How do I know which hair color suits my skin tone?

Match the hair's undertone to your skin's undertone and keep the depth within about two shades of your natural color. Warm skin (golden, peachy, tans easily) suits golden, honey, caramel, copper, auburn and warm brown; cool skin (pink, rosy, burns easily) suits ash blonde, ash brown, cool dark brown and espresso; neutral skin can wear both if the shade isn't extreme.

What hair color is most flattering for fair skin?

For fair cool skin: ash blonde, platinum, cool light brown and soft black for high contrast. For fair warm skin: golden blonde, strawberry, honey and light caramel. Fair skin is washed out by hair that matches its own lightness, so a little contrast (a slightly deeper or richer shade) usually looks better than very pale hair.

What hair color suits olive skin?

Olive skin looks best in rich, neutral-to-warm shades close to its natural depth: chestnut, warm espresso, caramel, mahogany and dark chocolate. Ash tones make olive skin look gray and very light blonde makes the green cast look sallow; warm caramel highlights add light without either problem.

What hair color suits deep skin?

Deep skin carries rich, saturated hair color: espresso, soft black, mahogany, deep auburn, dark copper and warm chocolate, with caramel or honey balayage for dimension. Ashy tones and cool platinum make deep skin look dull; warm, glossy depth makes it glow.

Can cool undertones wear warm hair color?

Only in small doses. A cool-toned person in an all-over golden or copper shade tends to look ruddy or sallow, but subtle warm balayage through a cool base, or a neutral shade with a hint of warmth, is wearable. The safer route is a cool or neutral base with the warmth kept to a few pieces.

Should hair color be lighter or darker than skin tone?

Either, as long as there is some contrast. Hair the same value as the skin flattens the face; one to two shades lighter or darker adds definition. Very fair skin usually looks better with hair slightly deeper than the skin, and deep skin looks richest with hair close to or deeper than its own depth.

Hair Color for Your Skin Tone: The Complete Chart

In a sentence: the most flattering hair color matches your skin's undertone (warm skin → golden, honey, caramel, copper, auburn, warm brown; cool skin → ash blonde, ash brown, cool dark brown, espresso) and stays within about two shades of your natural depth. Skip to the chart, your skin tone, or find your undertone from a photo.

The hair color you love on someone else is the hair color that suits their skin, which is why the salon photo you brought in so rarely turns out the way you hoped. Hair sits right against the face, it's the biggest color you wear, and if its undertone fights your skin's undertone, no amount of shine or styling fixes it. Ash brown on golden skin reads muddy; copper on pink skin reads ruddy; platinum on olive skin reads green. Match the undertone and almost any depth looks like it grew that way.

This is the chart I give clients before they see a colorist: the flattering shades for every skin tone and undertone, the shades that wash each one out, and the two rules that govern all of it. For a specific shade, the individual guides go deeper, copper, auburn, ash brown and hair colors for dark skin, and the hair color hub lists every shade we've covered.

The two rules

Undertone match. Hair color has a temperature, golden, red and warm brown are warm; ash, platinum and blue-black are cool; some browns and "neutral" blondes sit between. Your skin has a temperature too. When they match, the skin looks clear; when they clash, the skin looks ruddy, sallow or gray. If you don't know your undertone, the how to find your undertone guide takes five minutes.
Depth within two shades. Your natural hair color is already matched to your skin's depth. Going more than two levels lighter or darker changes the contrast of your whole face, and it usually needs makeup and brow changes to work. Big changes can look wonderful, but they're a project; small changes are a guarantee.

Hair color by skin tone

Skin tone	Warm undertone →	Cool undertone →	Avoid
Fair	Golden blonde, strawberry, honey, light caramel	Ash blonde, platinum, cool light brown, soft black	Hair as pale as the skin; brassy yellow on cool fair skin
Light–medium	Honey, caramel, golden brown, copper	Ash brown, mushroom brown, cool chestnut	Orange-toned brown on cool skin; ash on warm skin
Olive	Chestnut, warm espresso, caramel, mahogany	Cool dark brown, espresso, soft black	Ash blonde, platinum, brassy gold, the cast turns green or gray
Tan	Caramel, toffee, copper, auburn, warm chocolate	Cool dark brown, espresso, cool black	Ashy blonde; hair the same color as the skin
Deep	Espresso, mahogany, deep auburn, dark copper, caramel balayage	Soft black, blue-black, cool espresso	Cool platinum, ash brown, flat gray tones

Fair skin is flattered by contrast. Fair cool skin looks luminous with ash blonde, platinum, cool light brown and, for dramatic coloring, a soft black; fair warm skin glows in golden blonde, strawberry, honey and light caramel. The mistake on fair skin is hair that's as pale as the face, which erases the features; a shade or two of depth adds definition. See best colors for fair skin.

Light-to-medium skin has the widest range. Warm: honey, caramel, golden brown, copper. Cool: ash brown, mushroom brown, cool chestnut. Neutral skin at this depth can move between them, but should avoid the extremes, a very ashy ash or a very brassy gold.

Olive skin is the most often mis-colored, because olive's green-gray cast punishes ash (gray) and brass (sallow) equally. The answer is rich, neutral-to-warm depth: chestnut, warm espresso, caramel, mahogany. Keep highlights warm and low-contrast. Full detail in olive skin undertones.

Tan skin carries warm richness beautifully, caramel, toffee, copper, auburn, warm chocolate, and cool tan skin suits espresso and cool dark brown. Avoid hair the same value as the skin, which flattens everything.

Deep skin looks richest with depth and gloss: espresso, soft black, mahogany, deep auburn, dark copper, with caramel or honey balayage for light. Ash and cool platinum dull deep skin; warm, glossy tones make it glow. Full guide: best hair colors for dark skin.

The chart

Ten hair shades, five warm, five cool, with the skin tones each one flatters.

Hair color chart by skin tone with hex codes, golden blonde, honey, caramel, copper, auburn, chestnut, ash blonde, ash brown, cool dark brown and espresso, with the five skin-tone bases, by ToneLala — Hair Color for Your Skin Tone: The Complete Match Chart, every shade with its hex code.

Hair color	Hex	Tone	Best on
Golden Blonde	`#D9B36A`	Warm	Fair and light warm skin
Honey	`#C69A55`	Warm	Fair to medium warm skin
Caramel	`#A9713F`	Warm	Medium, olive and tan skin; balayage on deep skin
Copper	`#B5552E`	Warm	Fair-to-medium warm skin, warm tan skin
Auburn	`#8A3A25`	Warm	Fair, medium and tan warm skin; deep auburn on deep skin
Chestnut	`#6B3F26`	Warm-neutral	Olive, medium and tan skin
Ash Blonde	`#C9BEA8`	Cool	Fair and light cool skin
Ash Brown	`#7A6A5C`	Cool	Light-to-medium cool skin
Cool Dark Brown	`#4A3A34`	Cool	Medium, olive-cool and tan cool skin
Espresso	`#2E211B`	Neutral-cool	Olive, tan and deep skin

Skin bases for reference: Fair Cool #F2DCD2, Fair Warm #F0D5B4, Medium Olive #C6A880, Tan Warm #B8875B and Deep #6E4A36.

Warm or cool? Find your undertone from a selfie

Find your color season →

The shades that wash people out

Ash on warm skin. Ash blonde or ash brown on golden or peachy skin makes the face look muddy and tired.
Brass on cool skin. Golden or copper tones on pink skin read ruddy; the cheeks look flushed in the wrong way.
Platinum or ash on olive. The green cast turns gray-green. Olive skin needs warmth and depth in the hair.
Hair that matches the skin. A toffee-brown on tan skin, a beige-blonde on fair skin: no contrast, no definition.
Cool black on warm fair skin. Blue-black next to golden fair skin is stark and aging; a warm dark brown is kinder.
Flat, matte color on deep skin. Deep skin wants gloss and richness; a flat ash or gray-toned brown dulls it.

Hair color and your color season

Skin undertone and color season are the same fact, so your season is a shortcut to your hair color family. Springs suit golden blonde, honey, strawberry and light caramel; Autumns suit copper, auburn, caramel, chestnut and warm chocolate; Summers suit ash blonde, mushroom brown, ash brown and cool light brown; Winters suit cool dark brown, espresso, soft black and blue-black. The sub-season sets the depth: Light seasons lighter, Deep seasons darker, Soft seasons more muted, Bright seasons clearer. Each season guide, for example Soft Summer or Deep Autumn, has a hair-color section, and a photo-based analysis reads undertone, depth and contrast together so you can walk into the salon with the right family already chosen.

What to tell your colorist

Bring the family, not the photo. "Warm, within two shades of my natural, no ash" or "cool, no brass, keep the depth" gets a better result than a picture of someone with different skin. Ask for the toner to match your undertone (warm skin: gold or copper toner; cool skin: violet or blue-based toner), and if you want lightness, ask for balayage in your temperature rather than an all-over lift, it keeps the depth near the face where it matters.

Putting it together

Find your undertone, pick the matching column, stay within two shades of natural, and tell your colorist the family. Golden, honey, copper and auburn if you're warm; ash, cool brown and espresso if you're cool; rich neutral depth if you're olive; glossy richness if you're deep. Hair color that matches your skin doesn't look dyed. It looks like the version of you that photographs well every time.