Weird and crazy hair colors are quite popular nowadays, and for good reasons – they are eye-catching, refreshing, they allow you to drastically and yet easily change your whole outlook, and they are getting more and more accepted and recognized by society. Unless you live in an explicitly conservative and close-minded town or area, going for some unusual hair colors will usually be a great idea. And even then – why not introduce those around you to the new millennia, considering that it’s been around for almost two decades by now?
Answering the “What unnatural color should I dye my hair?” question can be a little more complicated than a lot of people give it credit, however. It sounds easy at first – you just think of your favorite unnatural hair color and go for it. In reality, however, there are quite a few other factors to consider.
So, let’s go over a few unnatural hair color ideas and considerations to help you decide exactly which color is the best one for you.
Figure out whether your skin tone and eyes color put you in the warm or cool color category.
This is the most frequently and yet most important step when it comes to choosing your hair color – are your skin and eyes in the cool or warm categories? There are several things to keep in mind here so let’s go over both categories one after the other.
The warm category
If your skin tone and eyes fall in the warm category, there are several things that will be present:
- Your eye color will be golden brown, green or greenish-blue, turquoise, or gold hazel.
- Your skin tone will be either ruddy, freckled pale with goldish or peach overtones, or brown with either gold or pink overtones.
- Your natural hair color will be red, strawberry blond, deep brown with either gold or red highlights, or grey with a yellow cast.
For people in the warm category darker colors such as chestnut, auburn shades, warm brown, golden and red, or golden blond work best as dying options. These may not sound overly exciting if you’re looking for something truly bizarre and out-of-the-box but blueish, violet, ash-based or other cool colors will likely make your skin look washed out.
The cool category
If you are in the cool category you can expect your skin tone, eye color, and natural hair color to fall somewhere along these lines:
- Your eye color will be deep brown, light hazel, grayish-blue or dark blue.
- Your skin tone will be one of the following – olive or very dark, medium-light skin tones with golden overtones, pale skin with pink overtones, or pale skin with no color in the cheeks.
- Your natural hair color, if you’re in the cool category, will be something like blueish black, deep brown, golden brown or medium ash brown, white, or dishwasher blond.
For people in the cool category gold, red, yellow, and bronze tones down work too well. Instead, Shiny black, blue, purple, silver, cool blonds or ash brown colors tend to be the best.
Consider the color wheel
We’ve all learned about the color wheel in school. It may have seemed pointless at the time but if you want to dye your hair you’d do best to give it a second look before you start. The thing about the color wheel is that colors on the opposite sides of it tend to complement each other and combine in unexpected ways. For example, if you have golden blond hair and you want to dye it blue, you may end up with green hair instead.
To avoid situations such as these you’ll either need to thoroughly bleach your hair – a procedure that’s very time-consuming as well as extremely damaging to your hair. Or, you’d want to work with the color wheel instead of against it.
Picking colors that complement your natural hair color will limit your options but will make for much better and easier results. For example, you can get rid of certain overtones from your hair such as red or brassy tones by using an ashy or greenish dye. This will change your hair color quite easily and effectively.
Keep in mind that darker hair requires a lot of lighting while blond is tricky color-wise
If you have very dark hair that you want to change in color quite drastically, you’ll need a lot of bleaching. Working with a professional hairstylist is a must in these cases as it will not only make the whole process faster and easier but much safer as well.
Blondes don’t have it much easier, however, as while their hair is easier to lighten up, the blond color is much trickier to color. The most common mistake most blondes do when dyeing their hair at home is ending up with green hair. We’re not saying that green hair is something bad – if that’s your goal then great – but if it’s not, you should’ve probably contacted a professional hairstylist first as well.
Consider your profession/career as well
Now for the real-life stuff. We are very much supportive of any hairstyle/color choice people make, however, not everyone is that accepting. If you’re working in a corporate environment or another niche that relies too much on your contact with people outside of the artistic or alternative spheres, truly bizarre or unnatural hair color can be a detriment. Or, if you play your cards well, it can be a benefit as well. Either way, social implications should be considered.
Think about your budget
As we alluded above, some hair colors are harder to achieve and maintain certain natural hair colors. If you want to go for a crazy and unnatural hair color that will require a lot of bleaching and then frequent maintenance and professional support keep in mind that this will cost you quite a bit of money as well – hairstylists are not cheap, after all.
