HAIR COLOR TEST

Which Section Does Your Natural Hair Color Fall Into?

It may surprise you to see that hair color can be arranged in the same harmonic sequence of warm, cool and balanced colors. This orderly progression of hair-color demonstrates the underlying consistent order of human coloring. 

This test is simple and direct.  Hair colors are easier to see than skintone colors, so we begin etermining where your hair color falls on the oval hair chart. Your hair color is the biggest clue because we know it is the exact opposite undertone color from your skintone color. Identifying where your hair color falls on the hair chart gives you a visible primary basic color upon which to build your wardrobe.

Red, blonde and black hair categories are obvious and easy to spot. However, brown hair has to e looked at more closely — near the roots where the color has not been lightened or damaged by sunlight or permanents. This is the category that fools people and is responsible for most of the mistakes in color analysis. There is a BIG difference between ash or "blued" brown hair and warm "yellowed" brown hair:

If you are not sure, on the following two lists find a color that corresponds to your natural hair color. The colors that are marked with asterisks ( * ) are balanced colors and therefore are more difficult to place, but there is helpful information as you read further.

COOL HAIR COLORS

WARM HAIR COLORS

stark white blue gray platinum off white blonde pale yellow * flaxen * ash blonde honey blonde * pearl gray gray light taupe champagne * dishwater blonde mousy ash brown gray brown dark ash brown charcoal salt and pepper steel gray dark brown * charcoal brown blue black black

yellow gray cream * cornsilk yellow * golden blonde warm blonde corn yellow medium sand * camel beige golden chestnut warm beige gold strawberry blonde medium brown * rust copper redhead chestnut brown golden brown wine auburn dark wine red brown dark auburn dark warm brown *

Your hair is the "shortcut" way of testing for your colors and will give you a quick idea of nature's plans for your color scheme.  And it is easy to see......except:

• Except when your hair is an in-between color; these hair colors are marked with an asterisk because they are balanced and can be coaxed into appearing more warm or more cool by the Law of Attraction
• Or when the hair has been sun-bleached
• Or has become lightened because of permanents
• Or is very fine, therefore loosing color easily

Under these circumstances the hair should be more carefully examined for new hair close to the scalp. When color is removed from hair (for whatever reason), the hair pigment colors — blue melanin, red hemoglobin and yellow carotenoid — lift out in exactly that order: 

• the darkest color, blue, lifts out first which leaves the hair "redder" looking
• the next color to lift is red which leaves a "brassy" yellow
• then yellow lifts out leaving platinum as the very least and last "no color"
  

 

Interesting Note:  In Nature, as the black sky begins to lighten, blue is the first color to appear when dawn begins; as the white light of noon begins to darken toward evening, yellow is the first color to appear. The color red is what warms the light in mid-morning and mid-evening; again we see red sitting in a balanced position between the two extremes of cool blue and warm yellow.

 


RED     Hair Family          —     having the properties of adding medium value and                                                                warmth.

BLUE   Hair Family           —     having the properties of adding darkness and coolness. 

YELLOW  Hair Family        —     having the properties of adding lightness and                                                                       brightness.

  
                                                  
  RED HAIR FAMILY 

  

In hair color, it is the degree of red pigment showing that makes hair color warm. All hair colors carry some red tones, but if the hair has natural orangey-red tones then it is a warm color indicator; it suggests that warm colors are needed in the wardrobe to accentuate and add warmth to the person's colors.

Special Note Regarding Body Hair:  Because blue pigment lifts from the hair so readily, the emerging red often results in incorrect conclusions regarding the amount of warmth required in a person's color scheme. This should be carefully studied. One sure-fire method of double-checking to see if red is naturally present in the hair, is to compare the color with body hair. If the pubic hair is redder than the hair on your head, then you know that your colors can also be warmed; if it is lighter than the hair on your head, then you know that your colors can extend into a lighter range; if it is darker than the hair on your head, your color range will include darker shades. This always holds true when checked and is an indication of your correct extended color range — darker, lighter, warmer or cooler.

  BLUE HAIR FAMILY   

  

It is recommended that you keep your hair color as natural as possible. To stay true to the natural, cool, blue-based family hair color, use an ash-brown rinse to compensate for loss of the dark blue tones. Since blue fades out first, it is necessary to add it back in order to balance the remaining orangey-red warm tones (blue and orange are complementary; green is complementary to red and will re-establish the natural cool base of the hair color.)

People with hair in this "blue" hair family gray into the most beautiful whites, even into startling snowy whites that are so striking on both men and women.

"Mousey", or rather taupe colored hair, grays into glistening crowning highlights. It is in this area that the "dishwater" or mousey-colored hair finally comes into its glory — its soft and naturally frosted effect becomes its owner's delight!

                                           
  YELLOW HAIR FAMILY  

In the lighter blonde ranges, the least degree of change in hair color can make a vast difference in the overall color scheme.  Keep in mind that yellow pigments brighten as well as lighten.
                       
Because the changes occur in such a subtle range, many women are unsure whether to bring out the warm gold or cool platinum tones in their hair. A common problem with blonde hair is the tendency for it to look too "brassy" or too cool and flat.  Solution: If your Homebase is in the lower half of the oval, then do not let your hair get too brassy looking; If your Homebase is on the top of the oval, then it will be easy for you to have warmer blonde tones in your hair (platinum will pull blue undertones forward in your skintone and not be flattering.)

If you were a towhead as a child, your skintones are on the warm side, no matter how fair you think your skin is. Your Homebase is Summer and you need cool colors

If your hair color is in the yellow, cornsilk, flaxen, honey, sand, light beige or camel range — then it is in-between warm and cool, and your skintone is also more balanced. When your hair is in this balanced category you will have to depend on the skintone and test whether your "Homebase" leans more toward the warm or cool side.

 

Hair color choices can be totally flattering if sound color-theory principles are followed. The basic question is, should a person's hair have warmer red tones added or cooler ash tones? And furthermore, would they look better with streaked or frosted hair or be better in full intense color? The characteristics of your Homebase category tells you exactly what colors and lines are the most flattering! These guidelines work every time because they are based on Universal laws of balance and harmony.

Ask these questions?????

Should my hair be Warmer? Cooler? Lighter? Darker? Full Colored?  Variegated? Streaked? Frosted?