Hair Colour
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08.01.2025
10 Cherry Red Hair Colour Ideas for a Juicy Makeover
By: Zara Kenyon & Edward Sweeney
Because the best hair hues are food-inspired, you’re going to love this latest colour trend.
Introducing cherry red hair; the boldest, brightest way to work red locks this season. While sun-kissed coppers are perfect for anyone who wants to wear a beachier shade for summer, cherry red is made for the brave, whether they choose a cherry cola tint or a black cherry mane.Which cherry will you pick? Follow these tips to work the trend while it’s ripe...
How to Get Cherry Red Hair
The Wella Professionals colour portfolio offers endless ways to go cherry red. You have the intermixable, semi-permanent Color Fresh CREATE hair collection, the shine-boosting Koleston Perfect permanent hair colour range, and a whole host of low-commitment reds with demi-permanent hair colour, Color Touch. So, how do you choose the right formula? Here’s your need-to-know guide, whether you’re a colourist creating the look or you’re looking to try the trend yourself…
Color Fresh CREATE: There’s one true red – Next Red – in the Colour Fresh CREATE collection of shades, but endless ways to wear it, thanks to the broad spectrum of bold, mixable hues. Mix with Hyper Coral or Infinite Orange to make it fiery or add a small amount of Ultra Purple to deepen the cherry vibe. No shade is off-limits. Choose this formula if you want your colour to look pretty through the fading phase, as its fades true-to-tone, ensuring that cherry red never looks dull or washed-out.
Koleston Perfect: This is your permanent pick. Koleston Perfect is Wella’s purest colour ever, harnessing Pure Balance Technology for an even colour from roots to ends. Look to the Vibrant Reds palette to get that cherry colour flawless, with cool tones like 66/46 and 77/46 offering the juiciest tints. Color Touch: Consider this your low-commitment colour. If you or your client like to switch shades regularly, Color Touch lets you dip a toe into the cherry red pool. It’s a demi-permanent that delivers on multi-dimensional colour, giving you the pick of poppy, punchy reds and deep, delicious hues.
Cherry Red Hair Ideas
1. True Cherry Red
Keep it cool-toned for the truest cherry red shades, as demoed by Wella Colour Expert Criss Chiriac, who used our intense permanent hair colour, Koleston Perfect, for this radiant showstopper. When you crave pure, vibrant and long-lasting shades, Koleston is your go-to (or glow-to), delivering true-to-tone colour from root to up, plus – if you want it – up to 100% grey hair coverage.
2. Black Cherry Hair Colour
If deep, dark and dramatic is your style, try a black cherry hair colour. It's the dream for anyone with black hair who wants to play with twists of red, while still maintaining the depth of their glossy mane. We love this vibrant balayage, which was crafted using our demi-permanent colour, Color Touch. Shine is everything in this look, so if you're giving it a try, make sure you add a shine spray to your kit at home. EIMI Glam Mist ensures a mirror-like finish, while protecting hair from UV damage and frizz.
3. Dark Cherry Hair
Deep and bold at once, this dark cherry look sees true red hues intertwine with burgundy sweeps for a multi-tonal finish. It's hard to believe the base was a dark blonde hair colour; the vibrancy of Color Touch has transformed strands from root to tip. It's the perfect cherry for anyone who wants a red but longs for depth to help their skin glow. Plus, it teams like a dream with this year's glass hair trend, making hair oil – like Oil Reflections Luminous Smoothing Oil – your 2025 styling staple.
4. Cherry Cola Hair
Also known as cherry brown hair, cherry cola locks are deep with a subtle red twist, as if your dreamy dark hair shade has been laced in cherry syrup. Leave the hair roots brown and ask your colourist for balayage to nail this sweet soda-inspired look. The cherry tones will fizz through the brown base colour and catch the light in the prettiest way. To guarantee a glowy finish, request a clear SHINEFINITY Glaze to complete your colour service. This is the break-up hair colour of the year; a look that says, ‘watch me, I’m back’.
5. Cherry Burgundy Hair Colour
Combine two trends in one with a cherry-tinted, deep burgundy shade. Featuring hints of violet in the undertones, it's a punchy purple-red that packs a statement when worn all over. Plus, it's surprisingly easy to maintain. If you're worried about hair fading brassy in between salon appointments, you can refresh its tone with a for blondes, this correcting cleanser neutralizes excess warmth in 2-3 minutes. Simply massage it into wet hair, let it work its magic, and then rinse thoroughly.
6. Chocolate Cherry Hair Colour
Good news if you want a warm-toned cherry: it's 100% possible. Simply fuse the hue with chocolate brown for red-tinted radiance that gives your complexion a boost of luminosity. Also known as 'mob wife red', it's best paired with the bounciest of blow-dries. So, after achieving the shade in the salon, apply 1-2 palmfuls of INVIGO Volume Boost Uplifting to clean, damp hair, grab a round brush and bend hair up and out as you blow-dry for a gravity-defying mane.
7. Cherry Colour Melt
When multi-tonal is the aim, but you want highlights to appear seamless, try a Color Touch Melt This new Wella service is all about low-contrast, flawlessly melted hues. Case in point: this cherry colour melt, featuring not one, not two, but five head-turning Color Touch shades. They've been painted and blended for a juicy mane that gleams with health. Don't forget to make the Color Fresh Mask in Red part of your at-home hair care kit. Apply the tinted treatment to clean, damp hair after shampooing, let it develop for 10 minutes, and then rinse to reveal your refreshed colour.
8. Orange Cherry Red Hair Colour
Two fruits, one look. Combining zesty orange with a burst of cherry, these curls bring a whole new meaning to a fruity yet fiery red. If you want in, pre-lightening the hair first is necessary to ensure your pigment pops (unless you have very light hair). Ask your colourist to use BlondorPlex, our bond-strengthening hair lightener that reduces breakage by 97%*. Then, for truly glossy colour, request a SHINEFINITY Glaze. It's the same product used in this look, and as you'll see from those bouncy ringlets, it lends a high-on-shine finish. If you're blessed with curls, finish with NutriCurls Curlixir Balm. Finger coil it through clean, damp hair, then allow it to air-dry or use a diffuse for extra control.
9. Light Cherry Chocolate Hair Colour
If you love the auburn tones of cherry chocolate but want to take it lighter, we've got you. Combine with lustrous hints of copper and tousled waves for a soft and sweet take on the trend. Veering into more natural-looking territory, it's also a subtler way to go cherry red, giving your hair stylist extra room to tweak and tailor your shade to your skin tone.
10. Cherry Red Colour Block
When jaw-dropping hair is the name of the game, embrace colour blocking. This two-tone masterpiece sees mahogany roots pop against cherry lengths and ends for the best kind of colour clash. It's a work of art you can wear everywhere and proves endlessly striking. Just make sure you keep the shades vibrant with a colour-safe shampoo. Try INVIGO Brilliance Color Protection Shampoo to keep fading aggressors at bay.
How to Maintain Cherry Red Hair
1. Care for Colour-Treated Hair
If you're not yet using a colour-safe care line, now's the time to introduce one to your hair care routine. Not just any shampoo and conditioner will do; you need formulas that protect and enhance your salon shade. For a burst of shielding antioxidants and a boost of vibrant shine, include INVIGO Color Brilliance Color Protection Shampoo and Vibrant Color Conditioner in your regimen. This kind-to-hair pair is packed with Lime Caviar to nourish your strands, and both products are available in two intensities: one for fine to normal hair, and one for thick, coarse strands.
2. Wash with Lukewarm Water
Did you know? Hot water can cause your dream shade to fade and turn brassy, as it raises the hair cuticle; the layer that holds colour molecules in. For this reason, we always recommend washing coloured hair with lukewarm (never hot!) water. Then, after rinsing out your shampoo and intensive conditioner, you can blast clean strands with cool water for added shine.
3. Protect Against Heat and UV Rays
Few things fade your shade like excess heat and sun exposure, so if you want your cherry mane to stay juicy, these are the two aggressors to avoid. Thankfully, new-generation technology makes this ultra-easy. All you need is the ULTIMATE REPAIR Protective Leave-In, which protects your hair while heat styling and wards off the effects of UV damage. The delicate cream also tames frizz and reduces breakage, making it a daily must-have for the most radiant reds.
*When using Wellaplex N°2 with Blondorplex, versus Blondorplex alone.