Your hair is one of the first things people see when they look at you and one of the first things you notice when you look at yourself in the mirror. Like it or not our choice in hairstyle and colour plays a significant role in how people perceive us and in many cases how we feel about ourselves. Find out how to pick the perfect hair colour and what styles are most flattering for you…
Hair Styles
Often people want to know what their hairstyle options are – what will suit their face shape is the most often asked question? In this video, Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I discuss the 5 essential questions you should answer before you cut your hair or choose a hairstyle! Face shape is just one element of the equation, discover the other four that are important to consider when discussing your hairstyle options with your hairdresser.
Ideally, you want to think about creating a balanced appearance and hair works just like clothing, using the optical illusion of horizontal to widen (or balance) and vertical lines to lengthen and elongate. I created a series of ideal hair styles based on face shape.
 Round Shape
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 Square Shape
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 Diamond Shape
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 Oval Shape
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 Oblong Shape |
 Rectangle Shape |
 Heart Shape |
 Pear / Triangle / Teardrop |
Hair Colour
When you are thinking about your hair colour, the first consideration is always your skin. You want to find a hair colour that flatters your complexion. In fact hair, as it’s so close to the face, really will reflect onto the face and can make you look washed out or bright and healthy
Your perfect hair color isn’t a whim or a trend but picking the wrong shade can be an expensive and frustrating experience. Finding the right shade can be hard for anyone, a good colourist will always work with your skin tone to give you a colour that complements your skin.
Changing your hair colour can be fun and give you whole new look and attitude. There are two main ways to change your hair colour; Block colour – where a dye is applied to the roots and all over the hair to give full coverage OR high/low lights where separate strands of hair are coloured for a natural look. Block colour has many benefits and is easier to apply (great for darker colours and hiding a few greys) but it does require touch ups every 4-6 weeks or much more frequently if you have 50% grey or more.
For those of you thinking about going lighter, there are additional things you need to consider when choosing a shade of blonde. One of the most important things to consider when making the decision to go blonde is the condition of the hair. It needs to be healthy. Skin tone is another factor that is hugely important when choosing your blonde, especially when looking at the shade and placement of the colour.
For those of you going lighter, not by choice but through the aging process, there can be some adjustments. Your contrast levels will change and your colouring becomes cooler. You still need to keep your colours on the warm end of the warm/cool divide, as otherwise you will look washed out and pale. But you may need to add in some elements of coolness to tone with your hair. Colour choice aside, your hair texture also influences how you should colour your hair.
Hair Texture
What kinds of styles work well with your natural texture versus which ones will take more styling and product?
Then relating this back to your lifestyle requirements (the questions above) your hairdresser will get a better idea of the possible cuts that will work for you.
- Curls versus straight hair
- Coarse versus fine hair
- Cowlicks
- Crowns
- Direction of hair growth
All these elements will influence the kinds of cuts that work best for the physical elements of your hair.
Virtual Makeovers
If you’re worried about how a new you will look, try a virtual makeover first. It’s completely reversible, it’s free, and it might inspire you to make the changes you’re considering. The website I used in this post is not longer working but an alternative is StyleCaster Virtual Makeover
Great article! I have gradually come to many of these conclusions myself. Now age 66, about half of my once very dark, warm brown hair is grey. This greying process started in my forties and orginally used to just put a semi permanent colour on at home, then in my fifties it became a permanent dye, as the roots were coming through about every 6-8 weeks. By 60ish, the dark brown felt too harsh (first saw it on a passport photo!) and so went for lighter, mid gold brown shade, that unfortunately faded to orange (so I looked like a tom cat!) within weeks. Fortunately, I found a good, not too expensive hairdressers, where we worked out between us that I needed to be a mixture of cool and warm tones with subtle highlight through the grey bits, which actually lasts longer and looks loads softer. I still have pale, slight peachy toned skin, but my once very deep olive eyes have cooled to grey-grey, so realize needed to factor in these changes; still a bit of a work in progress, as trying, with varying success, to adjust my clothing colours to tone in with the new haircolour. Your website in one of the best resources to help with these changing colours through life, so a big thanks from me personally, and I’m sure, many others as well!
Thanks so much Trisha!
Since just about no one in the world can actually get their hair cut or coloured right now, I’m not sure how relevant this particular post is right now.
There are some parts of the world that still have hairdressers open – and they will open again at some stage – so nothing wrong with thinking about your hair and where you want to take it in the future!
I find this post very relevant right now. My hairdressers is closed but some local shops sell hair dye, and I have access to scissors, a mirror and family members … we might just experiment. 😁 Thanks, Imogen.
I just did my son’s hair -and my husband is after a cut too! I told him it might not be so great