Choose an Unnatural Color to Dye Your Hair

Unnatural hair colors have become a popular fad amongst all ages and genders. Once you dye your hair, it is easy to want to continue to dye your hair in more non-traditional ways. There are several colors and combinations that you can try out. Don’t feel restricted when searching for that perfect color. The beautiful part about hair is that it will always grow back.

Steps

Considering Warm and Cool Categories

1. Figure out if you're in the cool category. This can affect how well a dye will take to your hair. Cool categories are based on your skin tone, eyes, and natural hair color.
   • People in the cool category will have deep brown eyes, hazel eyes, gray-blue, or dark blue eyes.
   • The cool category includes both light and dark skin tones. Very dark skin and olive skin tones are included in the cool category. Medium skin tones, both with color and without color in the cheeks, and medium skin with golden undertones, are also considered cool. Pale skin with pink undertones, or pale skin with no color in the cheeks, puts you in the cool category. If your skin gets brown or bronze when you tan, you may be in the cool category.
   • In the cool category, your natural hair would be blue-black, very deep brown, medium ash brown, golden brown, dish water blond, salt and pepper, or white.
2. Determine if you're in the warm category. Warm categories are determined by the same factors as cool categories. Consider your natural hair color, skin tone, and eye color.
   • Golden brown, green, green-blue, turquoise, and hazel eyes with gold or brown flecks are considered warm.
   • Brown skin with pink undertones, brown skin with golden undertones, pale skin with peach or gold undertones, freckled skin, and ruddy skin are part of the warm category.
   • Deep brown hair with gold or red highlights, red hair, strawberry blond hair, gray hair with a yellow cast, and natural golden blonde hair are all considered warm hair types.
3. Learn what colors look best and worst for the cool category. If you've determined you fall into the cool category, not every hair color will work for you. While you may be able to get around this issue with the right stylist, understand some colors will be more difficult. Other colors, however, would work more easily with your hair.
   • Gold, yellow, red, and bronze tones in the hair are hard to achieve with cool hair colors. They may not come out well, and have a tendency to make you look somewhat sallow.
   • Shiny black hairs, ash browns, and cool blonds work well with a warm complexion. They also may be easier to dye over your natural hair color.
4. Determine the best and worst colors for warm skin tones. Some colors may look bad, given your complexion and skin tone. Other colors would compliment your skin tone and complexion.
   • Blue, violet, and ash-based colors can make your skin tone look washed out.
   • Darker colors work best. Warm browns, chestnuts, auburn shades, golden browns, gold and red highlights, and golden blond colors would compliment your skin tone and eye color well.

Considering Your Hair Color

1. Learn how the color wheel affects hair dye. You probably had to learn about the color wheel in elementary school. Google a copy of the color wheel to figure out how the wheel can affect your chosen hair color.
   • Complimentary colors fall on opposite ends of the color wheel. If you dye your hair a complimentary color, you may end up with a totally different color than you expected. For example, say you have golden blonde hair. If you try to dye your hair blue, a color found on the opposite side of the color wheel, these colors will combine. You could end up with green hair.
   • Instead, pick a color that would compliment your hair. If you have undertones you want gone, you'll have to pick a color to neutralize these tones. For example, if you have red undertones, they can be neutralized with an ashy, greenish shade.
2. See a professional for blond hair. Blonde hair is tricky to dye. It often has a variety of undertones that can affect how a dye will take. Blondes are at a greater risk of ending up with greenish hair during the dyeing process. A professional stylist, who knows how to work the color wheel to bring out the best shade, should be consulted prior to dyeing your hair.
3. Consider professional lightning for darker hair. Darker hair is also more difficult to dye. Often, you will need to bleach or lighten the hair prior to the dyeing process. This can be tricky to do alone, especially if you don't have any professional training. See a stylist if your hair is naturally dark. He or she can figure out how to lighten your hair appropriately to get the right shade for you.
4. Weigh your options if your hair is gray or graying. With gray hair, any color you choose will come out very bright. A dark blue dye, for example, can come out bright blue. Therefore, you may want to select a color that's slightly darker than you want prior to dyeing your hair.

Reviewing Other Factors

1. Know you may have to bleach to get an unconventional color. If your hair is naturally very light blonde, you may be able to get by without bleaching. For the most part, however, bleached hair is necessary to have an unconventional color, like red or pink, show up in your hair.
   • The vast majority of unconventional hair colors are semi-permanent. This means they will not lift the color in your natural hair. You have to change the color yourself via bleaching.
   • For bleaching, it's a good idea to go to a salon. This is especially important if you want to dye your whole hair an unconventional color. Bleaching can damage your hair, so it's a good call to have professional assessment prior to bleaching.
   • However, you may be able to bleach at home using a kit if you're only doing strands of color. Be careful to follow all instructions carefully when applying color to your hair.
2. Think about your professional appearance. Not all hair colors are appropriate for work and school. Hair colors will last awhile, so think carefully about whether your color is appropriate for all situations.
   • Colors that are found in natural hair, like reds and blondes, are generally appropriate for most situations. If you intend to dye your hair in a natural shade, you probably do not have to worry about your professional appearance.
   • However, a more dramatic color, like hot pink, may not be appropriate everywhere. With certain creative jobs, an unconventional hair color may not be a concern. However, if you work in a highly professional setting, you may want to avoid dramatic shades.
3. Factor in cost. If you believe you need a professional stylist, understand this will not be cheap. Professional hair dyeing may cost over $100. Spend some time considering whether you have the money to dye your hair professionally.
   • If you're unsure if you can afford a professional dye job right now, you can try to put some money aside. You can also look into dyeing your hair a color that will take more easily to your natural shade. These colors will be easier to dye on your own.

Choosing a Color Based on the Season or Location

1. Dye your hair for the summer. Summer is the brightest season and is known for a lack of heavy clothing. Many people tend to go for the obvious colors: orange and blonde. These are warm colors, but they don’t fully represent the “bright” spectrum. Shades of blue can work well for the sunny season. A majority of color people experience in the summer is found in the light blue of the sky. Here’s a list of colors associated with summer that would work well as a hair color:
   • Red
   • Pink
   • Bright Blue
   • Light Magenta
   • Green
2. Choose a color based on autumn. Autumn is the season where all the lush greenery prepares and dies for winter. During this natural process of death, nature produces an array of stunning colors. Autumn colors can better be labelled as muted warm colors. You can see this in effect on a cool autumn day. Here is a list of warm cool colors of autumn:
   • Rust
   • Teal
   • Salmon
   • Brick Red
   • Beige
3. Choose a winter hair color. Winter is the time of the year when nothing grows and nature is in hibernation. The sky is typically grey and therefore your hair can reflect this with grey tinted colors. The colors of this drab season are muted but enticing. Just because a color has a tint of grey, doesn’t mean it can’t warm you up. Essentially any pastel color or “icy” color can work during this season. Here is a list of “muted cool” colors of winter:
   • Slate Blue
   • Winter White
   • Charcoal
   • Mauve
   • Burgundy
4. Dye your hair for spring. Spring is the season of birth where everyone begins to feel the warmth again. This season is notorious for having incredible colors because of new foliage. The color pattern is similar to summer, but the tint of each color isn’t as bright as summer. This is the season of baby colors. These colors all look great in hair because they do not pop out to the eye as much. Here is a brief set of example colors you could choose:
   • Coral
   • Turquoise
   • Peach
   • Cobalt Blue
   • Chinese Red
5. Choose a color based on a city. The city is a great place to base your color palette. Whether you live in a small city or New York City, there is a unique color you can find to fit your needs. Many cities tend to be tinted with streaks of grey, like London. A city like Chicago has tints of green throughout downtown because of the natural green tint of the Chicago river. Look around your neighborhood and attempt to pick out a color you see often.
   • You can also dye your hair a combination of colors based on your environment.
   • Be as bold as you want. The city is a big place and you should feel free to express yourself through color.
6. Stand out in a small town. Small towns can have a plethora of colors. Small towns typically are settled more firmly into a natural setting such as a mountain, farm, beach, or plain. Take inspiration from whichever scene you see on a daily basis. A town like Boone, NC, for example, is situated at the top of a mountain and subsequently has an extreme variety of colors.
   • You will stand out and become easily noticed after dying your hair a unique color in a small town.
   • Consider the reaction from your community before going forward with this type of change.
7. Remember your hair and skin tone. As you consider colors based on season, always come back to your hair and skin tone. You may love the idea of burgundy hair for the fall, but will it work for you? Consider how a burgundy shade will show up, given your skin tone and hair color. You may have to go with a different choice if burgundy does not work well for your hair.

Choosing a Color Inspired by Yourself

1. Choose a color that you love. You know what colors you like and dislike. Treat yourself by dying your hair your favorite color. If you like blue, dye your hair a unique shade of blue that stands out to you. The same can be said if you like the color red and its varieties. Hair dye isn’t permanent and if you feel strongly towards a color, go for it.
2. Choose a color that you wear a lot. This works well if you like a monochromatic look. For example, if you love to wear green, choose a shade of green that is slightly different from your clothing. This way your hair won’t fully match the outfits you like to wear, but your hair will match your style.
   • Sort through your wardrobe for inspiration. Look at your favorite outfits and decide if you love them based off their colors.
3. Choose a color that complements your eyes. Blue eyed people could go with yellow, orange, or blue. Green eyed people could go with blue, purple, or green. Brown/hazel eyed people could go with red, pink, or green. Unnatural hair looks good with any eye color.
   • Take suggestions for what colors complement your eyes from your peers.
   • Some people’s eye color changes based off what they are wearing. Other people’s eyes don’t change color as often.
4. Choose a color based on your personality. If you are loud and bold, you could go with a bright color such as red, orange, aqua, yellow, or neon green. If you are creative and artistic you could choose a variety of green, orange, blue, or purple. If you are smart and studious, muted colors such as baby pink, dark blue, or dark purple might work for you.
5. Keep your hair and skin tone in mind. Remember, not all hair colors work on all types of hair and skin tone. A blue tone can come out as yellow or green when applied to the wrong hair color, for example. Remember factors like the color wheel, your natural hair color, and your skin tone when finding a shade based on your personality. You may have to go with your second or third choice.

Dealing with Fading and Changing Hair Color

1. Consider permanent or semi-permanent colors. How long your color will stay in depends on whether it's permanent or semi-permanent. Many people think semi-permanent dye will fade, while permanent color will last. However, often a combination works best. The two colors act differently on your hair, and using permanent color throughout your hair may cause unnecessary damage.
   • Permanent dye is more powerful, and may change hair color more dramatically. It's best to use it on your roots, which will come out in your original hair color.
   • It's a good idea to use semi-permanent dye, in a gloss form, on the rest of your hair. This hair probably retains some of its original color, so it only needs to be lightly lifted with a semi-permanent dye.
2. Learn which colors are most difficult to maintain. All colors are not created equal. Certain shades will be more difficult to maintain, and you may have to take extra efforts to maintain those shades.
   • Red hair is one of the most difficult colors to maintain. It tends to fade very fast. You can try not washing your hair for a week after getting it dyed red. This can help the color set.
   • Blonde dye will be hardest on your hair's health, as a lot of lifting and lightening is used. You will want to use a lot of moisturizing products and do deep conditioning treatments after dyeing.
3. Expect your hair will need touch-ups when it fades. Hair dye fades. Even if you used permanent dye, your hair will fade over time. You may like the color it fades into. You may end up with a tone lighter than your original, but your hair will continue to fade until you're left with your original color.
   • Some colors need touch ups more often. Red hair, for example, requires a touch up every 4 to 6 weeks.
   • You can get a touch up done in a salon, but this can get pricey. You can also consider touching up your hair yourself at home. Just make sure you carefully read the instructions manual for any products you purchase.
4. Take steps to make your hair last longer. To avoid continual touch ups, you can slow the fading of your hair. There are several ways to maintain color more long term.
   • Stay out of the sun as much as you can. Prolonged exposure to the sun can lighten hair.
   • Add some hair dye to your conditioner. This way, you're dyeing your hair a little bit each time you shower.
   • Wash your hair cold and do not shampoo too often. If you can, limit shampooing to once a week.

Tips

• If your eyes are grey they will match anything.
• Go to a store that sells wigs and try on different colors to get a better idea of the color you want.
• You can always dye your hair more than one color.

Warnings

• If you dye your hair more than one color at once make sure the dye doesn't seep together when you wash it.
• Make sure you want unnatural colored hair before you dye it.

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Sources and Citations

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