EXPERT TIPS
Find your perfect hair colour once and for all with our expert tips to determine which hair colour suits you best when choosing at-home hair dyes.
Quick, convenient and easy to fit around your schedule, dying your hair at home can be a great choice. The tricky part? Choosing the right colour!
Lost count of how much time you’ve spent browsing the 100s of shades on offer, only to end up disappointed? This guide is for you! With the help of our Schwarzkopf hair experts, we’ll be covering all there is to know about how to choose your perfect shade. Whether you’ve been rocking the iciest platinum or the deepest ebony, follow these tips to ensure you pick the most flattering, confidence-boosting shade time and time again.
One of the biggest factors that determines which hair colours suit you is your natural skin colour and undertone. Your undertone is the hue that sits below your skin, classified as cool, warm, neutral or olive.
Here’s a basic test to determine your undertone.
- Ensure you’re near a source of natural light, either by a window or outside. Artificial lighting can make your skin look warmer or cooler depending on the bulbs used, so is best avoided for this test.
- Look at your wrists. See mostly blue and/or purple? Your undertone is likely cool, whereas green indicates a warmer tone. See a mix of both? You’re probably more neutral. If you see a mix of predominantly blue and green, and can identify a greenish cast to your skin, you may be olive. Cooler skin tones may identify pinks and blues within their skin, whereas warm tones contain peaches, golds or yellows. Neutral tones will contain a mix.
As for which hair colours suit which skin tones? You guessed it! Cool undertones generally suit cool hair colours and warm undertones often suit warm colours. Neutrals and olives may be able to get away with either depending on other factors such as eye colour and natural hair colour. Which leads us on to…
Similar to skin tones, cooler eye colours such as greys and blues generally pair well with tones such as ashy browns and icy blondes. Green and hazel eyes tend to suit warmer shades like golden brown, caramel and auburn. Brown eyes are versatile and can be complemented by both cool and warm shades. You can choose to pick the complementary undertone for your eye colour or select a contrasting shade to create more striking definition.
Whether your vibe is natural or bright and bold, your natural hair colour should guide your shade choice.
Looking for a subtle shift? A colour that’s one or two shades lighter or deeper than your natural colour—with similar undertones—is best. Time for a change? Choosing colours more than a couple of shades lighter or darker will deliver more dramatic results.
Your natural hue doesn’t just affect which colours will suit you, but the results you’re likely to get too. If you’re opting for brights such as coppers, reds, pinks or purples, don’t just look at the colour on the front of the box and assume that’s what you’re going to get. A vivid copper hair dye applied on light blonde locks will look very different to one applied to deep brown.
As for extreme colour shifts—think midnight black to platinum blonde—these are best left in the hands of a professional.
Many hair dye packs will feature a handy colour chart to show you results on different bases. Can’t see your natural or current shade on the pack? Proceed with caution! This may not be a recommended shade for you.
When presented with so many hair dye options, it can be confusing to know which colour has the correct tone for you. Looking for a few keywords in the shade name can often help steer you in the right direction.
Searching for cool shades? Look for words like:
Ash
Ice
Cool
Platinum
Silver
Frost
For warm tones check out shade names including:
Caramel
Auburn
Warm
Golden
Copper
Bronze
Chestnut
Honey
Neutral tones are trickier but may include words like natural or beige.
Thinking like a hair pro can help you nail your shade selection. Some hair dye packs have numbers on (such as Schwarzkopf Brilliance) which once you understand, can guide you towards the perfect shade.
You’ll notice many numbers are formatted with an initial number, followed by a hyphen and an additional one or two numbers. For example, ‘5-77’. The first number (in this case, the 5) indicates the ‘level’. This refers to the base colour and is on a spectrum from 1–10, with 1 being the darkest (black) and 10 being the lightest (light blonde). The second number indicates the tone. This varies by brand, so never assume all dyes are the same.
When finding your perfect shade, the colour itself isn’t the only thing to consider. Ask yourself other questions, such as how much upkeep are you willing to do to maintain your new locks? Brunettes trying out lighter blondes will need to consider root touch-ups. Vivid shades tend to fade more quickly (we’re looking at you, reds!) so will need more regular maintenance. If you’re looking for a low-maintenance look, you’re probably better off sticking with shades closer to your natural hair colour.
Hopefully you now feel confident to find that elusive hair colour that makes you feel your very best self. Once you’ve used the tips above to work out which hair colours suit you best, why not try them on using our Find Your Color app? Try on colours in real time, no app download required!