What Hair Color Is Best For My Skin Tone?
Where do you get your hair color ideas? If it’s from what’s trending or which color your favorite celeb is currently wearing, you might want to consider another factor. Your skin tone color. That’s right, the color of your hair can make you look youthful, glamorous, and glowing (yay!) or dull, sick, and aged (not so yay). Follow along as we show you how to determine your skin tone, which hair colors to avoid, and the hair colors that will make you look incredible.
PERFECT HAIR COLOR IDEAS FOR YOUR SKIN TONE
You know how one person can look amazing with ash-blonde hair and someone else can look washed out and tired in the exact same hue? The difference is in their skin tone. If you’ve ever gone to your bestie’s stylist for the same color job and walked away not loving your new hue, this may be why.
The good news is there isn’t just one hair color that flatters your skin tone. You can choose from light hair colors, dark hair colors, and something in between. It just has to be a hue that suits your skin undertones.
What are skin undertones? Glad you asked because this is super important. Skin tones range from fair to dark. But undertones are the subtle shades within your skin tone that affect the overall hue. Skin undertones are cool (blue or green), warm (yellow, gold, or red), or neutral, and any skin tone can have any of the undertones.
The first step in choosing your most flattering hair color is identifying your skin's undertone. A simple rule of thumb is that the best hair colors for you are those that are opposite tones from your skin’s undertones. If you are unsure of your undertones, try our simple test below.
HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR SKIN UNDERTONE?
Start with clean skin that is free from makeup. If you’ve just washed your face, wait for 15 minutes for any pinkness to fade. Now, hold a piece of white paper next to your face while looking into a mirror.
Does your skin look yellowish or pale brown? This means you have warm undertones. If your skin looks pink, rosy, or bluish red you have cool undertones. Skin that looks gray is usually olive skin tone with a neutral undertone.
If you can’t identify any cast of yellow, olive, or pink you most likely have a neutral skin tone and (lucky you) can wear pretty much any hair color on the color spectrum. Hair colors that mix cool and warm hues are actually beautiful on this skin tone. Think Jennfier Aniston or Jennifer Lopez. When visiting your stylist, arrive armed with hair color ideas that include both warm and cool multidimensional looks.
If you still can’t tell what color undertones your skin has, take a close look at your eye color. Lighter-hued eyes usually mean cool undertones, while eyes with gold flecks often point to warm undertones.
THE BEST HAIR COLOR FOR SKIN TONE CHART
Unsure how to identify your skin tone as cool, warm, or neutral? Use the following skin tone chart to identify what undertones are most prominent in your skin color.
THE BEST HAIR COLOR FOR COOL SKIN TONE
Skin with cool undertones has a blue or greenish cast and looks best with warm toned hair colors. Amy Adams, Emma Stone, and Octavia Spencer have cool undertones.
DO: Adding depth and warmer toned hair colors will make skin appear glowy and vibrant. If you are going blonde, think honey, butterscotch, and golden blonde. Strawberry blonde is perfect for those with fair skin and cool undertones. Or add caramel or honey blonde highlights. For deeper hair colors, opt for beautiful rich chocolate brown or reddish brown.
DON’T: Skin with cool undertones does best to stay away from other cool toned colors, including icy blonde or ash brown which can make you look washed out and enhance dark circles.
WARM COLORS FOR COOL UNDERTONES: Golden blondes, strawberry blonde, rich browns, and honey highlights. Summer is the perfect time to go blonde. Make sure you prep your hair now for the perfect warm blonde highlights.
THE BEST HAIR COLOR FOR WARM SKIN TONE
Skin with warm undertones has yellow, golden, or red tones and looks best with cool skin tone hair colors. Katherine Heigl, Drew Barrymore, and Rihanna have warm undertones.
DO: When going blonde, platinum blonde and icy hues balance warmer skin tones. Ash blondes are perfect for this skin tone. Choose cool browns and reds for deeper hues. Chestnut, mocha, dark chocolate, and dark auburn are perfect. If you are going red, opt for burgundy or red violet.
DON’T: Warm, golden hair colors can make skin with warm undertones look red or pink. Steer clear of cooler toned hair colors, like warm browns, warm reds, and copper reds.
COOL COLORS FOR WARM UNDERTONES: Ash blondes, cool browns, and cool reds. If you go red, be sure to stock up on tips and products for maintainin your red hair color at home. Have fun choosing your hair color but stay within your ideal color scheme for most flattering results. For more on hair colors for your color tones, check out our @nataliepalominobeautypro reels skin tone series.
