Hair Colors For Your Skin Tone by Kim Stamiris

When it comes to wigs, choosing the right colour can feel daunting because of the expansive colour charts, tricky colour codes, and not having your friendly hair colourist to guide you through the selection process.

Knowing Your Undertone

When it comes to hair or wig colour, knowing your undertone is a good starting point in choosing between a cool or warm shade on the colour code chart, and knowing what will compliment your complexion without ‘washing you out’. 

From left to right: cool tone blonde hair, neutral tone blonde hair, and warm tone blonde hair

People with warmer skin tones have a yellow or golden hue, and it is likely that the veins on the inside of the wrist will appear more greenish. If you have a warm skin tone, warmer toned colours will be more complimentary and usually contain golden, butterscotch, chocolate, copper or bronze, in the colour description. 

On the other hand, people with cooler skin tones will have a pinkish hue, and it is likely that the veins on the inside of the wrist will appear more blueish tint. If you have a cool skin tone, cooler toned colours will be more complimentary and usually contain ash, walnut, platinum or champagne, in the colour description.

And then there are skin tones like mine that are a neutral undertone. My skin tone is in-between: a hint of coolness and warmth, and the veins on the underside of my wrist are actually both blue and greenish in appearance. If you have a similar neutral undertone, you will have a lot more options to choose from and can most likely wear both warm and cool tones.

If you still aren’t sure about which hair colours or tones are best for you, most wig manufacturers have colour rings of small colour swatches for you to see all the available colours live and compare them against your skin tone. 

My Hair Colour R-EVOLUTION

From a very young age, I think I always wanted to be a blonde; I always coveted my mums’ blue eyes and fairer hair. But unfortunately, genetics just wasn’t on my side, and I inherited my brown bio-locks from my dad, who has brown eyes and the darkest brown hair. 

It’s no secret that I am a natural brunette that my bio hair was a dark brown shade; somewhere between a 4 and 6 on the hair colour chart. But I was always fascinated with coloured hair, and I became quite adventurous colouring my own hair in my 20’s and 30’s. 

Some say variety is the spice of life

I will always be a brunette at heart

It made sense for me to try and find a natural looking wig from the get-go, that closely mimicked my brunette bio hair for my first wig. I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and choosing a style and shade that made it appear like it was ‘my’ hair was important at this very early stage – for both my confidence and self-esteem. 

I incidentally started off with a chocolatey-brown brunette wig in shade 6.30 from Ellen Wille, but my tastes in brunette shades quickly evolved after discovering the plethora of tones and blends available. I now tend to reach for brunette blends, opting for dimension over a flat, one-dimensional shade, one of my current favourites being Toffee Truffle from Jon Renau. The warmer highlights throughout give some extra glow to the complexion and is perfect all year round.   

I still however wanted to be even more adventurous. So naturally, a year into my wig wearing journey, I did what I always wanted to do, and chose to go permanently blonde.

Choosing the right ‘transitional’ blonde

I didn’t want to jump straight to a drastic colour like an icy platinum with my very first blonde wig, so going the safer route with a natural blonde blend seemed like the right fit for my neutral skin tone. My first blonde was Jon Renau’s then best seller, 12FS8 Shaded Praline; the perfect honey-platinum blonde blend with a dark brown root. 

These blended tones are the types of shades that will suit literally everyone and are perfect if you are transitioning from a blond to a brunette, or vice-versa! 

I felt confident from the get-go with this transitional blonde and over the course of my hair colour evolution, I eventually tried so many different blonde hues and tones. After some trial and error, I landed on my newest favourites which are the cooler toned icy platinum’s.

Pink hair is more than just a trend

Coloured wigs are so on trend and most wig manufacturers have come out with fun fashion colours. But pink hair for me was always more than just a trend. It was the last ‘colour’ I dyed my bio-hair before hair loss and is the colour I find myself most emotionally invested to.

So, after I got the hang of being a blonde, I went on the hunt for my fantasy rose-gold pink wig. 

Now you might be thinking that a 40-year-old woman is too old to be wearing pink wigs – the answer is a categorical no! Coloured wigs are for all ages, whether you want one fun wig as part of your wig arsenal to wear on certain occasions, or if it’s because you want to change hair colour like you change your socks. 

If Madonna can wear pink hair in her 60s, who’s stopping you? It’s all about personality and owning it! 

My wig picks of the month.

This month I wanted to share some of the shades I reach for across the different tones

1. Warm Blonde – Longing for Long in Shaded Golden Wheat (SS14/88) from Raquel Welch. One of my newer transitional blondes that would be perfect on all skin tones.
2. Cool Silver-Blonde – Stumptown in Roca Margarita Blonde from Belle Tress. A pale silver blonde transitional shade ideal for someone who wears blondes and is looking to try a silver-light grey toned shade
3. Warm Brunette – January in Toffee Truffle (FS6/30/27) from Jon Renau. A brown-auburn blend that can be worn all year round and is reminiscent of decadent dark chocolate with an indulgent syrup filling
4. Warm fashion Pink – Orchid in Smokey Rose from Estetica Designs. A unique hazy pink-apricoty toned shade. Whilst it’s not a traditional pink, it would be perfect for platinum lovers who want to try a more fun hue. 

Written by Kim Stamiris | @kim_stam

I’m an Australian-based wig and makeup enthusiast, living with alopecia universalis, who is on a mission to support and help people with hair loss feel fabulous about themselves, using a little genuine insider know-how and some tips & tricks I have picked up on my own personal journey.