35 per cent of Germans like brown hair best on themselves, closely followed by the hair colour blonde with 32 per cent. These preferences were revealed in a survey commissioned by the German Personal Care and Detergent Industry Association (IKW). The hair colours black and grey (twelve percent each) and red (nine percent) follow at a considerable distance. The survey was conducted by the Cologne-based market research agency Lönneker & Imdahl Rheingold Salon in October 2024 among more than 1,000 men and women.

Men love blonde in women

The differences between the sexes are striking: While women are equally fond of the colours blonde and brown, only one in four men like blonde hair on themselves. 43 percent of men, however, prefer blonde on women. In general, however, the hair colour of other people does not seem to be so important to those surveyed. 37 per cent stated that they don't care about other people's hair colour. Among women, the figure is as high as 44 per cent. With increasing age, the hair colour of others becomes less and less important to people: Half of women over the age of 50 state that they have no favourite hair colour on others.

More than half of women colour their hair

However, women are rarely indifferent to their own hair colour. Only seven per cent said this. Accordingly, more than half of women also dye their hair: 53 per cent stated in the IKW survey that they currently have dyed hair, and among 16 to 39-year-old women the figure was as high as 60 per cent. Many women have even been colouring their hair for ten years or more. Only a third of women have never dyed their hair. However, the picture is very different for men: 96 per cent say that they still wear their natural hair colour. However, there are signs of a trend reversal. Among the younger survey participants, only 72 per cent said that they had never dyed their hair.

Source: IKW