Want 'cool chocolate' hair like Kim Kardashian West? Here's how – according to an expert

Kim Kardashian West has had a seasonal hair switch-up, with her new hue being unveiled by celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton on Instagram.

The A-list hair guru captioned the photo of his famous client: "Autumn hair colour Cool Chocolate brown" – adding an emoji of autumn leaves for good measure.

Inspired by the reality star's transformation? You're not the only one. "*Books an immediate hair appointment,*" one Instragram user commented beneath Appleton's photo, which has already garnered more than 92,000 likes.

So what does it take to get 'cool chocolate' locks?

Here, Tony Culver, colourist at Salon Sloane, gives his verdict on Kardashian West's new do, and breaks down everything you need to know if you want to get the look...

The colour is very on trend

"It's very nice isn't it?" says Culver. "If you look at the top area of hair, it's that lovely frosted colour and then the bottom is a lovely colour in its own right.

"It's very 'now'. It's what people want, that kind of suede-y, putty colour."

"When I started colouring hair 25 years ago, if people had brown hair and they wanted to tint it, they wanted it to look like it was coloured, there was a big move towards reds and burgundy hair," he adds. "Now, nobody would be seen dead in colours like that."

You'll need to go to a professional colourist

"I would do a baby balayage [to create this look]. So you pre-lighten some of the ends of the hair, as you can see on Kim's," Culver explains. "Balayage is when you freehand comb colour into hair, predominantly through the mid-lengths and ends.

"But not tons of balayage, just very, very gentle. And then you would tone it with some sort of suede-y, frosty brown.

"It's that perfect mix between cool and a little bit of the warmth of chocolate."

It suits natural brunettes best

"Brunettes, traditionally with modern hair dye, always 'wash up' warm, which most brunettes hate, they want it to be cool," says Culver, "so it would be geared towards people with brunette hair."

You'll need to be committed to upkeep

"It would need a lot of upkeep with toning because what happens with colour like that is, it 'washes up' warm, so it's a commitment to toning it every few weeks to keep the coolness in it," explains Culver.

"There are shampoos and conditioners that are geared towards that, that have violet undertones that can help keep the coolness of the colour."

It doesn't come cheap

"You definitely can't do this at home. It takes real expertise for this kind of brunette," he adds. "You would price it like a set of highlights, it takes the same amount of time, so depending on where you go, it could be anything from £150 to £400."