Add Some Color to Your Crown

For a new look, try adding some color to your hair. Changing your hair color will really alter your overall appearance, as your hair color sets the stage for your makeup and fashion decisions. With a multitude of colors and products to choose from, it’s important to decide what you want to end up with prior to starting out.

In order to choose the color that most suits your needs, you’ll need to understand how the coloring process works. Your new hair color will not be exactly like the color on the box or in the picture. Rather, it will be a mix of that color plus the hues of your natural hair. This is true whether you color your hair at home or have it done professionally at a salon. Many people are disappointed when the coloring process wraps up and their hair isn’t exactly what they thought it would be.

Determining the outcome
To prevent disappointment when it comes to home or professional color treatments, follow these simple steps:

• Examine the color on the front of the box, and take a close look at your natural hair color.
• On the back of the box find the shade selector chart and locate the color most like your natural hair color.
• Read the chart to determine what the resulting color will be when combining your natural color with the box color.
• If you can’t find the color you’re looking for, you can customize a color to suit your needs. Mixing colors that are not more than two shades lighter or darker from each other can create a unique look. Be careful to only use colors from the same product line.

If, for example, you had brown hair and wished to go blonde, you probably won’t have the bright blonde color pictured on the product box. Instead, you’re likely to end up with more of a light toffee or honey color. Reading the chart at the back will take most of the guesswork out of choosing the color.

Using natural tones
There are both depths and tones to hair color. Your natural depth is how dark or light your hair is. Brown hair isn’t just brown; it comes in shades of light, medium and dark brown. The product box will indicate which depth you can expect to achieve by using the product.

Tones are accent colors that appear in your hair: usually warm reds or golds, cool ashes or neutral shades. The tones and depth make your hair look alive and natural and prevent it from appearing flat and artificial.

In addition to what you’d like your hair to look like, you have to keep your skin and eye color in mind as well. It’s important that your hair color tones match your other natural coloring so they complement each other rather than form an unnatural contrast. Here’s a general guideline for tone matching:

• Brown hair and brown or hazel eyes are complemented by warm depths and reddish tones.
• Olive or brownish skin and green, grey or hazel eyes are complemented with ash or neutral tones and cool-colored depths.
• Fair skin with light hair and eyes benefits from neutral shades and cool depths.

Highlights
It’s also possible both at home and the salon to leave your natural color intact and simply add some highlights to add dimension to your hair. This process doesn’t provide the dramatic change of all-over color, but still accentuates your natural assets. The highlight color should be the same tone as your natural shade, but approximately two shades lighter to add subtle highlights.

To cover grey, consider choosing a shade that is one shade lighter than your natural hair. This will transform those annoying grey strands into beautiful highlights for the rest of your hair.

Changing the color of your hair can make you feel and look like a new person. But remembering how the color will work with your original coloring is critical in achieving the desired results. Colors that blend with your natural hair and skin tones will result in a look that’s both complementary and eye-catching.