Tips for Choosing the Right Hair Color

Warm tones? Cool tones? Blonde, brown, black, or red? How can you tell what color looks best on you? Read on for our top tips on choosing the right hair color!

1. It's all about the undertones: Have you ever noticed that certain colors don't look as good on you as others? Your skin's undertone has something to do with it. Most people fall into one of these three types:

   1. Cool: There are blue or pink hues in the skin

   2. Warm: Peachy, yellow, or golden hues

   3. Neutral: Your undertones are similar to your natural skin color, and you have both warm and cool tones

Check the veins in your wrist. If your veins look blue or purple, you're most likely cool toned. Green veins indicate a warm tone. If you see both, your skin tone is most likely neutral. You can also try on some jewelry--those with cool undertones usually look best in silver; warmer undertones look good in gold. If gold and silver look good against your skin, you've got neutral undertones.

Determining your undertones will help guide you to the hair color that will look best with your skin tone.

2. Built to last: This may be a no-brainer, but think about whether you want permanent, demi-permanent, semi-permanent, or temporary color. If you're coming to the salon to get your hair done, you'll likely want permanent.

   1. Permanent color: Permanent color penetrates deep into the hair shaft to alter your natural color, and will last for 4-8 weeks. Permanent color is good for covering gray or changing up your hair color significantly.

   2. Demi-permanent: Demi-permanent color deposits color without fully penetrating the hair shaft, so your results will last about 20-28 washes. They last longer than semi-permanent options and are good for enhancing your natural color, blending grays, or adding shine without a full commitment.

   3. Semi-permanent: This type of color coats the hair without peroxide or ammonia and lasts for about 6-12 washes. It's great for trying a new shade or refreshing a color that's faded.

   4. Temporary: Temporary hair color sits on the surface of the hair and washes out after one shampoo, and are found in chalks, sprays, and gels. They work best for special events or fun, short-term changes.

3. Levels and tones:

   1. Level refers to how dark or light you want your hair. Level 1 is the darkest black and level 10 is the lightest blonde. While you won't likely need to know or tell your stylist this info, they're using this information to determine how best to get you to the color you want. This information will help you know, in the back of your mind, what's required. For example, if you're a level 4 brunette and want to go to a level 8 blonde, you'll need significant lightening before your stylist can tone (color) the hair.

   2. Toning is where you take all that information about undertones from up above and put it together to choose the color that looks good with your skin tone. Warm tones will lean gold, copper, and red. Cool tones lean more violet, ashy, and blue. Neutral tones will have a balance of both. Choosing a color with the right undertone can neutralize unwanted undertones (too much warmth, for instance), or add some much-needed warmth or coolness to your tone.

4. Choose your style: Do you want highlights, full cover, lowlights, balayage, or color correction?

   1. Single-process color: This is what you think of when you want color to cover your whole head in one step. It's good for covering grays or when you want to make a dramatic change.

   2. Highlights and lowlights: Highlights lighten sections of the hair to add dimension, while lowlights add depth through darker tones.

   3. Balayage and ombre: Hand-painted highlights create a natural, sun-kissed look. Ombre creates a gradual transition from darker roots to lighter ends, ideal for those who want low-maintenance outgrowth.

   4. Color correction: The nightmare when your hair color is all wrong! Color correction often involves multiple steps to get your hair back to where it needs to be.

5. Maintenance: Before you color your hair, think about how often you want to be coloring it. If your new color is significantly different from your roots, you'll likely need to color it every 4 weeks or so. Vivid fashion shades and reds often go dull and need to be refreshed frequently. Highlights and balayage can offer a nice change with a softer outgrowth option for less frequent maintenance.

6. Hair health: Something else to consider when choosing a hair color and maintenance style is the health of your hair. If it's damaged from too much color, heat styling, it may not be able to withstand aggressive coloring. You may need to visit a hair salon in order to find a more gentle solution and assist with getting your hair health back.

Whether you know exactly what color you want or need a little guidance, Salon Patrice is here to help! Give us a call at (815) 223-8643 or find all of our hair services here.