Customising Hair Colour for Different Skin Tones
Carolyn Newman is a renowned UK-based freelance colourist and educator with over 30 years of experience in the hair industry. Known for her innovative colour techniques and engaging teaching style, she has worked with top brands like L’Oréal and Schwarzkopf and educated professionals worldwide. A former Colour and Education Director at Charles Worthington, Carolyn continues to inspire as an independent consultant, offering courses and workshops that bridge creativity and business.
As the seasons change and we move into Autumn/Winter, this is a great opportunity to offer new colours and techniques to your clients. This can be subtle, visible or dramatic depending on your client’s needs and then your colour choice.
When deciding and customising new shades and tones for your clients, it is really important that you factor in their overall depth and skin tone. Everyone has their own personal depth based on their natural hair colour, eye colour and skin colour. This helps to determine how light or dark you can go without compromising on making them look too washed out or the integrity of the hair condition.
I have a saying that if you have to change your makeup to make your hair colour look good or better, you are wearing the wrong hair colour.
When determining the correct skin tone for your client you can either use a colour fan, colour capes or use a bright pink scarf and a bright orange one
Place the scarves under your client’s chin and find the one that looks the best.
The wrong tone can give you shadows under their eyes and can make their skin look sallow and unhealthy. The correct tone will complement the skin, making their eyes brighter and look youthful and healthy.
If it is the pink scarf, they have a cool skin tone and if it is the orange scarf, they have a warm skin tone. Understanding this, helps you adjust your client’s hair for the new season. For autumn/winter we tend to want to add richness or warmth to the hair after the sun has lightened their hair during holiday season. Even if your client suits cool tones you can add warmth and richness but need to balance it to suit their skin depth and tone correctly.
Cool skin tones suit:
Natural light and medium blonde hair - light beige, champagne, ice blonde, rose gold and natural cool blonde tones.
Natural dark blonde or light brown hair - caramel, light mahogany or mocha chocolate tones.
Naturally dark- darkest brown, Intense red, deep chocolate brown, deep amethyst or jet-black tones.
If your client has a warm skin tone, they suit:
Natural light and medium blonde hair - Light golden blonde, honey, copper gold and apricot blush tones.
Natural dark blonde or light brown hair - dark golden blonde, copper bronze, terracotta or light chestnut tones.
Naturally dark – deep warm tones, teak, auburn, bronze and dark chestnut brown tones.
When deciding where to add in change and where to place the colour, remember a colour technique is purely a pattern on the head. Work with the focal points of the haircut to enhance their face shape, hair texture and style.
When factoring change for your client always discuss the maintenance plan as your client needs to be aware of how often they will need to refresh their new look. Ultimately the new season is a perfect time to encourage your client to have a colour change. This doesn’t have to be drastic; even a subtle change of tone or some fresh pieces around the hairline, can make a big difference. There’s never been such an important time to showcase your expertise and offer bespoke, tailored hairdressing that can’t be achieved at home.
