Match your hair colour shade in three easy steps
How do I match my hair colour?
Whether you're a seasoned home hair colourer or considering giving it a go for the first time, it’s can be hard to know where to start on selecting the right shade. We hear this a lot from our community. So we thought we'd share Josh's expertise on how to navigate and land on the your best colour match.
What is my base hair colour?
Josh sat down with our friend Minal to break it down. And the first question - are you naturally lighter and blonde or darker and brunette?
Josh: Answering this is the first steer. Our system is very simple, we sell 12 shades from natural black to blonde, and our numbering runs from 2.0 (natural black) to 9.0 (lightest blonde). The next steps below will get you closer to the number that best fits you.
Step 1: Identify your base colour?
The way to do this is to look at the roots of your hair. Check right at the base of your partings, at the top of your head and along the hairline in your root regrowth. Even if you’re grey – you’ll still see pieces of hair that are your natural pigmented hair in this area and this the colour we want to match to.
How do I match my natural hair colour?
Super important: Match the colour you’re trying to create (the colour swatch on the box) to the roots of your hair, not your ends. And to get the ideal result and hair dye colour match, your root colour should be as close as possible to the colour you’re trying to achieve.
How do I get my roots to match the rest of my hair? Should roots be darker than the rest of hair?
Josh Wood Colour doesn’t deliver dramatic transformations in hair colour, it's designed to covers 100% grey, giving you beautiful, modern, natural colour, and shiny, nourished hair. If you’re looking to go drastically lighter or darker than your natural colour, we always recommend visiting a salon.
Step 2: How grey you are?
To assess your grey, look at the roots of your hair across the temples, underneath your hair. This is where you will see the pattern of greying. This is important because it will show you the areas you need to apply the permanent colour to first, and leave for the longest. You don’t need to apply permanent colour to your ends – they already have plenty of colour! Josh recommends only combing colour through to your ends for the last 5-10 minutes of the 30 minute process time. This prevents ends looking too dark and heavy.
If you’re only just starting to grey, it may not be time to begin permanently colouring your hair. There are other options for you, such as our semi-permanent treatment gloss or root concealers.
Step 3. Choose if you’d like to have a cool or warm finish.
You need to look at the overall colour of your hair (roots plus ends) to make this choice and it's personal. Do you love your hair to have a warm, rich finish or a cool shade without a hint of brassiness or warmth? Our Shade Shot is Josh's pioneering colour innovation that allows you to customise your colour finish and achieve a result unique to you. The clever pigment technology deposits colour where needed in your hair to create a natural-looking, multi-dimensional finish.
To add cool or warm individual tones, choose from Icy,Smoky, Champagne or Chestnut from the Shade Shot range, and mix into your Permanent Colour Kit before applying.
If you’re a brunette who hates brassiness try Smoky Brunette, or if you love warm tones try Chestnut Brunette.
If you’re a blonde who wants a sun-kissed result try Champagne Blonde, or if you want a cool, ashy finish try Icy Blonde.
Upgrade your colour to The Miracle System, so you can protect hair's condition and health while you colour. Plus, save 15% off every order when you subscribe.
Need a little more help? The personal consultation tool will take you through this process step by step - with visual references! Still unsure? Send a photo of your hair to expert@joshwoodcolour.com and our team of professional colourists are on hand to help.