It may be tempting to save money by doing your own hair color at home for simpler treatments, even though you really should make an appointment with a stylist to get that completely new hair color you’ve been coveting.
With all of the Ombre, blonde, and grey hair color trends of recent years, it can be challenging to choose what hair color compliments your skin tone. Overwhelm is a common feeling. You can quickly discover that the selections are much, much more varied than just blonde or brown by taking a short look in the hair color aisle of any beauty supply
However, if you want to use color theory to complement your skin tone, it can be useful to know which shade of hair color to start with. This is because the old rules of beauty don’t really apply anymore (you can wear any hair color you like because it’s a free country and because hair coloring techniques have advanced significantly).
It just means that in order for it to look as amazing as it possibly can, you should choose the warmth or coolness of the color depending on your individual skin tone.
Deciding the right hair color in 6 easy steps
All traces of makeup that might be altering your skin’s natural colour must be fully removed in order to accurately identify your undertones.
1. Select a well-lit space
Before performing this test, choose a room with a large window or another source of natural light because the way that your skin appears under various forms of light (i.e., the dreadful experiences that we have all undoubtedly experienced in changing room fluorescents) varies significantly.
2. Test your shirt.
Looking in your closet is one of the simplest methods to determine your undertone. Think of your favourite shirt or blouse—the one you feel most confident wearing and the one that garners the most positive comments—Deb Rosenberg, creator of Color&Co Collective, tells Bustle. What shade of blue is that shirt?
You most likely have a warm skin tone if it’s yellow, orange, or peach. You most likely have a cool skin tone if it’s blue, green, or purple. Your skin tone is neutral if you appear stunning in both. Even if your favourite shirt isn’t immediately remembered (or if you typically wear black, grey, or white), you can still use the following theory:
Hold a garment in a bright colour of green or blue to your face while staring in a mirror in the aforementioned well-lit room, then remove it and hold up a separate shirt in a shade of red or yellow.
You probably have cool-toned skin if you believe the blue clothing makes your complexion appear better. If it contrasts better with the red shirt, you have skin with a warm tone.
3. Check your eyes and veins
Look at the veins in your wrist if you’re still unsure of your skin tone. “Flip your wrists over,” advises Chelsea Bulte, a colorist at the salon Nine Zero One, a favorite of celebrities. Do you notice veins with a greenish tint? As a result, your undertones are warmer. Your skin tone is more cool if you have blue or purple veins.
The flecks in your eyes should also be examined, says colorist Rachel Bodt of New York City, who has worked with stars like Andreja Pejic, Marisa Tomei, Justine Marjan, and Adesuwa Aighewi. Your undertones are likely warm if they are more golden or hazel. A combination denotes neutral, while blue and grey denote cool.
After you’ve resolved it for yourself, you may go to the enjoyable step of picking out a hair color. Rosenberg advises that in order to prevent seeming washed out, “you should make sure that the depth of the color is at least two shades darker or lighter than your skin,” regardless of your skin tone and the colour you’re attempting to obtain.
4. Warm Skin Tones
Warm hair colours also tend to look great with warm skin tones. Kitty Greller, a colorist at Bumble and bumble Midtown East, suggests “a blush-y, pinky blonde” if you’re trying to go lighter. Bodt concurs, stating that “golden beige” and “buttery blonde” are two of the best tones for someone with warm undertones. She cites Lucy Boynton and Sophie Turner as two examples of warm blondes in the public eye.
Warm-skinned individuals who wish to go brown “should go toward colours like caramel, butterscotch, or clove,” according to Rosenberg. Bodt mentions Jennifer Lopez, and Stephanie Finazzo, another colorist at Bumble and bumble Midtown East in NYC, believes Selena Gomez is a perfect example of a warm brunette. Reds are much the same: Greller and Bodt both advise experimenting with golden copper tones.
With warm-toned skin, Greller advises making lighter parts “blush-y blonde but not too golden,” like Gabrielle Union did in the past, if you want to experiment with highlights or ombre fading. For warm blondes, Bodt continues, “a wheat blonde [highlight] would be perfect.”
The same rules apply when experimenting with rainbow hues: all colorists advised using warm hues like coral, rose gold, apricot, and yellow. Rosenberg advises having warmer colours in the front of your hair to frame your face while experimenting with blues and greens in the rear.
5. Cool Skin Tones
All colorists recommended choosing warm hues like coral, rose gold, apricot, and yellow while playing with rainbow colours. Rosenberg suggests experimenting with blues and greens in the back of your hair while keeping warmer hues in the front to frame your face.
Dark chocolate and espresso, the brunette hues Rosenberg, Bodt, and Finazzo suggest for cool skin tones, sound delectable. Cool brunettes like Dakota Johnson and Duckie Thot are the epitome of this.
For reds, Rosenberg continues the allusions to
food: “Those with cold skin tones should pick for colours like merlot, burgundy, or light tints of mocha.” Christina Hendricks is singled out by Body as an example of a cool red hue, while Bulte says that Kidman occasionally sports the red.
Shades of blue (hello, Billie Eilish), green, and purple in the rainbow category will be the easiest for people with cool skin tones to pull off, though you can always experiment with cool reds and pinks as well.
6. Neutral Skin Tones
You might have neutral undertones if your veins resemble a blend of blue and green or if you believe your purple shirt looks just as beautiful as your orange one.
The majority of colour experts Bustle spoke to concurred that neutrals offer the most versatility. According to Bodt, who cites Jessica Biel as an excellent example, “they can truly do [any style of blonde], from really cool platinum or pale beige blonde to a more golden blonde or amber blonde.”
With her mocha-colored hair, Angelina Jolie, according to Finazzo, is a neutral brunette. Another is Lupita Nyong’o, who looks stunning in both red and blue cosmetics in the image above. Redheads are so much fun, according to Rosenberg: “Redheads can run the spectrum from auburn or strawberry blonde to cabernet.” And naturally, this implies that you’ll be content with just about any rainbow effect.
All of these alleged regulations serve only as a starting point. The best thing about hair colour is that it is transient and quite simple to experiment with until you find your ideal shade, regardless of your undertone.
Summing up:
For example, blonde hair on dark skin is still something you can achieve. Finding a hair color that suits your undertone will instantly make you seem radiant, according to every stylist Bustle spoke to for this article.
These were a few fundamental pointers from hairdressers that can help you identify your precise shade and choose how to apply that to the hair color of your dreams, just in case your next major inquiry is, “Um, what is my skin tone?”
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