How to match hair color with skin tone and obtain a perfectly natural yet fresh new look you’ll love? Ah, now that’s a great question to ask and having it answered will put you on a sure path to success! You see, matching hair color and skin tone should be one of your top priorities if you want that natural-looking color that accents all of your best features, enhancing your natural beauty and glow. And since I know that’s exactly what most girls want, here are a few tips on how to choose the right hair color:
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1. Get to Know Your Skin Tone
First of my tips on how to match hair color with skin tone is to really get to know your skin tone! It’s kind of like picking the perfect foundation or makeup – you can’t hope to get a natural look and enhance your lovely features if you don’t know anything about your skin type and skin tone. But, guess what? Learning the basic things about your skin tone isn’t hard at all! All you have to know is whether yours is cool or warm so take a look at the veins on your arms and you’ll know for sure – if they are green, you’re the warm type and if they are blue, your skin tone is cool.
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Understanding your skin tone involves more than just looking at your veins. Take into account how your skin reacts to the sun. Do you tan easily and rarely burn? That could indicate a warm skin tone. Conversely, if you burn quickly or turn pink before getting a tan, you likely have a cool skin tone. And let’s not forget the neutral undertone, which exhibits features of both and may not lean too yellow or too pink. Seasons can affect skin tone too, meaning you might want to opt for different hair color shades in winter than those you'd prefer in the sunny months.
2. Find Your Ideal Colors
Now that you know your skin tone it’s time to move on and determine which colors can do it justice! The rule here is pretty simple as well – bluish, ashy and icy tones look best on ladies with cool skin tones while bronzy, goldenish and reddish tones need to be the choice of ladies with warm undertones. Brunettes can go blond and blonds can turn into brunettes regardless of their skin tone – all you have to do is to choose the right hair color!
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Remember, neutrals can be your best friend, as they tend to flatter most skin tones. Women with a neutral skin undertone have the flexibility to drift between cool and warm color palettes. Want a dramatic transformation or a subtle enhancement? You can consider dyes with natural hues like rich chocolate, soft beige, or even an adventurous auburn. To pull off a truly harmonious look, pair the intensity of the color with your skin’s saturation. If you have a deep skin tone, saturated shades like a bold burgundy can be very complementary. Conversely, if you have a fair skin tone, stick with softer, less intense colors.
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3. Go Virtual
Using one of many hair makeover programs to make sure the process of matching hair color and skin tone has been a successful one is a safe, not to mention completely free option you can benefit from! Yes, I know… most of those hair templates to have a rather odd fit but I’m sure you’ll find at least one that looks decent enough to allow you to play with hair colors without being too distracted.
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Virtual makeover programs are a great way to experiment with different hair colors without the risk of damaging your hair. They are free to use and can be a great way to find the perfect hair color for your skin tone.
Most hair makeover programs allow you to upload a photo of yourself and then virtually try on different hair colors and styles. This way, you can see what looks best on you before committing to a real-life hair color.
You can also use the programs to find the perfect shade of hair color for your skin tone. Many programs have a feature that helps you match your skin tone to the right hair color. This feature can be especially helpful if you are unsure of what shade of hair color to choose.
When using a virtual makeover program, keep in mind that the results may not be exact. Hair texture, lighting, and the size of the photo can all affect the accuracy of the results. It is also important to remember that the colors you see on the screen may not be the same as the color you will get in real life.
4. Consult a Professional
A professional hair stylist can give you a lot of useful info on how to match hair color with skin tone and even suggest dyes or techniques that ought to bring you those great, natural results you seek. This is especially important if you’re looking for a drastic change so book yourself a consultation, ask every single thing you can’t figure out on your own and be open to suggestions.
5. Be Real about It
Always remember that you are the one who needs to choose the right color and don’t let the hair color choose you! I’m telling you this because I’ve made this mistake too, desperately wanting to go platinum, refusing to listen, refusing to see it ages me. A poorly chosen hair color will clash with your skin tone instead of enhancing it, it will make your skin dull and maybe even force you to wear more makeup than you would want.
6. Extremes Are Always a Risky Business
Matching hair color and skin tone is extremely hard if you’re determined to go to extremes and switch from, let’s say – light brown to jet black or very dark brown to platinum blonde. A classmate of mine has a cool skin tone and, theoretically, raven black should look good on her, yet she looks like a corpse and is desperate to grow it out and switch to something lighter. In case you’re worried this might happen to you as well, I’d advise you to try on a wig to see what it looks like. If you’re happy with it – great; if not, opt for something that takes less getting used to.
7. Don’t Rely on Images
And the last but not the least important of my tips on how to match hair color with skin tone is to pay attention to the writing on the package, not the actual image. Swatch book will help you determine whether your dye of choice has a golden, ashy or silvery shine but, again, there’s no guarantee your hair will look like that. The most accurate info about the color and undertones is written on the package so pay attention to that and never choose your dye based on the hair color of the lady decorating the box.
Want to pitch in with your tips on how to match hair color with skin tone? Then, please, do so! Feel free to share anything that could help fellow readers choose the right hair color and get the look they’ve always wanted!
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Comments
Anonymous: I agree with the first commenter that many of these articles do not reflect African or any other ethnic groups that have the same beauty and makeup concerns.
Anonymous: It would be great if your site would include more articles on African American makeup products/colors and hair color as well. We come in different shades and cannot relate to many articles. The African American hair care articles are decent, but it would be appreciated if the site was a little more multi-ethnic friendly. Not just for African Americans, either.
Randi: What if most of my veins appear green but a few appear blue? Does that make me neutral?
Jelena: Thanks for the input, hun! I'll forward your suggestions to our beauty/makeup experts and come up with a few more hair-related ideas to make this section of our blog more diverse :) Thanks for visiting All Women Stalk!
Karson: Can olive skinned, brown eyed girls pull off blonde? I REALLY want to go blonde but I am afraid I'll look like Jessica Alba when she went blonde (not great).
Leslie: not all brunettes can go blonde
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