From subtle highlights to full-on unicorn/galaxy tresses, changing your hair colour is a great way to boost your confidence and sport a new look. Red hair is particularly timeless, and it works well on everyone – as long as you know what tones to go for!
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What hair colour suits me? What would I look like with red hair?”, then this guide is for you. Read on for more information about red hair colour and how to choose the right shade no matter what your complexion is.
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50 Shades Of Red: How To Choose The Right Red Hair For Your Skin Tone
Complexion
Your complexion doesn’t limit the kinds of colours you ‘can’ go for, but it does tell you which shades would look best on you. This one is an easy one to figure out: do you have light skin, medium skin, or dark skin? Of course, there are more than three skin colours in the world, but your unique shade will fall into one of these three categories.
Undertone
This one is a lot trickier. Your skin is more than its most obvious ‘colour’ – your undertone is a subtle colour underneath your skin. You can get darker from tanning or lighter through whitening products, but your undertone never changes.
There are three kinds of undertones. Cool skin tones have bluish, reddish, or pinkish hints. Warm skin tones have goldish, yellowish, or peachy hints. People with olive skin or neutral skin tones have a combination of the above or with greenish hints. Dyes with a blue or violet base complement cool skin tones the best, while dyes with an orange or yellow base work best with warm skin tones.
Asians tend to have warm-toned skin while blue-red undertone skin is more common with Caucasians. But the best way to check is by doing a ‘vein test’.
Desired Aesthetic/Look
Do you want your red hair to be more subtle, like a natural ginger? Or do you want a wild and crazy red that really pops? Depending on how much you want it to ‘stand out’, you could go from a muted auburn to a deep red to a bright ‘fire-engine’ shade.
Your Choice
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if your hair dye matches your skin tone or not. If you like the colour, don’t let anyone stop you!
The Best Reds For Every Complexion
Pale/Fair Skin
Cool
Your best colours: Dusty red, muted copper, neutral red
Your celebrity redhead lookalike: Madeleine Petsch, Nicole Kidman
Warm
Your best colours: Golden chestnut, rosy copper, electric orange, red-brown
Your celebrity redhead lookalike: Sophie Turner, Julia Roberts, Lana Del Ray
Medium/Tan Skin
Cool
Your best colours: Cherry coke, wine/merlot, plum
Your celebrity redhead lookalike: Demi Lovato, Kehlani
Warm
Your best colours: Scarlet, golden auburn, deep red
Your celebrity redhead lookalike: Isla Fisher, Ariana Grande
Dark Skin
Cool
Your best colours: Deep plum, blackberry, true red
Your celebrity redhead lookalike: Amandla Stenberg, Keke Palmer
Warm
Your best colours: Raspberry red, golden auburn, electric orange, deep cinnamon
Your celebrity redhead lookalike: Rihanna, Cardi B
Red Hair, Don’t Care
If looking ‘washed out’ or ‘unnatural’ is a big concern of yours, then choosing the right shade of red is crucial. But if you just want to rock red hair, find the shade you love the most and don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t use it!
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