The best hair colours for your skin tone

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Ready for a colour revamp? Treating your locks to a professional “paint job” can truly transform your look, but it’s not quite as simple as picking out a pretty colour.

Just as wearing certain colours can flatter or fade out your complexion – so too does your hair colour. To establish what shades to embrace and which to avoid, you need to consider your skin tone.

Your skin tone – and its most complementary colours - is determined by melanin. This natural substance is responsible for your skin, hair and eye colour (based on the amount and type of melanin present).

Opting for hues that suit your skin tone will enhance your natural beauty, brightening your complexion and making your eyes pop. Colours that don’t work as well for you will tend to give your complexion a yellowy-sickly tinge or a washed out look.

So! First things first! You need to determine whether you have a cool or warm based skin tone (it’s best to opt for a colour that is the same base as your skin colour - be it cool or warm).

The tell-tail signs of a cool-based skin tone:

• Your eyes are most likely blue, grey, deep brown or greeny-blue with hints of grey


• You look healthier in pure white than you do cream or off-white


• You suit silver jewellery best


• The veins in your wrist have a blue tinge to them

The tell-tail signs of a warm-based skin tone

• Your eyes are most likely green, hazel, earthy or warm brown


• You look healthier in cream or off-white than you do white


• You suit gold jewellery best


• The veins in your wrist have a green tinge to them

The next step in choosing the most complementary shades for you is considering whether your skin tone is fair, medium to olive or dark.

Tips for the fair-skinned
If you have a warm-based skin tone, you’ll look positively glowing with strawberry blonde, honey blonde or butterscotch shades. Cool-based skin tones should opt for blue-based shades such as platinum or champagne blonde for a super stunning look. Fair-skinned maidens want to sidestep deep browns and black as they are too harsh. Likewise, avoid going too light as it can washout your complexion.

Tips for the medium-olive skinned
This skin-tone group has a wide range of colour options and benefit from golden, contrasting highlights. Warm-based skin tones are perfectly complemented by rich golden browns and earthy, copper shades. Cool-based ladies will shine with ashy, sandy blondes or warm browns such as cinnamon, walnut or auburn hues. Stay clear of red hues, as they can make your complexion look sickly.

Tips for the dark skinned
Creating contrast is the key for dark skin. Rich browns like caramel, maple and mahogany are winning hues for warm-based beauties. For the cool-toned ladies deep, dark shades such as an espresso brown or ink black are simply striking. Try to avoid shades that are more than a few tones lighter than your natural hair colour. Going too pale can lead to a brassy-looking colour that flattens your complexion.

For superb results, it’s best to select a colour that is no more than two shades lighter or darker than your natural colour. If you’re not sure of your natural colour, your eyebrows are a good guide - they match your skin tone perfectly. Feel free to talk with us about the best colour options for you – we’re more than happy to help!