Monday, January 2, 2012

Do You Need a New Look for a New Year? Try a New Hair Color!

If you're tempted to reinvent yourself this new year, you might find something as simple as changing your hairstyle and color can make all the difference in helping you turn heads.  However, if this is your first time at coloring your hair at home you may be confused as to what shade is best for you.  Therefore, I thought I'd share these few tips to help get you off to a beautiful start.

Hair coloring with the words "cool" or "ash" in the name is best for pale, rosy, or ebony skins.  People with blue or green eyes usually look great with this choice because this variety of coloring appears darker than the same counterpart shade. 

Boxes that have "warm" or "golden" in the titles are more flattering for olive or honey complexions.  One other way you can tell you'll have success with this shade is if you tan easily or have brown or hazel eyes.

To be on the safe side, you can always pick up a box of color that is neutral like a light brown.  This will have hightlights but not as much as a shade labeled "golden" or "warm."

Another thing is selecting a hair color box and think your own hair will turn out like that pictured on the model is unrealistic. That picture is hardly any clue to what that color will look like once applied to your own hair, which can be darker or lighter than the model's. 

I have dark brown hair and usually I wear medium golden brown or light brown.  For some reason, hair coloring in medium brown is what I found is the closest match for my original hair color. The medium golden brown has more warmth and golden highlights while the light brown on my dark hair turns out just a little lighter with highlights.  I switch basically between those two varieties. 

I did experiment with dark brown shades that looked like my own original color on the box and found hair color in this range is much darker than my own hair once it was on my head.  Although with some red or burgundies to brighten that darkness up, a dark brown was a nice change as well when I looking to make a more radical change. 

Unfortunately, I once selected a box of "ash" dark brown and made a major mistake.  Therefore, I warn you that if you never tried coloring your hair yet, then watch out for those shades labeled "cool" or "ash" because they are much darker than you may want on your head.  That dark ash brown that I picked up turned my hair almost coal-black and was noticed by my old neighbor who happened be nearly ninety with failing vision.  When this old man noticed I colored my hair and kept staring at my head, then I kept washing my hair with clarifying shampoos to help strip and hurried to redo it since it was giving me a complex.

After that bad episode, I steer clear from anything labeled "cool" or "ash" for my particular head.  Yet, those shades could look fantastic on you.  All I'm saying for the first time or two sticking nearer your own hair shade  within one or two shades of it and find your comfort zone first is a much safer route to go.  This way you won't be disappointed with those results and need to run for that clarifying shampoo like I did!