color features some light reflective highlights on a brown base. It produces a sun-kissed red color highlights through the locks.

#19: Soft Copper-Red Highlights

This look and highlights is warm and inviting, adding a charming twist to the traditional all-over color. The soft balayage copperlights are the best part.

Trendy Mahogany Red Balayage hairstyle
Instagram @makenziejo92

#20: Trendy Mahogany Highlights

This is a great fall hair color, especially if you’re a woman over 40. It has a dark brown base with a blended mahogany red balayage. It combines the desire for warmer fall tones with the popular balayage technique!

#21: Soft Medium Brown Hair

These highlights and hair color were created as a transition out of a summer balayage, featuring multi-tonal red hair color with fall vibes. The color melt technique gives a ton of dimension, blending permanent root color through the mid-shaft with two demi-permanent glosses over the ends.

#22: Amazing Violet and Copper Highlights

Try a red violet and copper balayage with highlights. The hair color shows off the richness of the tones. Balayage like this is great for low-maintenance women and the “every six weeks” girl. Using a shadow root color close to your natural color allows you to wear this color a little longer if you choose.

#23: Intense Violet Red Highlights

This hair color features an intense violet red at the base and a lighter, more intense red to add pops along the part and around the face. The highlights and color have so many dimensions, and, in different lighting, it looks so completely different. Adding some dimension adds movement and shift to your hair, keeping it from looking so flat.

#24: Multi-Dimensional Red Highlights

This is a multi-dimensional red. Different tones of the red hair color highlights compliment the cut to create that perfectly tousled and lived-in look, yet it all still looks fresh and rich with added warmth.

Hottest Trendy Red Balayage hairstyle
Instagram @sarahzstylz

#25: Hottest Highlights in Dark Black Hair

This red balayage with loose waves is the hottest hair trend of today! The lived-in highlights on black hair enable you to have a fashionable hairstyle with low-maintenance upkeep. The shadowed root erases all harsh grow-out lines that you would have with traditional foil highlights.

Cool Girl Red hairstyle
Instagram @joeyhair_nyc

#26: Cool Red Highlights in Braids

Choose a very bright red line 6.66 and a red intensifier to get a very bright red on the balayage!

#27: Fiery Bright Highlights

This is a mix of balayage and ombre techniques. The color graduation goes from a warm brown to a fiery red.

#28: Golden Light Brown Hair With Strawberry Highlights

This look is vibrant and soft, featuring a high-luster copper base with accents of strawberry and gold. When highlighting red bases, it’s important not to “overlift” your highlights. You want to leave warmth to complement your base color.

#29: Autumn Highlights in Blonde Hair

This is an autumn melt. These highlights are full of dimension. Its many tones give it depth and make it look rich.

Dimensional Red Highlights
Instagram @nataliarok

#30: Dimensional Red Highlights

This is a dimensional red balayage done with a favorite hair color product among colorists, Olaplex. This dimensional look is vibrant in the sun, but it stays classic and elegant at night. To maintain this look, use Fire Opal Cooper + Ruby Red color wash shampoo Gem Lites for 10 minutes and conditioner every two weeks.

Yummy Dark Chocolate Cherry Melt
Instagram @stylingpretty

#31: Yummy Dark Chocolate Cherry Melt

Dark chocolate cherry melt gives black hair an incredible shine and a fun pop of color. It’s perfect for darker natural brunettes and can be lower maintenance if the shade resembles your natural base.

#32: Stylish Highlights in Brunette Hair

This is a dimensional balayage that features a blend of red hair highlights and brown color that produces a bright pop.

Dimensional Dark Plum Red hairstyle
Instagram @dezaraefortrue

#33: Dark Plum Highlights

This is a dimensional red hair color. A darker plum red faded into a lighter vibrant red on the ends. This type of red color looks great, mostly with tan skin. Ask your stylist to add copper to the formula if you have more fair skin.

Effortless Red Violet Highlights hairstyle
Instagram @kameestyle

#34: Effortless Red Violet Highlights

The base has a dark red/brown hair color with red violet highlights. The highlights create dimension and show off the texture of the haircut. Red violet hair color is perfect if you have a light to medium skin tone with pink undertones.

#35: Delicious Chocolate Hair with Highlights

This is a red balayage that is very dimensional, and its true colors will appear when your hair is waved.

#36: Sangria Highlights on Black Hair

This is a red sangria balayage! This deep-rooted red is the perfect color for fall. Everyone is jumping on the balayage trend, but adding a red tone is slightly different.

Deep Red Balayage hairstyle
Instagram hairbyrachelmae

#37: Deep Magenta Highlights

This is a rich red balayage with a dimension in the darker base and brightness pops.

Dimensional Deep Red Balayage hairstyle
Instagram @hopehairlove

#38: Dimensional Deep Red Hair Balayage

This look is a dimensional red balayage with big, soft curls. These are organically handpainted highlights with a deep red from base to ends. The highlights set the base for the red, allowing it to be brighter in some spots and darker in others to create a dimensional, color-melting, eye-catching color! It adds movement and pop to any color or style!

#39: Autumn Chic

Dark brown hair is a chic way of putting sass into your hairstyle. It has a pop of color but is still super professional and wearable! The dark natural color transitions into red.

Blended Red Caramel Balayage hairstyle
Instagram @shelbykay_91

#40: Blended Caramel Highlights

This brown color with red and blonde highlights makes a nice blended red caramel balayage. It’s a great way to add something different without fully committing to a new look.