Question: In one of your posts, you talked about our coloring changing as we age. This is true for me, when considering covering my newly multiplying gray hairs I put some streaks in my hair but now even the streaks aren’t giving the blended coverage I was hoping for. so it is time to tint my hair. What considerations should I make in selecting a hair color, should I go a little warmer (some people suggest warmer colors are more flattering as we age), or stick to my natural color ( some people say to go lighter to soften your appearance). What tips can you give us?
Always Stick with Your Natural Undertone
Yes you’ll read that you should go warm with age, but if you have cool skin, don’t! I have no idea why that information is out there, but it really doesn’t work and can make you look pink and flushed.
Make sure whatever color you choose works with your undertone. If you have had a recent personal color analysis and have a color swatch, then make sure the color you’re proposing goes with it. If it doesn’t it won’t look good next to your face!
Lighten up
As hair greys and goes whiter, it’s lightening up, so rather than dying it really dark, which can look “witchy” and harsh, instead start lightening the color up.
Highlights work better on those with warm undertones.
Cools look better with a block cool color as it’s very hard to maintain cool highlights without them going brassy and warm. If you don’t want to block colour, then maybe it’s time to rock the silver!
Consider Your Eyebrows
If your eyebrows are still dark – then you’re most likely to still suit a darker hair color. You may want to lighten up your hair color a shade or two, but keep it darker.
If you have a warm undertone, you can start adding highlights to blend the gray away at any stage you like.
If you have a cool undertone, it’s very hard to dye hair that is less than 80% silver to a good cool light blonde.
If your eyebrows have faded, this could be a good indicator that it’s time to embrace the fair side.
Use Hair Colour Samples to See How they Look On Your Skin
Watch the demonstration in the video – it’s easy to see just what does and doesn’t look good on your skin, and it’s really important, as your hair surrounds your face, an unflattering color will either wash you out or make you look ruddy, or will just look like a bad wig. I’m sure you’re not keen on any of these outcomes.
Place the hair color swatches against your forehead and see if they look natural or unrelated to your face. You ideally don’t want a color that is the focus, but something that harmonises.
More Tips on Choosing Hair Colours
Tips for going grey
How to know if your hair color is wrong
How to decide if you should have block color or highlights
Choosing hair colours and hair styles
How to choose a flattering hair colour
You can read about my transformation from brunette to blonde part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4