Choosing The Right Hair Color For Your Skin Tone

Have you ever tried out a hair color and found it completely didn’t suit you after the stylist was done? The reason may lie in your skin. Beyond the basic choices of brown, blonde, red, or black, the infinite number of sub-colors and shades available can make picking a hair color from those tiny sample books next to impossible. If you like crazy or nontraditional colors, the choice becomes even harder. Just like choosing the right clothing colors, your hair color can drastically affect your looks and make your skin tone look vibrant or dull. Keep reading to learn how to assess your skin tone and find out exactly which hair colors will look best on you.

Figure Out Your Skintone

Before you test your skin’s undertones, make sure you’re using natural light, as artificial light can change how your skin looks depending on the slight color shift caused by different types of light bulbs. This guide gives several great options to determine your skin’s true undertone. For a quick check, we recommend flipping your palm face up and taking a look at the veins in your hand and wrist. If your veins have a blue or purple hue, then you have cool undertones. If the veins have a greenish cast, you have warm undertones. If you can’t really say that they favor one shade over the other, then you likely have neutral undertones. If you’ve got neutral undertones, congratulations — any of the colors we describe below should look great on you. If you’re cool or warm, keep reading to find out which shades work best for you, and why.

  • Ash Blonde

Ash-blonde, including shades like platinum, ice, silver, and champagne, look great on those who have cool skin with reddish undertones. The slightly blue cast in these blonde shades will counteract ruddiness in the skin. Celebrities who have rocked ash blonde correctly with their skin tone include Gwen Stefani and Taylor Swift. If you decide to go with one of these shades, make sure you use a purple shampoo and conditioner to keep the color from yellowing.

  • Warm Blonde

If you have fair, cool skin with blue undertones, go slightly warmer with your blonde by choosing gold, caramel, amber, honey, or butterscotch for your shade. A honey or caramel blonde is also a good choice for those with olive skin and neutral undertones or deep skin, as going too light or ashy with your blonde can wash out your face. If you have very warm undertones, you want to avoid warm blonde, as too much yellow can make you look sallow. Use toner frequently to avoid your color going brassy.

  • Cool Brown

Cool brown shades like chestnut, mocha, dark chocolate, and dark auburn go great with those who have skin with warm undertones. From fair to deep skin, if you’ve got yellow undertones, consider using cool brown hair color to brighten up your complexion.

  • Warm Brown

Pick a warm brown shade like golden brown, honey, amber, mahogany, or cinnamon if you have medium skin with warm undertones. When Emilia Clarke isn’t wearing her platinum wig as the Mother of Dragons on Game of Thrones, her favorite hair color is warm brown.