If you’re trying to pick out your hair color on a color chart, you’ll start with the depth and then get more specific.
This color is often described as “inky. ”
2- darkest brown 3- dark brown 4 - medium brown 5 - light brown
6 - dark blonde 7 - medium blonde 8 - light blonde 9 - very light blonde
Some hair charts go to 11 or 12, but they’re just moving closer and closer towards a white blonde color.
Most hair colors look like this: 4. 2. For example, if the primary tone is red and the neutral color is brown, the hair color is brown with a strong hint of red. Some tones will be signified by letters instead of numbers.
For example, a hair color with a primary and a secondary tone would look like: 4. 25. A hair color with 2 secondary tones looks like: 4. 253. For example, if the neutral hair color is brown, the primary tone is red, and the secondary tone is gold, the hair is brown with a strong red tone and gold undertones.
Some charts won’t use 0, and instead just leave the spot blank. In that case, you should assume there’s no tone.
Red tones like this will counteract any green tones in the hair. If the company uses letters instead of numbers, they’ll put “A” for ash.
Adding warm tones like 0. 3 and 0. 4 can help counteract purple or blue tones in the hair. If the chart uses letters instead of numbers, it will say “G” for gold and “C” for copper.
Red tones look great when mixed with light or dark brown hair. If the chart uses letters instead of numbers, it will say “V” for violet mahogany and “R” for ture red.
A khaki tone works well for counteracting orange tones in the hair. These light ash colors are useful when toning light blonde or very light blonde to counteract any yellow tones. If the chart uses letters instead of numbers, it will say “G” for green/khaki and “A” for ash.
Most hair can only lighten 4 to 5 levels of depth in one session. If you have dye on your hair, it may be harder to lighten it.
Remember, the depth doesn’t include any kind of tone, so you’re just picking out the neutral base color. If you don’t want to change your base color, you can skip ahead to looking at tones.
Champagne blonde (10. 8), strawberry blonde (9. 6), ash brown (5. 1), chocolate brown (4. 5), burgundy red (5. 6), and cherry red (4. 6) hair colors all look great with cool skin tones. If you have black hair or you’re going for black hair, you won’t be able to add many tones to it. Black itself is a cool tone, so it will counteract any warm tones automatically.
Golden blonde (9. 3), honey blonde (10. 3), mahogany brown (5. 5), chestnut brown (3. 6), copper red (5. 4), and ginger red (5. 6) all look great on people with cool skin tones. Dark hair doesn’t usually pick up tones well, so if you have dark brown or black hair, you may not be able to tone it much.
The base color that you’re going for may determine which tones you should choose. If you’re going light, try sticking with cool tones. If you’re staying dark, you can add in some warm ones.
