Deciding whether to go blonde, brunette, or red? The choice is tricky enough without considering the multitude of hues and tones that exist in each of those shades. On top of this, how do you know which colour will work best to compliment your skin tone? Well, our experts at Belle Amour are here to break it down for you!
Whatever hair colour you’re tempted to go for, by understanding subtle nuances in skin tone, you’ll be sure to find a hair colour that’s your perfect match. In our guide, we’ll touch on how to identify which hair colour suits your skin tone and which colouring services will deliver the best results.
How To Identify Your Skin Tone
The first step to finding the perfect colour is identifying your skin’s undertone. Most people will fall under one of three categories: warm, cool, or neutral. To help you find out which undertone best describes your skin, there are some things you can do or look out for:
Compare your skin to something neutral, like a white sheet of paper or by wearing a bright white t-shirt. If your face shows yellow hues, you are likely warm-toned. If your skin looks rosy, you may fall into the cool-toned category. If you cannot decipher a particular tone, this may place you as neutral-toned.
Tanning easily is an indication of a warm or neutral undertone.
The colour of your veins can determine your undertone. If the veins on your wrist appear green, you are warm-toned, if they are blue or purple, you are most likely cool-toned. Those unable to fall between blue and green can be classed with a neutral undertone.
Which Hair Colours Are Best for Your Skin Tone
As a rule of thumb, it is widely advised that cool hair colours like platinum and pastels are better suited to those with cool undertones like blue and green to their skin. While those with warmer undertones like yellow and red can take full advantage of golden, honey and caramel hair colours.
For those who cannot distinguish their undertone as green, blue, yellow, or red, you may fall under the camp of neutral. If your complexion is neutral, you’ll be free to choose between a mixture of warm and cool hair colours.
Selecting your hair colour based on your skin tone can accentuate your complexion and bring out the colour of your eyes. Although considering which hair colour suits your skin tone is important, sometimes picking the opposite tone can create a striking contrast. For example, fair skin with cool undertones looks incredible with a warm copper hair colour.
Let’s look at some examples to help you decide which colour to go for!
Fair Skin
Fair Skin With Warm Undertones
Warm blonde shades are beautifully suited to fair-skinned girls with warm undertones. Shades like gold, honey, and beige work well to brighten the skin and bring out rosy cheeks, as seen below.
Fair Skin With Cool Undertones
Ladies with fair skin and cool undertones can’t go wrong with lighter tones like platinum, greys, and pastels. These lighter shades are perfect for neutralising any redness in the skin.
In contrast, fair skin with cool undertones works fantastically with deep reds and purples by creating a flattering and alluring statement.
Fair Skin With Neutral Undertones
For fair skin with neutral undertones, strawberry blonde, copper, and amber counteract cool tones in paler skin.
Medium/Olive Skin
Medium/Olive Skin With Warm Tones
For those with medium and olive skin tones with warm undertones, honey brown and caramel highlights are a beautiful fit. These hair colours will compliment your tan and give your skin a bright and healthy appearance. To achieve honey or caramel highlights, we’d recommend balayage creative colouring as your stylist can tailor your colouring to your skin tone and texture.
Medium/Olive Skin With Cool Undertones
If you have a medium and olive skin tone with cool undertones, a dirty blonde or rich brown is a safe choice to bring out the best features of your face.
Medium/Olive Skin With Neutral Undertones
Medium or olive skin with cool undertones will look amazing with caramel, honey, and mahogany tones. Highlights or a balayage are also brilliant at achieving subtle shifts in tone within these shades.
Dark Skin
Dark Skin With Warm Undertones
There are many flattering hair colours for darker and richer skin tones. However, if you want to enhance a warm undertone, go for a golden balayage or ombre that is darker at the roots. This will look more natural next to your face while offering a striking change in colour towards the ends of your hair.
Dark Skin With Cool Undertones
While you may not think it, dark skin tones can have cool undertones. If this sounds like your skin type, stick to a shade similar to your natural colour or try a cool blue/black.
Dark Skin With Neutral Undertones
Dark skin with neutral undertones will usually suit cooler and warmer hair colours. With this skin tone, you have the freedom to experiment in a way that matches your personality. However, we would recommend staying close to your natural colour at the roots.
Colour Your Way To A Brand New Look
If you’ve decided to switch up the colour of your hair, our experienced stylists at Belle Amour can help you find a look that truly compliments your skin tone. We offer balayage creative colouring, highlights, hair tints and quasi colouring at our Bagshot salon to help you transform your look with ease and confidence.
To find out more about our full list of treatments, please get in touch. Our team would be happy to answer any questions you have and assess the health and condition of your hair.
