What hair colour is best for me? Choose by your colour season
The best hair colour for you repeats the temperature of your skin and keeps the contrast your face needs. Start with warm or cool, then decide how light and how soft the shade should be, and only then pick a shade name from a colour chart.
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Which hair colour suits me?
Warm undertones usually suit golden, honey, caramel, copper and chestnut shades; cool undertones suit ash, beige, pearl and cool brown shades. Light, soft colouring looks best with small steps away from your natural colour, while high-contrast colouring can carry deeper or clearer shades. Your colour season combines all three: Summer suits cool, soft blondes, Spring light golden tones, Autumn rich copper and chestnut, and Winter cool, deep browns.
Spring and Autumn: warm
Golden blonde, honey, strawberry blonde and caramel for Spring; copper, auburn, chestnut and golden brown for Autumn.
Summer: cool and soft
Ash blonde, beige blonde, pearl blonde and cool light brown. Brassy gold tends to fight a Summer complexion.
Winter: cool and deep
Cool dark brown, espresso and cool chestnut; lighter Winters can wear cool, clear blondes.
Three steps for a fair comparison
- 01
Look at your natural roots in daylight, without make-up. They show your starting point better than dyed lengths.
- 02
Hold a warm gold and a cool silver-grey fabric next to your hair and face. The side that makes the skin look calmer tells you the temperature to stay in.
- 03
Change by no more than two levels at first, and test the new tone with a toning gloss or a wig before a permanent colour.
Undertone, depth and contrast: the three questions
Temperature decides the family of shades: golden and copper for warm skin, ash and beige for cool skin, balanced tones such as neutral beige or soft chestnut for neutral skin.
Depth and contrast decide how far you can go. If your eyes and brows are light, a hair colour close to your natural level keeps the face in balance. Dark eyes and brows can carry deeper hair.
- Warm: golden blonde, honey, caramel, copper, auburn, chestnut.
- Cool: ash blonde, pearl blonde, beige blonde, cool brown, espresso.
- Neutral: neutral beige blonde, soft chestnut, mocha brown.
Talking to your colourist
Bring your colour season or palette, not just a photo. Ask for the level (how light) and the tone (golden, ash, beige, copper) separately, and ask how the colour will fade after a few weeks: warm colours often turn brassy, cool ones turn flat.
Highlights and balayage are a gentler way to test a new direction, because your natural colour stays near the roots.
Clarity before your next purchase
How do I know if I should go warm or cool?
Compare gold and silver, or cream and pure white, next to your face in daylight. If warm colours calm the skin, choose golden tones; if cool colours do, choose ash or beige.
Can I change my colour season by dyeing my hair?
No. Your season comes from your skin, eyes and natural colouring. A new hair colour can work with your season or against it, but it does not change it.
What hair colour makes you look younger?
Usually a shade close to your natural level in your own temperature, with soft dimension. Very dark, flat colour tends to emphasise shadows.
Can an app tell me which hair colour suits me?
The app analyses a daylight photo, places you in one of the 12 colour seasons and gives you a palette for clothes, make-up and hair colour. Use it as a starting point for the conversation with your colourist.
From an initial clue to personal colour analysis
Analyse your photo, receive a practical palette and use it when choosing clothes, hair colour and make-up.