Hair color for color. General information on characteristics

1. The paint must be chosen from a professional line, ammonia-free. There is an opinion that ammonia-free hair dye does not cover gray hair - this is not true. Many brands have special products just for gray hair. An example of ammonia-free paint is Wella Color Touch, Casting Creme Gloss Loreal, Revlon Color Silk, Wellaton, Lumene Cutrin, Vivasan and others.

2. For many, including me, the number on the box or on the palette in the salon was, up to a certain point, nothing more than a set of numbers. I was literally enlightened into this mystery of signs! And I will explain to those who still do not understand. And I hope I do it right, I’m not a pro, but the pros explained it to me. Therefore, if everything with the story turns out well, that’s their plus, and if it’s bad, then it’s my minus :)

I'm starting a theory on hair coloring.

Regular numbers, without additional, so to speak, fractional numbers, look like this

This is the level of tone depth. Those. Using this number, roughly speaking, we will choose whether we will have blond hair or darker hair. Depth essentially represents the same thing for all brands, but it can be called differently. Usually

• 1 is black
• 2 - lighter, i.e. very dark brown (yes, very dark), for example, this is what Lumene Cutrin paint calls this color.
• 3 - even lighter, i.e. just dark brown
• 4 - brown. It can be called brown instead of brown (very dark brown, dark brown, brown), which does not change the essence.
• 5 - light brown/light brown
• 6 - dark blond/dark blond
• 7 is the level of tone depth - light brown, it is lighter than dark blonde / just blonde - but this is not the white hair color that is associated with blondes! It's darker.
• 8 - light brown, also known as light blond
• 9 - very light brown
• 10 - pastel blond / pastel blond / light light blond (That’s what Casting Creme Gloss Loreal calls) / very light platinum blond / bright blond (at Wella Color Touch)

That is, if you want to change your hair color, but are afraid that “blackness will suddenly appear” or “the color will suddenly be too light,” then you are worried about the depth of the color. Then you need to take a shade from your range. For example, you dyed your hair at tone depth level 5, which is light brown/light brown. Your dye was number 5.7 To avoid your hair being too dark, don’t go down to tone 4, you can experiment with the shade and take 5.6, 5.5, 5.8, etc. - everything is at tone depth level 5. Later I’ll tell you about the meaning of the second number.

The same thing - if you don’t want to lighten it, don’t go up from level 5 to level 6.

3. The second number in the number indicates the shade. If the second number is zero (1.0, 2.0, 3.0...) - these are natural shades, natural tone. Any brand of paint.

• 1 - (for example 2.1, 3.1) - the shade contains a blue pigment, some paints call the shade ashy. Number 1 will not give you the “red” color that many are afraid of after the paint has washed off a little.
• 2 - the shade contains green. Lumene Cutrin calls this number - matte series. “Ryzhin” won’t give it either.
• 3 - golden hue, yellow pigment
• 4 - mahogany row / copper row - red-orange pigment
• 5 - mahogany/red - called by different names - red-violet pigment
• 6 - violet-blue pigment
• 7 - beige pigment
• 8 - brown-violet pigment

The names, I repeat, may change for different paints, but the essence is approximately the same.

If, for example, you painted with 5.4 paint (tone depth level - light chestnut, copper shade, red, orange pigment), it washed off and gave you a “reddish” appearance. You don't like 5.4 anymore and you don't know how to get rid of the red hair. At the same time, you don’t want deeper hair – you don’t want it darker or lighter. So, choose from tone depth level 5, while looking at the shade that will “overwhelm” the red color. For this purpose, the theory of hair coloring has a special Oswald color wheel and the theory of neutralization.

4. Look, our 4 is located in the orange sector, everything is correct. She gave the redhead. See below - 4ku neutralizes green color well. You can try blue too.

So we take paint 5.2 or 5.1. 5.6 - with a violet-blue pigment - will not be critical, but it is used to neutralize a more yellowish tint.

Paints 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 will only make the situation worse.

Always look at Oswald's color wheel.

5. To neutralize or, conversely, to emphasize a particular shade, there are also mixtons. They carry pigments. In the previous example, in order to remove the consequences of 5.4 (get rid of the red color), you could take 5.2 paint and add a blue-green mixton. Mixtons start with the first digit 0.

If we want to get a lighter level of depth, for example, we had 8.3 - light brown with a golden tint, but we want a light blonde (9), then we can mix our usual 8.3 with pure mixton 0.0 - this will give us a tone depth level of 9. And with This won't damage your hair too much.

• 1.5 - 3% - will tint, color the tone to match or make it a little darker. For example, we were at the 5th depth level and wanted the 4th. We take oxide 3%. This oxide will not cover gray hair.
• 3-6% is a more durable, deep coloring. It can make hair darker, permanently tone-on-tone (slightly gray hair) or give us a lighter tone. We had 5, we want 6 - we need 6% oxide.
• 9% - For very gray hair - tone on tone. Or for 2 levels of lightening. We had 5, we wanted 7.
• There is also a higher oxide of 10-12% - It can lighten hair even by 3 tones. But I wouldn’t experiment with this at home.

At the same time, the exposure time of the dye on the hair is from 20-30 minutes to an hour. For light toning, 1.5-3% oxide and 30 minutes are suitable.

For permanent coloring, increase the percentage of oxide and the exposure time.

It turns out that hair coloring is a theory and pure mathematics! Knowing the depth, tone, pigment contained in the paint and the percentage of oxide, you can prevent negative consequences, get rid of reddishness and experiment, achieving beautiful shades.

And one more little secret. If you want your color to play as if silvered, shimmer in the sun and twinkle, like many stars on the screen, you can cover your hair with dye (I’m using the example of Cutrin) 10.06 - it’s called silvery frost. Other brands probably have something similar, you need to look at the tone depth level of 10. It doesn’t give much color, but even on dark hair it starts to shimmer very beautifully. Use oxide 3%, time 25-30 minutes.

article prepared by: Galina Chepurnaya

There are more than a hundred shades of caramel hair color, so every girl, before buying dye or visiting a hairdresser, should study fashion magazines and well-known online publications to find “her” tone. After all, caramel can not only decorate a woman, but also highlight the flaws in her face.

Who is caramel color suitable for?

Given the diversity of celebrities, any girl, if desired, can find an actress or famous TV presenter similar to her. It’s quite difficult to evaluate yourself, but a detached look from the outside will help you decide on the choice of shade. After all, famous ladies often change their image, changing in one evening beyond recognition. So you need to find in the luggage of your star “twin” the period when she wore caramel and honey and soberly evaluate which tone suited her best.

And who does this color suit “in theory”? Caramel suits girls with “Autumn” and “Spring” color types.

The color scheme of “Autumn” is considered the most pronounced in comparison with other color types. A characteristic feature of this type is the absence of a pink undertone on the face. The skin can have a pale or almost olive tint, but at the same time it is always clean, dense, elastic, without acne or other flaws. The only nuance is the golden freckles, but they can be considered just a cute feature. The look is always bright, rich, but the color scheme is different: from amber, brown eyes to blue eyes.

As for hair, its palette is varied, but usually lies between light red and dark chestnut (coffee) shades. Nature itself gently pushes autumn women towards caramel. After all, this color will fit perfectly on light red and copper strands.

The main star representatives of the autumn color type are considered to be Julia Roberts, Gisele Budchen, Ashley Olsen, Drew Barrymore and Carmen Electra. As can be seen from various photos, the light honey shade suits them very well, and repainting them in a different color, for example, black, practically disfigured the star beauties. If a girl is anything like one of these actresses, she should take a closer look at caramel paint and match her clothes and lipstick to it.

The color scheme of “Spring” is somewhat similar to autumn, but it is not so bright and rich. All spring colors are somewhat muted and blurred. Reminiscent of viscous soft toffee in cream syrup. The eyes are light in various shades: from sky blue to light amber. The skin is thin and velvety, it turns red easily, although it does not become covered with unsightly spots, but seems to glow warmly from within.

Spring girls also have scatterings of freckles on their faces, but they are almost invisible. This type is characterized by thin blond hair of various color ranges, for example, light walnut.

There are extremely many representatives of the “Spring” color type among actresses. Gentlemen and the public prefer blondes, and there are a lot of them among spring girls. For example this:

• Nicole Kidman;
• Anna Kournikova;
• Valeria;
• Jodie Foster;
• Cameron Diaz;
• Glucose;
• Kate Hudson.

All of them suit caramel shades, but as soon as they were repainted black, mustard-burnt or dark brown, the appearance changed for the worse.

And who is not suitable?

But caramel is not favorable to everyone; it can only spoil some women. This applies to the “Winter” and “Summer” color types. Summer girls are sometimes confused with spring girls, because both are blondes. But blonde, which belongs to the “Summer” color type, has a cooler palette. The skin of girls of this type has a reddish tint and green eyes.

They can boast of a typical Slavic appearance:

• Natalya Vodyanova;
• Milla Jovovich;
• Kirnsten Dunst;
• Jennifer Aniston;
• Sasha Pivovarova.

A caramel shade will only emphasize the reddish color of the skin, so girls of this type should choose a different palette for coloring.

The color scheme of “Winter” is light-cold, porcelain. A woman of this color type practically came out of a cartoon or photo about the Snow Queen, but only with dark, sometimes plum-colored hair. Classic winter women include Monica Bellucci, Penelope Cruz, Sandra Bullock, Demi Moore and Megan Fox. Did any of the above suit a light honey shade of hair? So the Snow Queen shouldn’t experiment with colors that don’t suit her.

Examples of popular shades with photos

But what shade of caramel will look most advantageous on the curls of a spring or autumn beauty? Here again the stars and typical classifications of the entire honey palette will come to the rescue.

Light caramel

This shade is based on a standard blonde that gradually fades into luminous beige and gold. The richer the palette at the base, the better. When caramel is applied to the base, the hair will begin to shimmer from brown to sandy shades. Ideally, the color at the roots should be slightly darker than the ends of the hair. In this case, the hairstyle will acquire additional visual volume, which girls of the spring color type lack.

Light caramel shade is one of the most difficult colors in the palette. It cannot be obtained at home. Some girls believe that to get light caramel it is enough to bleach the strands and then apply caramel dye. But with this sequence, you will only get golden hair with an easily visible reddish tint. If you want to make a rich, shimmery light caramel color, you need to use a multi-stage light base.

Dark caramel

It suits all dark-skinned and dark-skinned women, creating an overall “chocolate” look. To achieve the right color, you need to take a light brown shade as a base and apply caramel dye to your hair. But when dyeing blond hair even a shade darker, you need to proceed with caution. It is better to dye your hair gradually so as not to spoil it with a sudden transition and not miss the shade that is most suitable for your face type. If you don't miss the tone, it will turn out gorgeous.

If the light caramel peach shade is more suitable for princesses, then the dark caramel shade is created for queens. And for young girls with light transparent skin, dark caramel looks too unnatural.

Honey-caramel

Honey caramel suits all spring girls with light brown hair and light eyes. If a girl has bright dark eyes, then a similar hair color will make the image somewhat unnatural, and the general message of caramel color is maximum naturalness. The honey-caramel shade differs from the previous one in the abundance of red and even rust, but the golden shade will soften the aggressive red, creating a sort of lush crown of fallen autumn leaves on the head.

Caramel black

At first glance, this shade resembles a dark one, but upon closer examination, play and complex color transitions become visible, which are difficult for a non-professional hairdresser to achieve. Experts call it the most delicious and spicy caramel color, although too much time is spent on its creation, because in addition to the standard coloring, it is necessary to choose the base shade of the hair so that the hairstyle looks expensive and status.

Chocolate-caramel

This shade can make any girl with an autumn or spring color type dazzling, but it will look more impressive against the background of bronze and tanned skin. Alternatively, a brown-haired woman returning from vacation can dye her hair with caramel chocolate, almond, carioca or cappuccino to further emphasize her tan. For example, Jennifer Lopez or Beyoncé.

Also, this shade of marzipan is suitable for girls with a dull appearance or simply those who prefer light makeup. Since the entire emphasis of the image will be concentrated on the hair, very pale skin is acceptable with this hair color. Technically, this color can be obtained by mixing several red, milky and chocolate shades and using the shatush technology.

Golden caramel

This hair shade is probably the most natural in the entire palette of caramel colors. It is similar to wheat, but brighter and shimmering. If a blonde wants to change herself a little, then with just a couple of tinted balms she can become golden caramel, latte or camel color with cinnamon for a while to understand whether she should change her color completely or not. This delicate tone, when applied correctly, has pronounced golden and copper notes.

The main disadvantage of the shade is that it often blends in with a tan, so all girls with bronze skin need to carefully choose the right tone for painting. Ideal for highlighted hair. Plays beautifully in the rays of daylight.

Caramel-ash

Looks ideal on naturally light hair, but to increase the glow effect you can apply macchiato coloring to individual strands. This tone is suitable only for brown-eyed owners of impeccably clean linen skin. The right tone can only be achieved in a salon.

If you try to dye your hair a caramel color with an ashy tint on your own, you can damage it. The technology of combining ash and caramel shades is quite complex; not all professional craftsmen master it. If there are obvious errors in technology, the hair will end up with something like flour or sugar, rather than a uniform, beautiful color.

Is it possible to dye gray hair with caramel?

Caramel color will perfectly cover gray hair. Moreover, it is not necessary to immediately achieve a dark caramel color. To begin with, it will be enough to take any tinted shampoo with the desired honey tone and apply it to your hair, and then rinse it off. Ideally, the gray hair will be unevenly but stylishly covered with golden or nutty-honey patches, which will contrast beautifully with the white background.

You should not even try to dye your gray hair caramel colors yourself, since this technology has several stages. Violation of one of them will lead to incorrect tinting of the entire head. After all, in fact, pearlescent gray hair is the same as bleached hair.

Fashionable shades of the current season

Fashion still places an emphasis on naturalness, which is why caramel shades of hair are in trend. In addition to caramel, there was, is and will be popular amber, Californian highlights for medium hair and balayage. Fashion values ​​individuality, so it does not make any adjustments to colors, only to the style and quality of the hairstyle. There is no need for meaningless pictures, we need a simple harmonious image. You can mix textures and colors, but carefully and as naturally as possible.

What hairstyles are suitable for caramel hair color?

The presentation of caramel on the hair is based on the play of light and tone, which is what needs to be emphasized with a multi-layered hairstyle. The haircut should be layered, wavy and flowing, maybe with dark roots. Moreover, the length is not so important, although, of course, long light honey hair with tints looks impressive.

All short haircuts should have volume at the roots. Hair can be combed back or curled, but caramel color does not tolerate slickness. It's better to turn the hairstyle into a lot of African American curls!

Medium-length hair can be cut into a multi-level bob with a ladder and curled at the ends. Also, for caramel shades of hair, all kinds of curls and ombre look good.

If you managed to keep your hair long, then after dyeing it in a warm caramel shade, it will shimmer and sparkle in the sun. It’s better not to do anything with such a length; you can just curl it slightly at the ends and lift it above the roots. Then the hairstyle will look as natural as possible.

Choosing caramel: paints and balms

Which paint to choose so that the color is maximally rich, bright and stylish? None, since only a professional hairdresser can make the right caramel. This is not dyeing in one tone, but a complex multi-stage process; it is better not to experiment. Caramel hair color does not always look expensive and rich; if you break the technology, you can get a zebra instead of soft tints.

The easiest way to add a caramel shade to your hair is with a balm. You can buy a product of absolutely any brand, for example, Tonic, Londa, Faberlic, Palet or Wella. It is better to choose a tone based on your natural hair color. For example, a golden caramel shade is suitable for blondes, and a dark shade for brunettes. When applying the balm, you should always rely on the instructions, do not overexpose the product to maintain a brighter color, and wash it off exactly when it is supposed to according to the rules.

The most interesting hair dyes in caramel shades include:

• Estel ESSEX Shade 8/74 – light blond brown-copper (Caramel);
• Garnier Color Naturals (Garner Color Naturals) Shade 6.34 Caramel;
• Garnier paint - GarnierNutrisse Crème Caramel;
• Cies paint – caramel blonde;
• Caramello capsule – shade 7.8 Caramel or Caramello;
• L'Oreal Casting Caramel - ammonia-free paint;
• Estelle paint;
• Pallet Mother of Pearl;
• Palette Caramel Preference;
• some henna color shades.

This is a small palette of colors. But any hairdresser should have his own experience, working formulas, proven paint numbers and views on the ideal caramel color. He will help you choose the right shade or apply bronzing. But you shouldn’t paint yourself.

Caramel is an expensive and complex, maybe even a status shade. If you don’t have enough money for a good specialist, then you shouldn’t turn yourself into a queen using improvised methods without professional paints (L’Oreal paint is good, of course, but it’s better to use more expensive products). It’s better to save up and get a beautiful hair color for a long time. After all, you can never be sure which dye is suitable for a particular hair condition.

How to maintain the shine of caramel: care rules

To maintain the bright highlights of caramel hair, you need to take proper care of it. It is unacceptable to wash your hair with a simple shampoo that has not been selected according to your hair type and dyeing method. 90% of popular hair products contain ingredients that weaken hair, making it brittle and dull. If there are similar inscriptions on a bottle of shampoo:

• sodium lauryl sulfate;
• sodium laureth sulfate;
• coco sulfate;

then you need to throw away the bottle. It is better to use shampoos without such compounds. Such medicinal cosmetics can be found in pharmacies, beauty salons and hairdressers.

As for special hair masks, all soothing herbal and oil masks will do; there are many recipes. Sometimes you can rinse your hair in a decoction of chamomile flowers.

You should never wash them in hot water, and always wear a hat in the scorching sun. If this does not seem enough, you can undergo the procedure of salon slate lamination and toning, as a result of which the hair will stop deteriorating.

Marina Ignatieva

Reading time: 16 minutes

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Millions of women all over the world are constantly faced with the problem of difficult choice of hair dye. The range of products is truly huge, and there’s no need to even talk about the future shade. On the box - one color, on the hair it turns out completely different. And few people know that you can determine the future shade simply by the numbers on the box...

What do the numbers in hair dye numbers mean - useful tables of dye shade numbers

When choosing paint, each woman is guided by her own criteria. For one, the decisive factor is brand awareness, for another - the price criterion, for the third - the originality and attractiveness of the packaging or the presence of a balm in the kit.

But as for choosing the shade itself, everyone is guided by the photo posted on the packaging. At least, on the name.

And rarely will anyone pay attention to the small numbers that are printed next to the beautiful (like “chocolate smoothie”) name of the shade. Although these numbers give us a complete picture of the presented shade.

So, what you didn't know and what you should remember...

What do the numbers on the box say?

On the main part of the shades presented by various brands, the tones are indicated by 2-3 numbers. For example, “5.00 Dark Blonde”.

• Under the 1st number this implies the depth of the main color (note - usually from 1 to 10).
• Under the 2nd number - basic color tone (note - the number comes after the dot or fraction).
• Under the 3rd number - additional shade (approx. - 30-50% of the main shade).

When marked with only one or 2 digits it is assumed that there are no shades in the composition, and the tone is exceptionally pure.

Let's decipher the depth of the main color:

• 1 - refers to the color black.
• 2 - to dark-dark chestnut.
• 3 - to dark chestnut.
• 4 - to chestnut.
• 5 - to light chestnut.
• 6 - to dark blond.
• 7 - to the fair-haired one.
• 8 - to light brown.
• 9 - to very light brown.
• 10 - to light light brown (that is, light blond).

Individual manufacturers may also add 11th or 12th tone- these are already super-lightening hair dyes.

Next, we decipher the number of the main shade:

• Under the number 0 a range of natural tones is assumed.
• Number 1: there is a blue-violet pigment (approx. - ash row).
• Number 2: there is a green pigment (approx. - matte series).
• Number 3: there is a yellow-orange pigment (note - golden row).
• Number 4: there is copper pigment (note - red row).
• Under the number 5: there is a red-violet pigment (approx. - mahogany row).
• Number 6: there is a blue-violet pigment (approx. - purple row).
• Under the number 7: there is a red-brown pigment (note - natural base).

It should be remembered that 1st and 2nd shades are classified as cold, others - warm.

We decipher the 3rd number on the box - additional shade

If this number is present, it means your paint contains additional shade , the amount of which relative to the main color is 1 to 2 (sometimes there are other proportions).

• Number 1- ashy shade.
• Number 2- purple tint.
• Number 3- gold.
• Number 4- copper.
• Under the number 5- mahogany shade.
• Number 6- red tint.
• Under the number 7- coffee.

Some manufacturers indicate color using letters, not numbers(specifically Pallet).

They are deciphered as follows:

• Under the letter C you will find an ashy color.
• Under PL— platinum.
• Under A- super brightening.
• Under N- natural color.
• Under E- beige.
• Under M- matte.
• Under W- Brown color.
• Under R- red.
• Under G- gold.
• Under K- copper.
• Under I- intense color.
• And under F,V- violet.

Has gradation and paint fastness level . It is also usually indicated on the box (just in a different place).

For example…

• Under the number "0" paints with a low level of durability are encrypted - paint “for a while” with a short-term effect. That is, tinted shampoos and mousses, sprays, etc.
• Number "1" speaks of a tint product without ammonia and peroxide in the composition. These products refresh colored hair and add shine.
• Number "2" will tell you about the semi-permanence of the paint, as well as the presence of peroxide and, sometimes, ammonia in the composition. Durability - up to 3 months.
• Number "3" - these are the most durable paints, radically changing the base color.

On a note:

1. "0" before the number (for example, “2.02”): the presence of natural or warm pigment.
2. The more "0" (for example, “2.005”), the more natural the shade.
3. "0" after the number (for example, “2.30”): color saturation and brightness.
4. Two identical digits after the dot (for example, “5.22”): pigment concentration. That is, enhancing the additional shade.
5. The more "0" after the point , the better the shade will cover gray hair.

Examples of decoding of the hair color palette - how to choose the right number?

To understand the information obtained above, let’s look at it using specific examples.

• Shade "8.13" , presented as light brown beige (Loreal Excellence paint). The number “8” indicates a light brown color scheme, the number “1” indicates the presence of an ashy shade, the number “3” indicates the presence of a golden shade (there is 2 times less of it than an ashy shade).
• Shade “10.02” , presented as light light brown delicate. The number “10” indicates a tone depth such as “light blond”, the number “0” indicates the presence of natural pigment, and the number “2” is a matte pigment. That is, the color will end up being very cold, and without red/yellow shades.
• Shade "10.66" , called Polar (approx. - Estel Love Nuance palette). The number “10” indicates a light-blond color scheme, and two “sixes” indicate the concentration of purple pigment. That is, the blonde will turn out with a purple tint.
• Shade "WN3" , referred to as “golden coffee” (approx. Palette cream paint). In this case, the letter “W” indicates a brown color, the letter “N” indicates its naturalness (approx. - similar to the zero after a dot in conventional digital encoding), and the number “3” indicates the presence of a golden hue. That is, the color will ultimately be warm - natural brown.
• Shade “6.03” or Dark blond . The number “6” shows us a “dark brown” base, “0” indicates the naturalness of the future shade, and with the number “3” the manufacturer adds a warm golden nuance.
• Shade "1.0" or "Black" . This option is without auxiliary nuances - there are no additional shades here. And “0” indicates exceptional naturalness of color. That is, in the end the color turns out to be pure deep black.

Of course, in addition to the designations in the numbers indicated on the factory packaging, you should also take into account the characteristics of your hair. Be sure to take into account the fact of pre-coloring, highlighting, or simply.

The site site thanks you for your attention to the article! We will be very pleased if you share your feedback and tips in the comments below.

When choosing a hair dye, women usually pay attention to the hair color of the model, which is shown on the packaging, then to the name of the dye, and at the very end to the numbers of the shade of the hair dye. And many people don’t pay any attention to it at all.

As a result, we bring home a package of paint with a beautiful color on the box and an attractive name like “dark chocolate” or “hazelnut.” But after dyeing, the paint does not live up to our expectations, because the shade is not at all like dark chocolate.

I want to help all the girls who want to choose the right paint and choose the shade that they expect to see on themselves.

To do this, first of all you need to look not at the picture or at the name of the paint, but at the shade numbers on the paint packaging.

The numbers on the packaging will tell you everything about the shade of the paint, you just need to figure it out. What do they mean? In this article I will talk about the universal numbering of hair dye shades, and explain what each of the numbers means.

The entire range of paint shades consists of 8 main rows:

0 – natural tones (green pigment)
1 – ash row (blue-violet pigment)
2 – matte row (green pigment)
3 – gold row (yellow-orange pigment)
4 – red row (copper pigment)
5 – mahogany row (red-violet pigment)
6 – violet row (blue-violet pigment)
7 – Havana (red-brown pigment, natural base)

The paint number usually consists of 3 digits.
The first is tone depth (from 1 to 10)
The second is the main shade
The third is an additional shade (it is usually 50% of the main one)The natural range of paints usually consists of 10 primary colors:

1.0 black color
2.0 very dark brown
3.0 dark brown
4.0 brown
5.0 light brown
6.0 dark blond
7.0 light brown
8.0 light brown
9.0 very light blond
10.0 pastel blonde

In the example given, the shade number consists of two digits, which indicates that these colors do not have additional shades. When choosing paint, you need to be guided by your color type and, on this basis, choose the depth of tone. For example, if your tone is 7, then it is advisable for you to choose a paint with the first number 7. Otherwise, the resulting tone may be too dark or light.

To make it more clear, let’s look at a specific example. Let's take a very common paint color that manufacturers call "mocha."

Usually its number is 5.75. The first number indicates that the main color 5 is light brown. The main shade is 7, that is, it belongs to the Havana series and contains a red-brown pigment. Additional shade 5 indicates the presence of a red-violet pigment (mahogany row).

There is also a very convenient table that will make it very easy to determine the color that will be obtained by mixing the main shades.

There are really a lot of subtleties in hair coloring. From assessing the current color and selecting suitable dyes, to assessing the condition of the hair and selecting suitable dyes. And yes, I didn’t describe myself, choosing the right dyes is a very important task. For it is they who determine not only the final result immediately after, but also the effect over time.

The most correct thing is to go to a hairdresser (a good one) and dye your hair well right away, and at the same time consult and determine the key points for yourself. It will be especially interesting for those who decided to dye their hair for the first time in their lives. ALTHOUGH simple monochromatic dyeing can be done quite easily on your own, but if it’s the first time in your life, if you need some complex shade, and also if your hair is weakened, if you need a radical change in color, and if home experiments don’t work out well, then it’s better to see a Master .

The difficulty for Russia is that not all masters are truly Masters. It seems to them that they have learned how to brush their hair and run a brush through their hair and that’s all at once - they can cut their hair. That's why we have white sponges and yellow blondes and green brunettes and red-haired ones. And the master (marker) stands there, waving his hands - how can this be, I did everything according to the rules, maybe you, dear client, are experiencing hormonal changes? the client firmly believes that a decently dressed girl in a decent place for $200 cannot fail, so he honestly looks for excuses for such a nice girl - yes, maybe hormonal. (hormones, such hormones). I heard this with my own ears. The main thing is that everyone is happy with this explanation. And the master doesn’t give a damn, since he got such a hormonal client (probably through one of hers), and the client is quite Happy, not purple, just think - yellow, there are many of them.

I’ve also heard (more than once) when they start telling a confused yellow blonde in a conspiratorial whisper that the paint isn’t really very good, but the director only allows her to work on this one, but I know one paint and one place, everything is very good there. professional, yes, yes, the most pro-fes-si-o-nal-no-e... and I could buy it for you" At such moments I want to answer, so that in that very place there would be more brains I bought it, or I would go somewhere to study.

And also, drop dead distribution, in Russia for sure, it has the format - Leeen, what kind of paint do you have? What number? cool color, I want that too. And I don’t care what source this color was obtained from. If it doesn’t work out, it means it didn’t work. Or - “after all, the paint is not very good.”

So, you can’t care less about the selection of dye. And you should always take your own source into account.
I talked a lot about the theory here - Although there the emphasis is primarily on the features of lightening.
I will repeat some points.

Since for some reason you have decided to dye your hair yourself, when choosing a dye you need to decide on your original color, i.e. determine the level

There are only 10 levels of natural hair colors.
1 - black
2 - dark dark chestnut
3 - dark chestnut
4 - chestnut
5 - light chestnut
6 - dark blond
7 - light brown
8- light brown
9 - very light brown
10 - very light light brown

Although you can find a classification of 11 and 12 levels, and the names of the colors may change. So light brown can be called blond, and chestnut brown. Unfortunately, there is no general manual here that one could refer to. 10 is accepted, but 11 and 12 are not prohibited. And what to call it... to a greater extent it is determined by the environment or habits.

I would also like to note that among the paints and dyes generally used are 7 natural.

The thing is that 1, 2 and 3 are almost indistinguishable in shade to the human eye. And usually level 2 is used as the darkest level, but the difference between levels 2 and 3 is not very visible. therefore, immediately 4. As for the lightest ones, 10 is practically white and is considered to be natural, i.e. in nature, i.e. without coloring, such whites do not exist (roughly the format of an albino or good discoloration, if visually). Therefore, NATURAL (I’ll even write this term in caps) in everyday life are not even 10, but only 7. And the first step to selecting the right dye is to determine the level of lightness on the scale of natural colors. This is also called “defining the base.” because we always need to understand what we will start from.

The most interesting point in a practical sense is how to determine?

Probably everyone who dyes their hair has seen books with hair dyes at their hair stylist or on a store shelf. something like this


In a quick search, Yandex photo did not give me any pictures without makeup in the foreground. The books are similar.

and there are also these “panicles” samplers

Here and there is what we are looking for.
tone designation without additional letters and numbers. Without the use of various additional pigments. Names from the natural list. On sample panicles there are designations on the handle, and in books near the curl, for example in the picture on the left, you can see orderly rows of strands, where numbers are written in large numbers without additional designations (while at the bottom left, in the middle and at the top right you can see that the numbers are with dots and additional numbers. Formally - natural shade 7.0, 6.0, shade with pigment 7.4, 6.33, etc. - for example and from the head)
What you need to do is apply your strand to natural strands and compare according to the level of lightness. Dark, even darker, lighter, even lighter, etc.

The shade will really hinder us in this. For example, ash brown or chocolate brown or copper, etc. Hue is the direction of color, natural tone is the level of lightness.

Look at the picture


I outlined the shades of level 5 with a red ribbon. Light brown or light chestnut in words. The natural lightness level in this palette is called 5.0 medium brown (in the middle). Shades at the same level are 5.3 (left) and 5.4 on top. These shades greatly interfere with visual perception; for example, red usually looks brighter and appears lighter. Ash (not here) also seems lighter. But copper ones (which are also red) may appear darker.
So the level of lightness (base) is taken into account without shades. This, of course, is difficult to immediately determine; we tend to consider our color lighter than it actually is. Because we often have shades. The most common natural levels in Russia are actually 4-6, but many tend to define their native fifth level as at least the seventh)

To determine, you can use computer graphic editors, for example, it seems to me that you can even compare them in numerical values. But on the other hand, it also seems to me that with real panicles or curls it’s simply more visual. ALTHOUGH, I understand that there are people who do not distinguish between warm and cool colors and I fully admit that it is difficult to see the level of lightness without taking into account the shade of the hair.

Why are there so many difficulties?
in order to correctly understand what kind of paint is needed.

as it usually happens - girls wander among the shelves with boxes of household paints and look out for different girls in the pictures. And they don’t pay any attention to the back of the box. nor on the encoding (numbers with the paint number). As a result, “the paint doesn’t take” or “the paint isn’t very good after all.”

on the other hand, if we start from determining our basic level of lordship, then we can easily apply all our knowledge. Namely.
The girl naturally has level 6, and she chose a very pretty girl with number 9. This means the girl needs to understand that from her 6th level she will have to lighten up by 3 levels. Can paint do this? I need to turn the box over and look

the small square at the top is the original basic level of color, but not with a number, but with a description of the color; at the bottom in the large rectangle is the result of coloring. Additionally, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the final shade will only be obtained when the original base is a natural color, without shades (i.e. not ash, not mahogany, not copper, etc.)

those. knowing our initial baseline level, we can understand whether it will “take” and even assume what difficulties we may encounter (for example)

On the other hand, it is quite possible that we do not want lightening at all and, as a result, additional efforts to eliminate unwanted shades. We may want to change slightly, within our level. And even more so - we recognize our natural level and choose dyes only among the level we need. There were 6.0 natures, we are looking for something from the 6.1 series with a touch.

I should probably write a separate post about shades and numbers after the dot. Now I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the numbers on the boxes and the back of the box are a great help for predicting the result.

I will repeat separately - all this encoding in numbers and designation in words- This not GOST for everyone! Variations in different directions are possible. Therefore, every self-respecting manufacturer and store has books with curls or sample panicles, which are needed to determine the natural level of lightness of the source, to determine the base. Base levels among manufacturers don't vary much, usually by 1 digit at most, but the names can be downright confusing. Let's say that for one manufacturer, light-haired may mean exactly light-haired, while for another it can be called blond. Therefore, when looking for options among different manufacturers, be sure to check the coordinate system (i.e., all with the same panicles or curls).