Olive Skin Tone & Hair Color
A: One of the best ways to determine a good hair color choice is by looking at your natural hair color. With a mirror, examine your hair while you are standing in direct sunlight. Direct sunlight offers full-spectrum light which will let you more accurately see the base color of your hair. Many people make the mistake of using indoor lighting, which can often mask the true color of your hair.
The next thing to look at is the current level of color in your hair. Hair color level is ranked on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being the darkest possible and 10 being the lightest pale blonde color. Visit your local beauty supply store, look at the swatches of hair color and compare them to your natural color. Find a color that is as close as possible to your natural color and check for the Level of that color. That will tell you the Color Level of your natural hair color. For natural-looking color, you generally want to stay within 3 levels of your hair's natural color level.
Now comes selecting the color you want. All hair colors have a base color upon which the color formulation is based. The cooler shades of hair color have base colors that are blue, blue-violet, violet, and green (also called Drab). The warmer shades use base colors of red, red-orange, orange, and gold. You should only use warmer hair colors on warm-toned or neutral natural hair, and only use cooler hair colors on cool or neutral natural colors. There are also neutral hair color bases that can be used for those with naturally neutral hair.
Whether you choose lighter or darker hair color is a matter of personal preference, just remember to stay within 3 levels to keep a natural-looking change. Select the hair color you want, following the above guidelines, and then choose a developer based on the level of the color you chose.
If the color level is the same as or darker than your natural color, you want to select a 10-volume peroxide developer. If the level of the hair color you chose is 1 or 2 shades lighter than your natural color, use a 20-volume developer. For hair color that is 3 levels lighter use a 30-volume developer.
When coloring your hair, always wear gloves, mix the color with the developer in equal parts and apply it to the hair being sure to cover the hair evenly. Cover the hair with a plastic cap and use a hair dryer to heat the hair through the cap and help facilitate the color process, especially when lightening the hair.
You specifically asked about choosing a hair color that will bring out the color of your eyes. If you need to use a cool color, try a hair color with a violet base. For warm colors, use a hair color that has an orange base. Depending on how bright, or dark the color you chose is, the effect will be more pronounced.
As to the choice between overall color or highlighting: this, too, is a personal preference issue. Sometimes simply adding highlights to the hair's natural color can completely change your look, and is much less noticeable as it grows out. As with choosing color for other situations, do try to stay within three levels of your natural color for highlighting.
©hairfinder.com
See also:
How to color your hair
Your hair and skin color versus clothes color
