Find the Right Hair Color for Your Skin Tone
By Carly Young, LifeScript Staff Writer
Friday, August 4, 2006
You may spend hours making sure that your outfit is perfectly coordinated, from your earrings to your blouse to your toenail polish. But have you ever given a second thought as to whether or not your hair color matches your skin tone? Whether you dye your hair at home or have it colored in a beauty salon, it’s essential that you find the right hair color to flatter your skin tone. The wrong hair color can make your complexion look washed out, sallow, drab, or muddy. But if you choose a shade that enhances your skin tone and coloring, you can rejuvenate your complexion, brighten up your best features and give your skin a healthy glow. All you have to do to find your perfect shade is pick up a mirror and examine your coloring…
The main trick to finding the right hair color is to complement, not match, your skin’s undertones. Here’s a crash course on the three basic shades of undertones:
If You Have Pink/Blue Undertones
Your shades: Intense browns, reds or blondes work well for the base color. Pick golden, ash or honey highlights for contrast.
If You Have Red Undertones
Your shades: Above all, avoid bright red tones. Don’t over-process your hair or go too blonde or too dark. Ask your hair colorist for a honey brown or a golden base color. Add caramel lowlights to give your hair a sun-kissed appearance and make your skin appear less red.
If You Have Yellow Undertones
Your shades: Avoid a yellow or golden hair color, which will give you a sallow skin tone. Instead, use a deep, rich base color like intense dark chocolate, chestnut, mahogany, or auburn. Ask your stylist for some highlights in shades of cinnamon, red, burgundy, or dark copper, which will help neutralize the yellow in your skin.
Determining your skin’s undertone will give you a basic guide on how to find the right hair color for your skin tone. But to get an even better idea, figure out if you have a warm or cool complexion. To really examine your coloring, put on a white tee shirt and stand in natural light. A good rule of thumb to follow is if your veins are blue, you’re most likely cool. If they’re more greenish, your skin tone is probably warm. Although it would make things easier if these categories were set in stone, many women don’t fall perfectly into one or the other. Women of mixed heritage in particular may find that they have both warm and cool tone qualities. To really nail down your skin type and find the right hair color to revive your complexion, you also need to determine if your coloring is light or medium to deep.
Cool Skin Tones
In General
Your skin tone: Pale with pink or no undertones; medium with pink or golden undertones; very dark brown; olive.
Your natural hair color is: Black, golden blonde or medium to dark brown.
Eyes: Deep brown, black-brown, blue, hazel, green, or bluish gray.
Best hair colors: Bluish-red shades like burgundy, ruby, cherry or garnet.
Light cool
Your skin tone: Rosy pink, pinkish-beige, pearl.
Your eyes: Grayish blue, grayish green, bluish-green, or light blue.
Find the right hair color: Lighten up. Shades of white blonde, platinum blonde or light brown will best flatter your complexion. Add highlights that are even lighter than your base color.
Your celebrity profile: Actress Naomi Watts has healthy, glowing rosy skin and gray-blue eyes.
Medium to deep cool
Your skin tone: Light to dark olive or dark brown to ebony.
Your eyes: Brown to black, deep blue, deep green, or greenish-blue.
Find the right hair color: Come to the dark side of the force and try deep colors like black or rich coffee brown. Jazz up your look with plum or burgundy highlights.
Your celebrity profile: Spanish actress Penelope Cruz has flawless olive skin and chocolate-colored eyes.
Warm Skin Tones
In General
Your skin tone: Pale with peach or gold undertones; brown with pink, copper or yellow undertones; dark brown to very dark brown.
Your natural hair color is: Red, deep brown, golden blonde, strawberry blonde, reddish or golden brown.
Eyes: Golden brown, brown, green, blue, turquoise, or hazel.
Best hair colors: Red hair color with a hint of cinnamon, ginger, russet, or strawberry.
Light warm skin tones
Your skin tone: You have a classic ivory or “peaches and cream complexion†straight out of a romance novel.
Your eyes: Amber, green, brown, or hazel.
Find the right hair color: Try a warm, light hair shade. Strawberry blond, light brown with golden or red highlights or light golden blonde will all look beautiful on you.
Your celebrity profile: Instead of falling victim to the dangerous tanning craze, you’re proud of your ivory skin and fall into the same color category as actress Scarlett Johansson, who has beautiful porcelain skin and clear green eyes.
Medium to deep warm
Your skin tone: You have warm, yellow undertones and a sun-kissed golden brown or coppery complexion.
Your eyes: Chocolate, green, cinnamon, amber, or topaz.
Find the right hair color: Go deep! Think in terms of chocolate and espresso and try dark golden brown, chestnut, or copper for your base. If you want to add highlights, try red or burgundy.
Your celebrity profile: Sin City actress Jessica Alba has bronze, summery skin and eyes the color of coffee beans.
Once you figure out the best hair color for your complexion, check out our tips on how to make your hair color last. Now, if only you could find the right shoes to match your shirt!
, its lite, excellent coverage, blends like a charm, doesn't transfer on my clothes like MAC did, and it doesn't feel or look like you have makeup on. i give it an A+
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I usually stick to the bronze/reddish colors.
black on me, even though people always say that it's too dark for me, and it can make me look goth at times. They also say that I look like Snow White when I wear it down...and some of my friends call me "black head" too. It doesn't bother me any because I know (and they know) I still keep my hair looking good whether it's rollerset, bunned, or worn down 
