Not only is the color wheel useful in painting classes! In my hair salon, I use the hair color wheel on a daily basis. It determines the success or failure of a corrected color service.
I make reference to the hair color wheel system in this post.
Table of Contents
Introduction
What is the Hair Color Wheel?
Learn about the Wheel, a fundamental tool for hair coloring that helps you attain the right tones by classifying colors. To create beautiful hair color alterations, colorists and do-it-yourself fans alike must understand the primary, secondary, and tertiary color divisions.
Importance of the wheel in Hair Coloring
Understand why this is crucial in hair coloring. Explore how it guides color selection, helps achieve desired shades, and ensures harmonious color combinations. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, mastering the wheel enhances your ability to create stunning and professional-looking hair colors.
Color Wheel Colors
Hair color wheel chart
Every primary, secondary, and tertiary color is represented by a spectrum on the color wheel.
Primary colors
These are the primary colors that can only be produced in these ways. These three hues can be combined to create any hue.
- Blue
- Red
- Yellow
Secondary colors
Equal parts of two main colors are combined to create these colors.
- Green is created by combining blue and yellow.
- Orange is created by combining red and yellow
- Violet is created by combining red and blue
Tertiary colors
Here are some examples of primary and secondary color mixtures:
- Green+blue (turquoise or teal)
- Violet+blue (indigo)
- Red+violet (maroon or mahogany)
- Gold+red (deep copper)
- Yellow+orange (mustard)
- Green+yellow (Lime)
What are the numbers in hair color
Many hair color lines use letters to represent the color’s tone; however, the majority of these letters have been converted to numbers so that they may be used in a variety of languages.
- Sheer (no tone) – 0
- Ash (green base) – 1
- Beige (blue/violet base) – 2
- Gold (yellow base) – 3
- Copper (orange base) – 4
- Mahogany (violet/red base) – 5
- Red – 6
- Violet – 7
- Pearl (pink/silver base) – 8
- Silver – 9 (blue base)
These numbers will appear in hair color after the period. The degree, or lightness/darkness, of a hair color is indicated by the number preceding the period.
Here’s a YouTube video explaining how to use the color wheel to fix or adjust the color of your hair.
How to Use
Choosing the Right Hair Color
Discover professional advice on selecting the ideal hair color based on your skin tone and sense of style. Find out how choosing colors is aided by the Hair Color Wheel, which guarantees balanced and pleasing tones. Whether your goal is a dramatic makeover or a more natural appearance, knowing these concepts will enable you to confidently accomplish amazing results.
Correcting Unwanted Tones
Take advantage of the Wheel to learn vital tricks for successfully adjusting undesirable tones in hair coloring. Acquire the knowledge to recognize and balance brassy, orange, or excessively chilly tones in order to get the color you want. Your hair will always look vivid and well-groomed with the help of this detailed guide, which provides you with doable tips for updating your current shade or correcting a DIY disaster.
Achieving Desired Shades
By using this to find practical methods for getting the hair tint you want. Discover how to blend colors to produce unique tones that go well with your complexion and personal style. Whether you choose to go for bright, vivid colors or natural tones, knowing these tricks will guarantee that your paintings turn out as good as they can.
Enhancing Your Natural Hair Color
Enhance Natural Shades
Explore the transformative power of the wheel in enhancing your natural hair shades. Learn how to choose complementary tones that enrich your hair’s natural vibrancy and depth.
Tips for Achieving Natural-Looking Highlights and Lowlights
Discover expert techniques for achieving seamlessly blended highlights and lowlights that mimic the natural play of light on your hair. Uncover methods to create depth and dimension while maintaining a natural appearance.
Correcting Hair Color Mistakes
Discover effective strategies for correcting hair color mishaps using the wheel. Learn how to utilize color theory to fix common dyeing errors and achieve your desired hair shade.
- How the Wheel Helps in Color Correction
Understand the pivotal role of the hair color wheel in rectifying hair color mistakes. Master techniques to neutralize unwanted tones and attain your ideal hair color seamlessly. - Common Mistakes and Their Solutions
Identify prevalent hair coloring errors and uncover precise solutions leveraging the color wheel’s principles. Gain insights into addressing uneven tones, brassiness, and other challenges for a flawless result.
What does the color wheel have to do with hair color?
The color wheel is a tool that hair stylists use to accentuate or balance out a client’s color or tone. This is essential for creating the right shade of hair color. Learn how to use the color wheel to neutralize (or correct) undesirable hair color tones by reading the information below.
What does neutralizing hair color mean?
We neutralize the red by adding a color with a green basis when a brunette complains that her hair color has too much “red” or warmth to it. This is thus because, on the color wheel, green is the opposite of red. This will provide a more neutral tone by canceling out the red.
We use a toner with a violet basis to neutralize yellow when a blonde expresses a desire for a less yellow tone. This is thus because, on the color wheel, violet is yellow’s opposite. Because purple balances out the yellow in blonde hair, purple shampoo is specifically designed for fair-haired people.
What you want to achieve and the tone of the hair at the moment will determine how much neutralizing pigment you apply to the color. It’s possible that you won’t need much or a lot of the neutralizing pigment.
The desired hue is combined with the neutralizing pigment. Let’s say the hue you’re looking for is too red, and you’re seeking for a neutral brown. We would combine a neutral color (5n) with a color (5A) that has an Ash/green basis.
I usually apply 25%, 50%, or 75% of the corrective pigment, based on the desired amount of tone neutralization. I can get away with 25% Ash and don’t need to add much if there is only a faint red tint. However, I would add 75% Ash to the Neutral tone if the color is really red.
The color wheel and toning hair
Toning hair is essentially defined by using the color wheel. You use the color wheel to determine what to put on it to get the desired tone.
When blonde clients come in and inform me that their prior hairdresser did not use a toner on them, I am always taken aback.
Any hair that has been lightened pulls warm. This is because as the lightness or darkness of the hair increases, the underlying pigment becomes visible. Level 3 and below, red/orange (level 4), orange (level 5), orange yellow (level 6), yellow orange (level 7), light yellow (level 9), or pale yellow (level 10) are the different levels at which your hair will turn red.
This tone is generally undesirable. Things’s best to tone things down, even if they really want it.
Any undesirable tones will be neutralized and eliminated through toning, boosting the desired tones. Therefore, you must tone your hair with a violet base if you wish to get rid of the yellow in it.
This will give you a wonderful tone and brighten the blonde without the need to use bleach.
Color harmony with complementary colors
Color harmony can also be created using the color wheel. This can be done by emphasizing the color of your eyes or by using highlights and lowlights.
Mostly speaking, complementary colors are those that contrast with one another on the color wheel. The same two hues that you utilize to balance each other out will also look good together.
Red hair will therefore truly bring out the color of your green eyes. This can have red highlights or peekaboos, or it might be all over.
If you’re not a big admirer of red, you can use an orange (copper), violet, red orange, or red violet (mahogany). These options all contain red, which will draw attention to the eyes.
When choosing a tone for a highlight or lowlight, I prefer to utilize complementary hues. I could apply a golden tone as your highlight if your foundation is violet brown. This could be golden brown, golden blonde, or caramel.
This is useful for selecting the color of your eye shadow when doing makeup. Warmer hues will really bring out the best in blue eyes. I have light blue eyes, thus my favorite eye shadow colors are pink and purple.
Reason for box dye doesn’t work
When creating your hair color, it is crucial to use the color wheel to avoid getting a completely different result from what you had in mind. The color wheel aids stylists in creating a desired tone or shade for their clients’ hair as well as eliminating any undesirable tones.
For this reason, box color is ineffective. You cannot apply a tube of paint with a color you choose from a book to any canvas and expect the same results. There isn’t a hair color that works for everyone.
I hardly ever use a single color tube that I take out of the package on a customer. In order to create a tone especially for their ideal hair shade depending on their existing hair type, I combine many tubes in various ratios 95% of the time.
Summary
As you can see, hair color is far more complex than you probably thought. We use the it as artists as well as chemists to create the ideal color combination to maintain the stunning appearance of your hair.
- Primary colors – Red,Yellow,Blue
- Secondary colors – Orange,Green,Violet
- Tertiary colors – Violet/Red, Green/blue, Blue/Violet, Orange/Yellow, Red/Orange and Yellow/Green
- Shades in hair color are called numbers: Sheer is 0, ash (green/blue), beige (blue/violet), gold, copper, mahogany (violet/red), red, violet, pearl (pink/silver), and silver (blue) are the next nine numbers.
- To offset the undesirable tone, choose the hue opposite on the color wheel.
- Depending on how much of the unwanted tone is present, add 25%, 50%, or 75% of the neutralizing tone to the desired color.
- To create complementary tones, use the color opposite on the color wheel.
- To get the desired result, every hair color must be mixed using the color wheel in accordance with the beginning canvas. This explains why box color typically doesn’t work.
Conclusion
Discover how this may be used to enhance and correct your hair color, giving you beautiful results that are customized to your own preferences and style.
Benefits of Using
Learn how this makes selecting and blending colors easier and produces consistently harmonious results.
Key Takeaways
Recap the key strategies and tactics you’ve learnt throughout the blog to give you the confidence to try out new hair colors and looks.
Final Thoughts
With the information and direction this offers, embrace the craft of hair coloring. Learning to use this gives you countless options for vivid, customized hair color, whether you’re enhancing natural tones or fixing color errors.
FAQ
How does the color wheel work for hair
The color wheel for hair helps in selecting and combining hair colors by showing the relationships between different hues. It is based on the principles of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, which allows stylists to identify complementary and contrasting colors. This helps in achieving desired shades, neutralizing unwanted tones, and creating harmonious color blends. For example, to counteract brassiness in blonde hair, a stylist might use a purple toner, as purple is opposite yellow on the color wheel.
How to use color wheel for hair
Identify your current hair color: Determine the current shade and undertones.
Choose your desired result: Decide if you want to neutralize, enhance, or change your color.
Find complementary colors: Use the wheel to locate colors opposite your current shade to neutralize unwanted tones (e.g., use purple for yellow, blue for orange, green for red).
Select analogous colors: For a more harmonious look, choose colors next to your current shade on the wheel.
Apply the color: Use the chosen colors in hair dyes, toners, or highlights to achieve the desired effect.
How to use the color wheel for hair color
Identify your hair’s current color and undertones.
Determine your desired result: neutralize, enhance, or change the color.
Find complementary colors on the wheel to neutralize unwanted tones (e.g., use purple to cancel out yellow).
Choose analogous colors for a harmonious blend.
Apply the chosen colors in dyes, toners, or highlights to achieve the desired look
What color should i dye my hair wheel
Identify your skin tone: Cool, warm, or neutral.
Find complementary colors on the wheel that match your skin tone (cool tones like ash blonde or blue-black for cool skin, warm tones like golden blonde or copper for warm skin).
Consider your natural hair color: Use the wheel to find shades that enhance or contrast your current color for the desired effect.
Choose a color that complements both your skin tone and natural hair color for a flattering result.
What is the color wheel for hair
The color wheel for hair is a tool that shows the relationships between different hair colors. It helps in selecting, blending, and correcting hair colors by displaying primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, along with their complementary and contrasting counterparts. This aids in achieving balanced and desired hair color results.
1 Comment
Great information. Thats all i wanted