Published September 2026. Source: Naturyl Extensions order data, 12 months to 3 September 2026: 33,552 Face-Framing Layers orders (34,216 pieces), roughly 3,900 invisible wire orders and 3,458 colour tester orders, all UK customers.
Blonde is the most popular hair extension colour in the UK by a wide margin. In the last 12 months, 55% of the 34,216 face-framing pieces we sold were a blonde shade, 23% were brown, 13% were the in-between "bronde" and toffee shades, 5% black, 3% silver or grey and 1% copper. The single best-selling shade was Silver Blonde, an ash blonde with silvery lowlights, followed by Luscious Blonde and Mixed Blonde. Below is the full ranking, why the top shades win, how the picture changes for one-piece invisible wire extensions, and how to pick your own shade without guessing.
The 10 most popular hair extension shades in the UK
Share of 34,216 Face-Framing Layers pieces ordered, September 2025 to September 2026. Shade names are ours, but each is described so you can map it to any brand's chart.
| # | Shade | What it is | Share of orders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silver Blonde | Cool ash blonde with silvery lowlights; blends grey with highlights | 10.1% |
| 2 | Luscious Blonde | Rich all-over golden blonde | 7.8% |
| 3 | Mixed Blonde | Light and dark blonde strands woven together, for highlighted hair | 6.9% |
| 4 | Dark Brown | Deep natural dark brown, warm-neutral | 6.4% |
| 5 | Platinum Blonde Balayage | Platinum ends from a soft light-blonde root | 5.9% |
| 6 | Ivory | Creamy near-white blonde, no yellow | 5.2% |
| 7 | Summer Blonde | Beige-neutral blonde | 5.1% |
| 8 | Cool Brown | Neutral-to-cool dark brown, no red or gold | 4.8% |
| 9 | Coffee Biscuit | Warm dark-medium brown | 4.7% |
| 10 | Scandinavian Blonde | Light natural blonde with fine mixed tones | 4.4% |
Eight of the top ten are blondes. The two browns that make the list, Dark Brown and Cool Brown, are both on the cool or neutral side, which tells you something about the UK's most common natural hair colours.
By colour family
| Family | Shades included | Share of orders |
|---|---|---|
| Blonde | Silver, Luscious, Mixed, Platinum Balayage, Ivory, Summer, Scandinavian, Champagne, Honey, Teddy Bear, Soft Blonde | 54.9% |
| Brown | Dark Brown, Cool Brown, Coffee Biscuit, Dark Caramel Balayage, Medium Brown Balayage, Sandy Chocolate, Autumn | 23.2% |
| Bronde and toffee | Hot Toffee, Brown Soft Blended, Rooted Golden Brown, Natural Caramel, Sunkissed Brown | 13.4% |
| Black | Natural Black, Jet Black | 4.6% |
| Silver and grey | Mature Silver, Grey | 2.7% |
| Red | Copper | 1.1% |
Why blonde dominates, and why it's a cool blonde
Two things are going on. First, extensions are bought to add hair where hair is thinning or fine, and fine hair is far more common in natural blondes, so the customer base skews blonde before anyone chooses a shade. Second, most UK blondes are coloured blondes, and coloured blonde hair is rarely one flat tone. That's why the multi-tonal shades (Mixed Blonde, Platinum Blonde Balayage, Scandinavian Blonde) sit so high: a single-tone piece shows up as a stripe against foiled hair, while a mixed piece disappears into it.
Silver Blonde at number one is the most telling result in the data. It's an ash blonde with silvery lowlights, and it's the shade women choose when they're blending grey with highlights. Add the outright silver and grey shades and roughly one order in eight is a grey-blending purchase. That matches what our customers tell us in reviews: a large share of them are over 45 and dealing with hair thinning through menopause, which is exactly when grey and fine hair arrive together.
What brunettes choose
Brown buyers split on temperature, and it's the most common place people get their match wrong. Dark Brown and Cool Brown, both with no red or gold, outsell every warm brown. Coffee Biscuit, a warm milky brown, is the exception at number nine. If your hair looks warm in daylight, Coffee Biscuit or Sandy Chocolate will blend; if it looks ashy or "mushroom", Cool Brown will. Natural Black and Jet Black together take under 5%, and Copper barely 1%, which is why most brands carry one red and several blondes.
Don't guess your shade
Free colour match from a photo
Send one photo in natural light and we tell you the shade. Or order a £3 tester piece of any colour and hold it against your hair.
28 shades · Free colour exchanges if it isn't right · Rated 4.7 "Excellent" on Trustpilot
Get my colour match → Order a £3 testerThe ranking changes for one-piece invisible wire extensions
Face-framing pieces sit at the front, so buyers match the lightest part of their hair. A full-length invisible wire extension sits underneath the top layer and has to match the mid-lengths and ends. The top five wire shades over the same 12 months:
- Mixed Blonde, by a wide margin (more than double the next shade)
- Silver Blonde
- Cool Brown
- Luscious Blonde
- Coffee Biscuit
Mixed Blonde wins because a full-length piece under highlighted hair needs both tones present, and because a two-tone piece is forgiving: if your hair sits between two of our blondes, Mixed Blonde usually covers both. Cool Brown jumping to third confirms the cool-brunette pattern from the face-framing data.
Which length people buy
For the best-selling wire shade, Mixed Blonde, the length split was 12 inch 41%, 14 inch 19%, 16 inch 18%, 18 inch 12%, and the Lightweight 12 inch (45g, for fine hair) 11%. Over half of buyers choose a 12 inch piece. The reason shows up in the reviews: most customers want their own hair to look fuller and healthier, not obviously longer, and a 12 inch piece sits at the shoulders where it reads as your own hair on a good day.
How to choose your own shade
Tester orders tell us which shades people are torn between: Silver Blonde, Ivory, Mixed Blonde and Champagne Blonde are the four most-ordered testers, which means the light-blonde boundary is where most of the doubt sits. The four mistakes we see most often:
- Matching the roots instead of the mid-lengths. Extensions sit alongside your mid-lengths and ends. Match those, not the regrowth.
- Ignoring undertone. Two browns of the same depth can be warm or cool. Hold your hair next to something silver and something gold; whichever it flatters is your undertone.
- Judging under bathroom lights. Warm bulbs make everything look golden. Take your reference photo by a window in daylight, no flash.
- Going a shade lighter "for highlights". A piece lighter than your hair reads as a block, not a highlight. Match your hair; if you want lift, choose a multi-tonal shade.
Or skip all four: send a photo through our free colour match, and if the shade still isn't right when it arrives, exchanges are free.
Hair extension colour questions
What is the most popular hair extension colour in the UK?
Blonde. In our 12-month order data, 55% of pieces sold were a blonde shade, and the single most popular shade was Silver Blonde, an ash blonde with silvery lowlights that blends grey.
What colour hair extensions should I get?
The shade that matches your mid-lengths and ends in daylight, including undertone. If your hair is highlighted, choose a multi-tonal shade rather than a single colour. When in doubt, use a free photo colour match or a £3 tester piece.
Should hair extensions be lighter or darker than your hair?
Neither. They should match. A lighter piece shows as a stripe; a darker one looks like a shadow. If you want dimension, pick a shade that already contains light and dark strands.
Can I get hair extensions colour matched online for free?
Yes. Send a photo of your hair taken by a window in natural light, with no filter or flash, and we recommend a shade by return. The service is free and there is no obligation to buy.
Which hair extension colour is best for grey hair?
For hair that is mostly white or silver, Mature Silver or Ivory. For grey blended with blonde highlights, Silver Blonde, our best-selling shade for exactly that reason. For salt-and-pepper brown hair, Grey blended under a Cool Brown top layer.
