Undertones

Undertones are the natural nuances of color that peek through as you lighten your hair with permanent haircolor. Subtle golden to BOLD red tones-much like those left over after a summer in the sun-appear. Subtle or bold, undertones play a definitive role when coloring your hair.

Beautiful haircolors are created everyday by accentuating natural undertones. An example would be of someone whose natural undertones are red. A gorgeous red, auburn or even coppery red can result when your natural red undertones are used to their full advantage. And because you're accenting your red undertones-actually using them to their full advantage, your beautiful red hair color will stay "true" longer.

Trouble begins however because we as human beings always want that which we do not have. Those of us who have curly hair want straight hair, those of us who have red undertones want less or no red...yada, yada, yada...It's always a problem!

Just as natural hair contains undertones, so too does artificial haircolor. Identified by names such as sunny, golden, or on the other end of the spectrum, smokey, ash or natural, haircolor undertones exist as a means to either enhance or counteract (tone) your undertones. However, when you lighten your hair to a level that sharply contrasts with your hairs' natural undertones, brassiness occurs. (An understanding of levels and their corresponding undertones is very helpful here.) Also some hair simply contains such strong undertones that it's especially difficult (even impossible at the level to which you're lightening) to counter those tones. Often simply darkening your hair just one shade is enough to resolve your challenge.

Mixing haircolor gives you greater control to counter your undertones. Multi-tonal haircolor also is an excellent solution.