Like an uninvited guest, undertones in hair quickly overstay their visit

In front of a mirror with good lighting, hold a piece of silver jewelry next to your face while your hair is covered with a white towel. Next, do the same with a piece of gold jewelry. Watch which tone of jewelry "accentuates" your face. Remember the objective is to draw attention to and brighten your eyes, your face, your complexion-the white towel gives a blank canvas on which to make that judgement . If you choose the gold jewelry, your skin tone will look best with warm hair colors- golds, coppers and reds. Conversely, if the silver jewelry makes your features "pop", your skin will look best in cool colors, ash tones, platinum/cool blondes. Keep reading to find out how to get salon beautiful home hair color that absolutely looks gorgeous on your particular complexion.

1) Determine your natural hair color shade. Remember, the darker your hair, the lower the number that most accurately portrays your natural hair color.(The same is true of artificial hair color.The lower the number associated with the hair color, the darker the hair color. The higher its associated number, the greater it's lightening ability.) 

2) Beautiful reds, golden browns and blondes, as well as copper hair colors result from accenting warm undertones. Look again at the "Natural Hair Color Level System".  

Hair always lightens to "warm" tones.

Counteracting undertones requires a little more thought. Just as natural hair color has undertones, artificial hair colors have a "base" associated with them. Following are artificial hair colors bases and the tones they neutralize: It is the undertone of your final color that you must consider whether accenting or counteracting those undertones

"Ash" counters red. Red undertones appear as black to very dark brown ( levels 1,2 and 3) hair color is lightened. *** "Ash" is also a descriptive term used in all  shades (browns and blondes) of hair color because it is key phrase associated with being a  "brass eliminator".

"Smokey", "cool" and "beige" are blue based neutralizing hair colors that tone orange undertones. Orange comes forward in medium to light brown hair. As hair is lightened to a medium blonde, golden undertones appear. Gold, which is simply a less intense version of orange tone darker and medium blondes.  

"Platinum" hair color is violet based. As a neutralizing hair color, it is often misused. Violet is a combination of blue and red color. Home-and ocassionally professional colorists tend to choose violet based colors to counter gold tones in blonde hair. Because of the red pigment in violet based hair color, the gold undertones are enhanced, not neutralized. Violet-platinum counters yellow, not gold.

There are times when the undertone in your hair is simply too strong to counteract the shade that you are trying to achieve. At these times more advanced hair color techniques such as hi-lighting and multi-tonal hair color may be required. .

 

                                                 

These suggestions are only suggestions. The variations of hair color choices and results are, of course unlimited. Mixing your hair color allows more choices and creativity.  

Refrain from coloring your ends w/ this same formula. that you've just used on your new growth. to keep undertones better controlled.

There simply is no substitute for a strand test. The return on the few extra minutes it takes to do a strand test is priceless.