7 Steps to Image Transformation-Step 4 the right hair Colour
Choosing the right hair colour
A big part of your top to toe make over is getting the right colour hair, as in this wonderful stylist example here.
Hair colour is about as unique as eye colour but hair colour changes.
As we mature hair colour fades or darkens and just having a colour change can make all the difference to your Image. It can make you look younger, brighter and more attractive.
As a colour consultant, I would say that I’ve noticed most womens’ image improves simply by changing the colour of the hair.
I have also discovered that up to 90% of women need to make some changes, to enhance the colours that best suit them.
I’m often asked if our natural hair colour is the best colour to complement our seasonal colour palette.
Often that’s not always the case, and because hair colour changes with time, a few tweeks can be outstanding.
All hair in the cortex is warm.
Most women will colour their hair at some stage in their life.
It’s good to realise as you hit the hair with bleach to lighten or deposit colour, the hair will go through a process of becoming a much warmer shade. For example black will lighten to brown and then red, orange and yellow and then golden before going white.
In most cases to change your hair colour you will need to lighten to deposit the colour you want.
So here are my tips to change your hair colour.
Basically natural hair colours range from white to black.
There is blonde, red, toffee blonde and brown. So on a scale of 1-10, white being 1 and 10 being black where does your hair colour sit?
Do you want to go lighter or darker from that level?
Where you sit on the scale can be determined from your colour analysis.
The consultant will reckon the depth of your underskin tone and take your age into consideration, when they work out the depth of shades you can go up or down.
A few generic hair colour tips.
Always lighten black hair.
Black hair is very dark of course and too dark can be very harsh.
You’ll see that heaviness more on a mature skin.
So my tip here is to go as many shades lighter as you can without looking too washed out.
A few highlights may help, rather than damaging the hair too much.
Dark brown hair can go a few shades darker.
If you feel that your chocolate brown hair is getting a little dark you can lighten that down a few shades, or add some highlights. Or you can see just how blonde you can go according to your underskin tone. You can also opt for a rosey gold tone as in the first image above.
Natural toffee blonde hair will darken as you age and may need to be lightened a little or you can darken a little as well.
Blonde hair is the trickiest of all, because it darkens as we age, and not all blonde colours are optimal.
It’s best to get some great colour advice about the right depth and tone of blonde that suits you the most.
Here are just a few tones of blondes pictured below.
As you can see there are many variations and you’ll note there are a number of blonde shades that you’ll love and others you won’t.
My suggestion is if you’re not happy with your hair colour, speak to a colour specialist of your hairdresser and experiment with a few different shades, until you find some tones and depths you’re happy with.
For further information or a colour analysis contact Your Colours and style.
Five ways to know if you're wearing your Colours.
Getting your Colours right is just so important to your Ultimate Image so read today's blog with 5 ways to tell if you do have them right or not.
How to wear your neutrals
How to wear your neutrals
What is a neutral colour?
I would describe a neutral colour as one that is quite benign. One that's not screaming for attention, and one that's a base for all of your other amazing colours.
Not everyone feels good in a pink and green outfit for example but they may enjoy wearing perhaps a green top with a neutral like grey.
It's good to start your wardrobe with your neutrals then add your colour in next.
But are all neutrals created equal? Definitely not. Many stylists are firm about having a base of dark cool neutrals like black, pure white, greys and navy’s with a splash of brown thrown in. But those neutrals are only found in the Winter Palette. Black doesn't go with everything, as we've been led to believe. And Winter neutrals don't go with Summer, Spring or Autumn neutrals.
As a colour consultant of 20 years, I have found these ideas to be quiet damaging as a whole to the fashion industry. Using black as a style staple is not useful to your Image picture.
Here's an example of working with a warm Autumn neutral and Black a cool dominant neutral to create a mismatched look.
YOU NEED TO FIND YOUR COLOURS AND THEN WORK WITH THE NEUTRALS IN YOUR PALETTE ONLY
For a stylish, complete, co-ordinated wardrobe that suits you down to the ground, you need to work with YOUR neutrals only.
The reason being, neutrals from another palette will not look good on you, and also will not go with the other shades or neutrals in your palette.
THE NEUTRAL COLOUR PALETTES.
Some stylists categorize people as neutrals. But I like to call only colours neutral not people.
Every colour is either a Cool Deep or dominant colour,(Winter) a cool muted colour,(Summer) a deep warm colour (Autumn) or a warm bright colour (Spring)
That's it. Every colour on the planet will slot into one of four palettes only. And you will be one of the four palettes as well. No sub colours or flow people in my opinion. Some colours "flow"but not people.
THE COLOUR SWATCH BOOKS FOR THE FOUR SEASONS
Get your colours right. There is Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. What season are you and there is no need for any sub seasons.
You will have thousands of colours to choose from that will all look amazing on you.
So what are the four types of neutrals I’m speaking of?
Warm Deep or Autumn neutrals are lovely deep olive greens, rich creams, clays, golden browns, deep apricots, muddied burgundies and pumpkins to name a few as well as rich warm khakis and golds.
The bright Spring neutrals on the other hand are still warm but much lighter than their deep counterparts, so colours like light soft caramels, light creams, warm light browns, tans, peaches and apricots are part of the Spring neutrals.
Moving into the cooler palettes we have the boldness and clarity of the deep Winter colours, black, pure white, all greys, silvers, dark navys and deep deep browns.
Forget burgundy as some may include in the Winter palette. I reserve that for the muted cool neutrals of Summer. The denim which is a winter denim is dark navy blue.
Summer neutrals are cool and soft and muted. Ones like off whites, soft grey, cool taupes, cool beiges, light cool khakis, burgundy and maroons create a nice base and don’t forget your dusty navy’s. Please don’t forget light denim teams best with these colours.
With all this in mind you can see there is a plethora of colours, considered to be neutral.
So once you know your colours, you can stick to the neutrals within your season for best results. Ask your consultant how to incorporate these into your wardrobe.
It’s always best to get professional advice about your colours and be sure the colours actually “fit”with you.
If your not happy with your results after a colour analysis, my advice would be to get a 2nd and sometimes even a 3rd opinion until you get your colours right.
I have had so many clients over the years who have had their colours done incorrectly.
There is a mindfield of systems now so I hope you find a solution that’s right for you.
HOW TO TELL IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT COLOURS?
Here are a few checkpoints.
You'll look younger and more attractive in your colours
Your hair colour will compliment your colours
3. Your make up will blend into your skin and not sit on top
4. You will have 100’s and 100’s of colours to choose from
5. You will feel at peace in your colours
6. All the clothes in your wardrobe will coordinate
7. You will have heaps of outfits even if you have a small wardrobe (capsule)
8. You’ll always get compliments about what your wearing
9. You'll find it easier to accessorize and mix and match
You’ll look very stylish all the time.
For more information contact Your Colours and Style Sydney