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Which Hair Colour for Which Skin Tone?

Picture of the new colour you want – check. Found a colour expert salon – check. Skin test sorted – check. Booked in with a skilled technician and ready to go – check. Now… is this the right colour for me and will it suit me?

Your hair is more often than not your crowning glory, and when it looks good, you feel good. With this in mind, it’s important to get the right colour for your skin tone – although this isn’t always that straight forward.

First off, let’s discover your skin tone…

We will talk of skin tones in seasons – winter, spring, summer and autumn. Which season you are depends on:

  • The undertone of your skin, hair and eyes
  • How light Vs deep your overall colouring and hair colour is

Spring

  • Skin – Cool with pink/yellow undertones. Cheeks turn peachy when you blush. Skin tone is light.
  • Hair – Light blonde to medium brown – ash tones.
  • Eyes – Clear blue, turquoise, green, hazel or light brown.

 

 

 

Summer

  • Skin – Warm undertones and low contrast between the hair and skin. Cheeks turn rosy when you blush.
  • Hair – Light blonde to medium brown – warm, golden undertones.
  • Eyes – Blue, green, grey-brown, brown or hazel.

 

 

 

Autumn

  • Skin – Warm with golden undertones. Rich overall colouring with low contrast between the skin, hair and eyes.
  • Hair – Mid-brown to black or medium to deep red – golden or red undertones.
  • Eyes – Hazel, medium to black-brown, olive or warm green.

 

 

 

Winter

  • Skin – Cool or olive undertones with high contrast between the skin, hair and eyes, or a deep colouring overall.
  • Hair – Ashy mid-brown or dark brown to black with cool undertones.
  • Eyes – Mid-brown to black-brown, grey-blue, clear blue and cool green.

 

 

Still baffled by your skin tone, answer these quick questions…

  1. Do you tan easily and rarely burn? If so, you lean to a warm or neutral undertone. If not, you lean more on the cool side.
  2. Do your veins appear blue or deep purple? If yes, you are in the cool end of the spectrum. If your veins appear green, then you are warm in tone. If you have an olive tone, then it will be hard to discern either colour.
  3. Do you look better in silver or gold? Cool undertones tend to pop more when wearing silver, whereas gold works better with warm.
  4. Do you look good against a white piece of paper? If your skin appears pink or rosy you’re cool. If you appear sallow and yellow then you’re warm. If you look grey then you are neutral.

Okay, hopefully now you have a good idea of your skin tone, so let’s move on to hair colour.

Cool Tones – Winter

  • Colours that suit: Jewel toned hair, really dark brown or black, solid jet black, white/platinum blonde, dark violet red.
  • Colours to avoid – Golden blonde, copper red and caramel and honey

Cool Tones – Spring

  • Colours that suit: Light, icy blonde, ash-blonde, platinum blonde and ash-brown
  • Colours to avoid: Orange and overly golden based colours, honey blonde and golden browns

Warm Tones – Autumn

  • Colours that suit: Rich auburn, copper or caramel, milk chocolate/chocolate brown, rich golden brown, warm beige blonde, honey blonde, golden blonde
  • Colours to avoid: Platinum blonde, ash-brown and colours with a blue, green or violet undertone

Warm Tones – Summer

  • Colours that suit: Rich, golden blonde, honey colours, light caramel brown, champagne blonde, toffee and butter/honey platinum
  • Colours to avoid: Ashy colours, nothing with blue or green bases and black

Remember your age!

Our skin tones can change as we age, and so it’s often a good idea to soften our hair colour as we get older. No matter whether your skin tone is cool or warm, being too blonde or too black can wash you out as you age. This is due to harsh contrasts highlighting lines, wrinkles and skin imperfections.

Embrace your personality

Above everything else, when it comes to hair colour make sure you embrace your personality with it and never be afraid to experiment. Although we have given you a guide here to skin tones and hair colours, there’s always an exception to the rules. So, if you have always dreamed of going a certain colour, then go for it!

Top image: F&M Hairdressing, Barrhead