Such specific searches are natural for anyone who is taking the first step towards changing his/her hair colour. However, your complexion isn’t enough to help you choose the right hair colour. Your skin’s undertone, the colour of your eyes, what tones your hair should reflect, as well as your hair colour goal are some of the other factors that need to be considered before you pick a shade from the hair colour chart.
In this post, you will learn:
- How to find out your skin’s undertone
- Which hair colours work best for cool, and warm undertones
- How to choose the best hair colour from the hair colour chart
- What tones to look out for in your hair colour
But before that, we need you to answer an important question.
What is Your Hair Colour Goal?Or simply, how exactly do you want to colour your hair? It could be any one of these reasons:
You want lighter hair
Lighter hair means bleaching, which further means possible hair damage. In this case, it’s crucial that you know the process of bleaching and how to care for your hair after the process.
Thinking of going blonde? Read and memorise our post on HAIR BLEACH: DO’S AND DON’TS.
You want darker hair
Given that most Indians have hair within the standard black to dark brown hair colour range, it is unlikely that you are, or will be, looking to darken your hair. Unless it has been coloured a light shade, in which case, you need to know the right time to re-colour your hair.
You want to enhance your natural hair colour
Natural or dyed, either way your hair colour is prone to fading and dullness. Going two shades lighter, or adding babylights (i.e. very soft highlights) are some ways to enhance your hair colour.
You want to cover grey hair
Gray hair can either be completely covered with a permanent hair dye to match the rest of your head, or it can be stained with a temporary hair dye, making them look like highlights against darker hair.
You want highlights only
Highlights are a great way to add depth and dimension to flat-looking hair. Lowlights in red, copper, and tortoise (a blend of gold and copper) work beautifully for black and dark brown hair colours. You could even get both — highlights and lowlights. Seek professional assistance from a stylist when picking shades from a hair colour chart for suitable colour palette.
Most people only describe their complexion in terms of its shade i.e. light, medium or dark. However, layers of skin hidden beneath the epidermis, give your complexion a ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ hue. There is a common misconception that light skin colours have cool undertones and dark complexioned persons have warm undertones. The truth is, all skin colours can have either a warm, cool or neutral tone.
Here are a few ways to identify your skin’s undertones. You might need a second opinion to help you judge.
Look at Your Skin
Examine your skin closely in a mirror, in a well-lit room. It would be better to this in natural light. Try looking for gold/ yellow or pink/blue tones. If your skin has yellow hues, you have a warm undertone. A pinkish hue would mean a cool undertone. If you can’t really tell, then you might have a neutral undertone.
Check Your Wrists
Take a close look at the colour of your veins. if your veins appear to be blue or purple, then you have a cool undertone. If your veins look green veins, you are warm-toned. If you cannot decide which colour is dominant, you may be neutral.
Wear Some Jewellery
Take your favourite piece of silver and gold jewellery and put it against your skin. If you look better in silver your skin colour is cool, and if you look better in gold jewellery, your skin colour is warm. If you look equally good in both, you may have neutral undertones.
Examine Your Eyes
If your iris has more blue and green specs in your eyes, your undertone is are cool, whereas more of brown or gold specks means your undertone is warm.
We won’t use the word complexion since it is easy to find the perfect shade for every skin colour in every hair colour tree. You need to choose a shade from the hair colour chart that will neutralise your undertone. So, if you are cool-toned, you need to find the warm-toned shade of your chosen hair colour. If you are neutral, you can choose any hair colour since both cool-toned and warm-toned shades will look great on you.
Best Hair Colour Shades for Warm and Cool Skin TonesBlonde Hair Colours
Cool blonde hair colours for warm skin tones: champagne blonde, bronde, strawberry blonde
Warm blonde hair colours for cool skin tones: golden blonde, honey blonde, caramel, honey blonde
Brown Hair Colours
Cool brown hair colours for warm skin tones: ash brown, chocolate brown, espresso, cool dark brown
Warm brown hair colours for cool skin tones: mahogany, chestnut, butterscotch brown, light golden brown
Red Hair Colours
Cool red hair colours for warm skin tones: burgundy, cherry, intense red
Warm red hair colours for cool skin tones: ginger, copper, auburn
A little something on hair tones
Yes, hair tones are distinct from skin undertones, and they play a minor role in determining whether or not your chosen shade will look good. Hair tones are the hints of colour visible in your hair when it catches the light. Tones, namely golden, auburn, red and smokey, add depth and dimension to your hair colour, besides giving the dye its warm and cool hues.
How to choose the right color from the hair color chart.
When looking for the right hair colour you need to find a shade that goes with your natural skin tone, brings out your best feature, and suits your personality. The determining factor in selecting a hair colour is your skin’s undertone, which we have talked about in great detail in the above.
Still, there is no such thing as enough good advice, especially when it comes to narrowing down a shade in the hair colour chart! Here are some more tips to help you choose well:
Check the Entire Colour Range
Hair colour choices are not as simple as black, brown or red as many people would like to believe. Within the blonde hair colour tree alone, you can choose from platinum blonde, light ash blonde, strawberry blonde, beige blonde, silver blonde, honey blonde, dirty blonde, and many more. If you are confused, you can consult a professional hair stylist to know the right shade for you.
Do you know the secret to make your hair colour last? We do! Read our post on TIPS TO MAKE HAIR COLOUR LAST LONGER.
Choose Your Style
Your choice between full-head colour or streaks, highlights or lowlights, ombre or balayage will also determine your final hair colour of choice. We recommend asking a professional hair stylist to pick a colour palette that compliments you.
Pick Permanent or Temporary Hair Colours
There are different types of hair colour treatments available in the market. If you only want to experiment with a colour for a few weeks, go for semi-permanent hair colours. But if you want to cover greys or maintain a hair colour for a long time, you need to go for a permanent hair colour. You will only have to get root touch-ups every few weeks to match your roots to the rest of your hair.
Final Words of AdviceLooking for some great hair color options? Check out the top 10 shades to try from SCHWARZKOPF, select browns from LÓRÉAL, choice naturals from GARNIER, and funky reds from REVLON.
Who doesn’t love makeovers? Unfortunately for us Indian women and our signature dark hair, going light is the only option we have. Which means we cannot avoid hair bleach and its damaging effects on our tresses.
Coloured hair needs large servings of love and care. Try these 5 HOMEMADE HAIR MASKS FOR COLOURED HAIR.
Since it takes a few sessions of colour treatment to go drastically lighter, you will also be spending more money to change your hair colour. Our word of advice is that to go with multiple sessions instead of trying to do everything in a single go. In a single seating, the colour applied to your hair will show off based on your natural hair colour. It will also cause immense hair damage. So, take it slow.