Sorry, blondes! Women with darker hair are judged more attractive and healthier-looking, study finds

Published: 10:44 EDT, 1 October 2026 | Updated: 11:30 EDT, 1 October 2026 For decades, blondes have been told they have more fun – but when it comes to attractiveness, brunettes may be getting the last laugh.A new study has found that a person's hair colour can influence how smooth and even their skin appears to other people.Researchers discovered that darker hair and high-contrast backgrounds, particularly black ones, made facial skin look more even and uniform.This, in turn, is strongly linked to judgements of attractiveness, health, youthfulness and even traits such as trustworthiness.‘In two experiments, we found that the same faces were rated as having more even skin when surrounded by a black background versus a skin-coloured background,’ the team, from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, wrote in the journal Perception.‘The same faces were rated as having more even skin when hair colour was decreased in lightness versus increased in lightness.’The researchers discovered that skin looked more even when the women had darker hair. Pictured: Emily Blunt with different hair styles Analysis revealed faces appeared ‘significantly’ more even when they were shown with the black backgroundFor the first part of the study, 61 participants were shown images of 45 women ranging in ages from 19 to 79.The faces were cropped so no hair could be seen, and were displayed on both a black and skin-coloured background.Analysis revealed faces appeared ‘significantly’ more even when they were shown with the black background.To confirm whether their results applied to hair colour, the team then carried out a similar experiment.This time, participants were shown pictures of women who had their hair both digitally lightened and darkened.They discovered that while it did not influence younger faces, older women with the darker hair scored higher on skin evenness.‘These results show that skin appearance is affected by contrast between the skin and surfaces that surround the face,’ the researchers wrote.They explained their findings suggest that simple styling choices, including hair colour, may have a subtle impact on how attractive and healthy a person appears to others.