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Although an artistic eye is helpful in choosing a hair color, that will compliment your natural coloring. If you practice common sense, your eye will spot a good hair color as well as a bad one. When we see someone with an unflattering hair color its like seeing a married couple who with one of the two 25 years younger than the other, you’re instantly alerts you that something is not right!

So, if you are planning to color your hair at home, I would suggest having a talk with your hair stylist on thoughts of what hair color they would suggest that would compliment your natural coloring. Then start with a temporary color, preferably one lighter than your own. (If you screw up, it will wash out quickest.)

The best way to make good hair color choices is to determine whether your own natural coloring, skin, eye and hair tones, are primarily in the warm or cool range of colors.

Answer this questionnaire:

My eyes are:

    
• Deep Brown or Black-Brown (c)
• Golden Brown (w)
• Gray Blue or Dark Blue (c)
• Green, Green Blue or Turquoise (w)
• Hazel with gold or brown flecks (w)
• Hazel with white, grey or blue flecks (c)

 

 

One note about this exercise; many women have a difficult time choosing between all the skin tones available. A good way of seeing this is to compare the color of your inside arm (from elbow down) to those of others. When you see your skin tone next to others it is easier to discern the pink, pale, olive etc. that are underlying. (Don’t forget you can ask your hair stylist or makeup artist this one too!) In my opinion, skin tone is the most important and the hardest to discern, so get an opinion from a good source.

My Skin is:

    
• Very Dark Brown (c)
• Brown with Pink Undertone (c)
• Brown with Golden Undertone (w)
• True Olive (c)
• Medium with faint pink cheeks (c)
• Medium with Golden Undertones (w)
• Medium with no color in cheeks (c)
• Pale with no color in cheeks (c)
• Pale with Pink Undertones (c)
• Pale with Peach or Gold Undertones (w)
• Freckled (w)
• Ruddy (w)
• Brown or Bronze when I tan (c)
• Golden Brown when I tan (w)

 

 

My Natural Hair is:

    
• Blue Black (c)
• Deepest Coffee Brown (c)
• Medium Ash Brown (c)
• Deep Brown with Gold or Red Highlights (w)
• Medium Golden Brown (w)
• Auburn (w)
• Red (w)
• Strawberry Blond (w)
• Dishwater Blond (c)
• Golden Blond (w)
• Very Pale White Blond (c)
• Salt and Pepper (c)
• White (c)
• Gray with a Yellow Cast (w)

 

 

So did you have more c’s for cool? Or more w’s for warm? You may well cross between some cools and warms. Which one is the most prominent? Your skin tone is the most important contributing factor here on what hair colors will work best for you.

As you can see from the pics at the top of this article Linda Evangelista is the queen of hair color changes and she wears them all beautifully. These shades of brown, red and blonde all fall in the cool category.

Take a look at your closet and see what kinds of colors are working best for you. Warms or cools? Cool colors include, deep jewel tones-burgundy, maroon-brown, raisin, eggplant, pink-browns. Warm colors include, bright reds and blues or earth tones like rust, olive, khaki and brown.

Hair colors in the cool category would include shades like: burgundy reds, blue reds, auburns with more brown than red, beige blondes and colors with ashy undertones to them. Warm hair colors include golden blondes, browns with golden undertones, and reds with golden undertones.

And then sometimes you have to break the rules . . . that depends on your individuality!

Nothing can lift your looks and your sprit like a new color for your hair.

Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the "Leave Your Comments" link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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