How to Determine The Best Hair Color for You

What color should I dye my hair? Knowing how to determine the best hair color for yourself will help you achieve a look you’ll love. After all, more than an aesthetic choice, changing your hair color can refresh you mentally and emotionally.

However, dyeing your hair isn’t something you should do on a whim. Here’s everything you need to know about how to pick a hair color that compliments your skin, enhances your eyes and makes you look amazing.

How to Choose The Best Hair Color

Start With Your Skin Tone

Your skin tone has a major influence on what hair colors look best on you, so you first want to determine what type you have.

Also called your undertone, your skin tone is a bit different than your surface-level skin color. Your skin tone is the foundational color of your skin. It stays the same regardless of how tan or pale you may be throughout the seasons.

Skin tones are divided into three types:

• Warm Tones
• Cold Tones
• Neutral

Which type is yours? Here’s how to figure it out:

Warm Skin Tones

Those with warm skin tones typically have brown, black, or hazel eyes. Their natural hair color tends to be black, brown, red, or strawberry blonde. Warm skin tones have yellow undertones.

If you have a warm skin tone, you’ll look well-complimented by earth colors, including browns, creams, oranges, and yellows.

Cool Skin Tones

If you have cool tones, you’ll likely have light-colored blue, green, or grey eyes. Their hair is usually blonde, black, or brown. Their undertones are pink or red with a blue-ish tint. 

People with cool skin tones look best in blues, reds, and purples. They wear silver jewelry well.

Neutral Skin Tone

A neutral tone is the simplest and most versatile of the three types. It has no obvious pink, red, or yellow undertones. They typically look equally natural in any color.

If you have a neutral skin tone, the undertones of your skin basically match your visible skin color.

A Quick Way to Determine Your Skin Tone

Generally, people can determine their skin tone from the basic description of each. However, there’s also a nifty trick you can use to help. Flip your arm over and look at the veins in your wrist.

• If your veins are blue or purple, you have a cool skin tone.
• If they’re green or brown, your skin tone is warm.
• If your veins range from blue to green or appear olive, you have a neutral skin tone.

Using Skin Tone to Pick Hair Color

What’s the best hair color for my skin tone? Glad you asked. Here’s how to determine the best hair color for you using your skin tone.

If you have warm tones, choose;

• Dark browns
• Warm, rich browns
• Chestnut
• Golden blondes

You want hair dye with either a red, orange, or gold base. Also, avoid colors with a blue, violet, or ash base. It’ll wash out your skin color and likely leave you looking an unhealthy pale.

If you have cool skin tones, choose;

• Shiny blacks
• Cool blondes (from platinum all the way to white)
• Cool browns

Cool skin tones also lend themselves well to bold color choices such as cherry red, bright blue, and burgundy.

Avoid dyes with strong gold, yellow, red, or bronze tones. They’ll sap away your skin color and leave you looking washed out.

Match Your Hair Color to Your Skin Color

Along with your skin tone, you also need to consider your skin color or shade. There are three general categories:

• Pale
• Brown
• Dark

Your skin tone and skin color both contribute to what hair color will look best.

Pale Skin

If you have pale skin, you’ll typically look best in colors that complement cool skin tones. You can also go extremely dark black to create a contrasting look that is often quite striking.

Brown Skin

If you have brown skin, you can choose colors suitable for both warm and cool skin tones. Dark blondes, honey blondes, and golden browns typically bring out a glowing complexion. Just stay away from colors that match your skin color too closely, as it can dull your features.

Dark Skin

If you have dark skin, you should go at least two shades lighter or darker than your skin color. Any less, and you risk washing out your facial features, but two shades or more will create a dynamic contrast.

If you have dark skin and a cool skin tone, try dark, inky blacks. For those with a warm skin tone, go with richer colors like toffee and maple brown.

Match Your Hair Color to Your Eyes

Always consider your skin when selecting a hair color, as it has the most influence over your appearance. However, it’s also important not to forget about your eye color. 

Brown Eyes

If you have brown eyes, you’ll likely look best in colors for those with warm skin tones, so you want warm browns and honey blondes. Any colors with a tint of caramel or light auburn can help draw attention to your eyes and face. Be careful when going blonde, as brown eyes can make your hair look too light.

Colored Eyes

Green, hazel, blue, and grey eyes typically sparkle next to cooler hair colors, especially for those with cool skin tones. If you have green or blue eyes with brown skin, deeper brunette hues can help create a warm, attractive look.

Hair Color that Reflects Your Style

What is the best hair color for me? The answer depends on what look you want to achieve. Are you trying to enhance your existing appearance, or do you want to completely change up your look?

If you’re aiming for a total transformation, you want to always consider your skin tone, skin shade, and eye color when selecting a color. There’s always a way to create a bold look that accentuates your features instead of washing them out. For example, if you have warm-toned skin, dyeing your hair blue will likely make you look pale, so you might want to consider a warmer alternative.

Adding Highlights

The right highlights can add dimension to your hair and draw attention to your eyes, and you don’t need many to achieve great results.

If you have warm-toned skin, try browns and blondes with golden tones. They can add considerable depth. If you have dark skin and dark eyes, use milk chocolate or cognac highlights to create a look that’s natural with a stylish twist.

If you have pale skin and cool skin tones, honey blonde or wheat highlights add a complimentary brightness. Also, try peach or gold highlights, which can accentuate brown eyes well. For light blonde hair and blue eyes, platinum highlights can create a striking and attractive effect.

Final Thoughts

What color to dye my hair will look best with my skin tone and eye color? Now that you know the answer, you can wear the style you’ve always wanted.

It’s easy to learn how to determine the best hair color for you. Consider your skin tone, eye color, and skin shade – and decide if you want a natural look or something bolder. Changing your hair color is fun, easy, and can help you feel like a whole new you!