The most important thing to remember when choosing highlight colors is that they should complement your skin tone. To determine what shade of hair highlights suits you, use a virtual hair color try-on app like YouCam Makeup.
Generally, it’s best to keep your highlights two shades lighter than your base color, as anything darker can look harsh. But that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment!
Warm Tones
If your skin tone has warm yellow or golden undertones, choose hair highlight Palm Beach Gardens FL, that matches those tones for a balanced look. Highlights with a honey-wheat or ash color base highlight brown, blonde and red hair colors.
A good rule of thumb to remember is that cool colors pull pink and blue, while warm colors pull yellow and gold.
Another easy way to determine whether your skin is warm or cool is by looking at the veins inside your wrist. If they are blues and greens, you are likely a cool-toned person. If they are more yellows and oranges, you’re a warm-toned person.
You can also find your skin tone by examining your makeup, like blush, bronzer and lipstick. You can also visit a beauty store for a face scan that will tell you exactly your skin tone and undertones.
Cool Tones
A platinum blonde or bright blond shade may wash you out if you have cool skin. Instead, try dark ash brown or smoky brunette hair color to enhance your highlights.
Natural redheads with cool skin can go as light as strawberry blonde or coppery brown, but darker shades like maroons and burgundies are also flattering.
However, if you have a neutral skin tone, she suggests using rich chestnut or cinnamon shades to balance any warm undertones in your complexion.
Generally, cool tones are low-maintenance and don’t require touch-ups as often as warm ones, so they’re a great option for those with busy schedules. Just keep your hair shade within two shades lighter than your base color, or it will begin to look brassy and unnatural.
Natural Tones
Adding highlights can make your hair look fuller and vibrant. It is important to consider your skin tone and the color of your eyes when deciding what shade you want to use for your highlight.
If you have dark hair, light, unnatural colors can be difficult to achieve without much bleaching. This is because the pieces that will be highlighted need to be lightened first before they can be covered with a bright, vivid color. This requires a more intensive coloring process and can come with a higher price tag.
For example, toffee and caramel hair colors are a great choice for warm skin tones because they provide a golden glow for your face. Auburn shades also work well with warm tones, creating a sun-kissed appearance that is naturally radiant. Opt for a shade two shades lighter than your base color to avoid looking washed out. A few pops of brighter highlights are fine, but too many can cause a clashing effect.
Contrasting Tones
Some people like the look of contrasting colors, but they must be careful about what shades they choose. It is important to pick a shade that will complement your skin tone and not clash with it. Otherwise, your highlights will look unnatural and possibly even muddy or grey.
For example, blue and green colors can contrast beautifully with a warm brown shade, but they would not work well on someone with a cool skin tone.
To ensure you are doing everything correctly, try temporary hair dye on a small section of your hair before doing it permanently.
Keeping the hair color within two levels, lighter or darker than your natural color, is also a good idea.
Drastic changes can be more difficult to maintain and may cause your hair to break easily. Also, too many streaks of different colors can look stripey instead of a natural sun-kissed look.