The 15 Best Hair Colors for Age Reversal for 2024

The best hair color for age reversal isn’t a single shade – it’s warm colors overall. See 15 soft shades that hit pause on aging and give you a youthful glow!

What’s the Best Hair Color for Age Reversal?

• Look for warm shades with gold, bronze, or copper undertones
• Soften and naturalize color with balayage, ombre, or fine highlights
• Avoid dark colors with high skin contrast that age your skin

Hunting for the best hair color for age reversal? Start with warm shades that feature gold, bronze, or copper undertones. Warm shades can be blonde, red, or brown – just make sure to choose colors with glowing undertones from the warm side of the color wheel. 

Cool colors can artificially age you and that’s not what we want. Since hair tends to naturally take on a cool tone with age (think gray, white, and silvery shades), going the opposite direction and embracing warm colors is the ultimate perk-up. 

Warm colors with gold, bronze, and copper undertones include gorgeous shades like honey and caramel blonde, light and medium golden brown, trendy bronze and bronde (brown/blonde shades), and light flaxen blonde. 

You can go for all-over color in these shades and it’ll look amazing. But for the most age-rewinding power, aim to soften your color and make it look a little more natural and lived-in. 

Take on a younger look with color techniques like balayage (hand-painted color), ombre (two-toned, gradient color), and fine highlights throughout the look or concentrated around the face. Even a subtle smudged root or luxe root melt can elevate a warm color and make it feel more youthful. 

These trendy methods make your color look less harsh and more natural with the added bonus of camouflaging root growth!  

Another thing to keep in mind is the overall contrast of your color. Your skin tone plays a major role in which colors will age you and which will restore that neotenous glow. 

A study in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science found that hair colors with low skin contrast (light skin with light hair, dark skin with dark hair) makes women look younger. High-contrast colors (light skin with dark hair, dark skin with light hair) made participants overestimate the age of women in the study. 

If you want the best hair color for age reversal, look for shades that are within the same range as your skin tone. That means fair/light skin tones will look younger as blondes, light browns, or light reds.

Medium skin tones should choose dark blondes, medium reds, and medium brown shades. Deep skin tones can rock darker shades that won’t contrast with the skin. If you want to rock blonde with deep skin, look for dark blonde shades and use them to accent a richer base color (not all-over). 

15 Best Hair Color for Age Reversal and an Instant Glow

Cher sang about turning back time, and these youth-boosting colors are exactly what you need to hit pause on aging! Forget cool-toned and dark colors that make fine lines and signs of aging stand out.

The best hair color for age reversal is any warm, dimensional shade that gives your skin an instant, youthful glow. See our favorites below! 

1. Sparkling Highlighted Strawberry Blonde 

You can see warm strawberry blonde as the lightest shade of copper or a dark shade of red-toned blonde. Either way, this bubbly color lifts and energizes you with a younger look that basically rewinds aging. We love it with light golden blonde highlights on long hair!  

2. Golden Blonde Ombre With Gray Blending

You’re not trying to hide your age – just enhance your youthfulness! A golden blonde ombre color is ideal for restoring that younger look. Gray blending at the roots offers a more natural look and won’t leave you with stark root growth. 

3. Gradient Golden to Strawberry Blonde With Smudged Roots

This is one of our favorite hair colors to fight aging because it’s got an internal glow that really softens and lifts your look. Light golden blonde with smudged roots smoothly transitions into a deeper strawberry blonde at the ends for gradient, gorgeous ombre color. 

4. Chocolate and Caramel Blonde Balayage

Not only does this color sound yummy, it’s one of the best hair colors for age fighting and instantly adds a pretty, warm glow to your look. Try this look on naturally dark hair by sweeping deep caramel blonde highlights up through the midshaft with some focal highlights around the face. 

5. Highlighted Golden Blonde With Chocolate Root Smudge

If you want the best hair color for age reversal and your skin tone is light, warm blonde shades can’t steer you wrong. Keep maintenance easy with a natural chocolate brown root smudge to make the color look a little lived-in. Add lighter golden blonde highlights for dimension and keep the main color a medium golden blonde. 

6. Bold Espresso to Light Copper Ombre

We’re big fans of unique ombre color combos, and this espresso/copper duo is easily one of our favorites to fight aging. A light-medium skin tone may look older with dark espresso tones all over, but soften it up with gradient light copper at the ends for a younger look. 

7. Dimensional Bronze Auburn Balayage

Balayage doesn’t have to be blonde. In fact, we love the subtlety of a bronze auburn tone swept up into medium chocolate brown base color for age-rewinding power. The sparkle of red elevates this color and keeps maintenance simple with no red to upkeep at the roots! 

8.  Blonde and Vibrant Dark Copper Highlights

Grays are unavoidable, but you can actually look younger by blending them into your color rather than attempting to cover it 100%. Tons of light blonde highlights will blend out gray naturally and keep your overall color light while dark copper ribbons perk up the look with unexpected vibrance. 

9. Highlighted Butterscotch Blonde With Smudged Roots

Dimensional, light, and vibrant, this bubbly color has rich butterscotch tones if you want a unique color that’s not your basic golden blonde. Reddish copper undertones warm up the color and make it feel young and effervescent for age-fighting power. A smudged root makes maintenance less of a headache! 

10. Dark Golden Blonde With Brown Root Melt

Naturally brown hair may look a little too high-contrast as you get older, so lighten it up with dark golden blonde for a warm, youthful glow. Maintenance is a breeze with an extended root melt bringing your naturally dark tones into the look! 

11. Lively Dimensional Bronde 

Is it dark blonde or light brown? We love the color-shifting nature of bronde – a perfect mix of brown and blonde shades. This warm color has rich golden undertones so it’s perfect to add a youthful glow to your strands! 

12. Medium Rich Copper

An easy way to look younger with color is opting for a rich shade that doesn’t create too much contrast with your skin tone. For fair and medium skin tones, glistening copper is a gorgeous choice that doesn’t need to be highlighted for incredible dimension. 

13. Face Framing Light Golden Brown

If you want less damage for your hair and brightness around the face, try light golden brown face-framing color! Keep the color off the roots for easier maintenance and bask in the glow of golden undertones with a lighter shade to look younger. 

14. Rooty Honey Blonde Highlights

Naturally dark hair can artificially age you as you get older, but brightening it up with off-root highlights will instantly reverse those effects. Try a warm honey blonde highlight that begins just off the root for a lived-in, natural look that doesn’t create too much contrast with darker skin tones. 

15. Bronze With Chocolate Root Melt

Bronze is a trendy color that gives strands a toasty, warm vibe and instantly makes you look younger. It’s dimensional with fine-woven highlights in dark golden blonde and a deeper chocolate root melt for easier maintenance. 

Things to Consider

Your hair color can make you look years younger or prematurely age you – it all depends on the shade you choose, your haircut, and the styles you wear. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you want your hair help you to turn back the clock! 

• Healthy hair always makes you appear younger. One study found that participants viewed women with healthy, undamaged hair to be younger than women with visible signs of damage – split ends, dry brittle strands, and frizz. Taking good care of your hair, getting regular trims, and using damage-nixing treatments weekly or biweekly can actually help you look younger! 
• Thicker hair will boost your youthful glow. The same study that found signs of hair damage make people assume a more advanced age also learned that the thicker your hair is, the younger people assume you are. People tend to judge hair thickness (density) in terms of scalp coverage. If your scalp is showing, your hair looks thinner. Taking a hair growth supplement like Folexin for at least 30 days will increase your hair’s density and scalp coverage for a younger look overall. In the meantime, root coverage products like BOLDIFY Root Touch Up Powder can help you hide thinning zones where the scalp shows through.  
• Don’t feel pressured to cut your hair. Studies show that age 46 is when most women undergo “the big chop” and go short for a more mature hairstyle. There are some short haircuts for older women that won’t prematurely age you, but for the most part, longer locks will help you attain that coveted youthful look. Let your hair grow out and get regular trims to knock off any dry, split ends for an overall healthy look. 
• Choose a color you can commit to maintaining. Blonde shades are some of the most flattering when you want to look younger, but they can also be very high maintenance. Root touch ups can quickly become expensive when you need them every month to 6 weeks! Opt for off-root color, balayage, or low-maintenance ombre color if you want to mess with your blonde color less. Slightly darker, richer shades like copper and light golden brown can deliver that youth-boosting glow without all the maintenance of blonde. 
• Make your color work with your skin tone. Warm shades are undeniably the best hair color for age reversal, but you can run into problems if you have a cool skin tone. Cool undertones (bluish or pinkish skin tint) can clash with warm hair colors, so soften up your warm shade with a cooler-toned highlight off the roots to make it more flattering for you. Champagne blonde, ash blonde, and light ash brown make gorgeous cool-toned highlight options. 

Not only is it essential to rock the best hair color for age reversal, but if you want the most flattering effect, you need to look at your hair’s health status, thickness, and length. Healthy, undamaged hair that is thicker (more dense) makes people assume you’re a few years younger than you really are! 

Paying attention to your shade’s maintenance needs and tweaking warm shades with cool highlights (if you have a cool undertone) are also key to achieve that youthful glow.

Don’t pick a pretty shade of light blonde if you’re naturally dark-haired and don’t want to get root touch-ups monthly! You’ll have better luck with a light golden brown and a few dark golden blonde highlights around the face. 

Instead, opt for shades from our list that appeal to you in terms of color and maintenance level. If your undertones are warm, any color from this guide will be stunning on you. If your undertones are cool, work in a cool-toned blonde or brown shade with balayage, ombre, or root melt color to make the shade flatter your skin. 

Your hair has a lot to do with how people perceive your age. You can wear your natural shade and age gracefully (always a stunning option)…or push pause on aging for a bit and rock the best hair color for age reversal. Whether you do it with a sassy little pixie cut or with flowing long hairstyles is up to you!