I want any of you who color their hair to understand that it just doesn’t take choosing a color from what you see on the box. It takes some calculations.
In this post, I will concentrate on your own NATURAL hair color. Not the color you wish to be, the color that is right now growing out of your scalp. That little area that is untouched. That dark color is your NATURAL hair color!
The Colors of Your Hair
Your natural hair color is a combination of the primary colors of blue, red, and yellow.
- Blue (B) is the darkest of the primary colors. It is the only cool primary color.
- Red (R)is warm and medium.
- Yellow (Y) is another warm primary color and the lightest.
In color theory, you mix the primaries together and you get Brown (N) which all of you have or had. For those of you who have grey hair, you lack all of the primary pigments. But, before your hair went grey, your hair was a brown.
Your hair is some form of brown.
- Black hair is the bluest brown.
- A natural redhead is the reddest brown.
- A natural blonde is the yellowest brown.
Determining Your Natural Hair Color Level
A colorist before ever coloring your hair will determine the natural level of your hair. That hair is the newly sprouting hair growing from your scalp. This will be the darkest of any other hair on your head. The color has had very little time to be changed by the natural elements like the sun which will naturally lighten the hair with time.
To determine your natural level, either go to a colorist or take a trusting friend and go to a beauty supply shop. You know those hair swatches for hair color? Compare those to the color of your roots. If you aren’t 100% grey, compare your un-grey hair. After you have pretty much matched your darkest hair with a swatch, check to see what level the swatch is. Usually it will have a number like 3 followed by the name of the color. Just remember the number. If there are decimals and more numbers after that, just ignore them. All you need to know is the level of your natural hair color.
The levels are determined by the following (darkest to lightest):
- Level 1-Black
- Level 2-Black/Brown
- Level 3-Very Dark Brown
- Level 4-Dark Brown
- Level 5-Medium Brown
- Level 6-Light Brown
- Level 7-Dark Blonde
- Level 8-Medium Blonde
- Level 9-Light Blonde
- Level 10-VeryLight Blonde/White (not grey)
Remember this number!!!!
*Disclosure: I don’t claim to be some great hair guru. I just like to explain difficult beauty stuff.
