5 Genius Hacks to Select the Right Hair Extensions Color

When you pick the right color, your hair extensions are indistinguishable from your natural hair and they perfectly suit your complexion. With the wrong shade, however, they look completely out of place. To make sure you select the right color, we have five genius hacks for you.

1. Use a Color Matching Service

When you’re purchasing extensions from a store, you can use a color wheel. This will have samples of all the different tones of hair extensions, allowing you to find the perfect match.

When you’re buying online, there are no physical samples for you to use, but one option is to use a color chart, which can often be almost as effective as a color wheel.

However, you may feel more confident receiving professional support. In fact, the best hair extension retailers offer color matching services, in which they determine the right shade for you. All you’ll need to do is send a picture of yourself and the retailer will do the rest.

2. Don’t Match to Your Roots

A common rookie mistake is to look at the roots of your hair when choosing a color match. In fact, the color of your roots may be quite different from the rest of your locks, as hair changes color as it grows and is exposed to the sun.

3. Instead Match to Your Ends

The best place to match color is between the middle and ends of your hair. After all, this is the area that your extensions will mostly be covering.

4. Consider Your Skin Tone

If you want to dye your hair before applying extensions, you may be tempted to choose whatever tone appeals to you the most. In fact, it’s a better idea to think about what colors will suit your skin tone. This will ensure your new hair color looks great.

For dark skin tones, for instance, rich or warm colors are often best. Ombre hair and extensions with light highlights are particularly good choices as are vibrant red and black.

If you have pale skin, however, you may like to try a dramatic color like platinum blonde, bright red, or ginger.

Those with cool, pink skin tones often suit dark red, purple-red shades, and ash blonde.

Golden blonde is best left to those with warm skin tones.

Finally, if you have olive skin, popular options include black, dark auburn, and dark red.

5. Determine Your Undertone

No matter your skin tone, you also have either a warm, cold, or neutral undertone. There are several ways to figure out which category you fall into.

One way is to look at the veins in your wrist. If you have a cool skin tone, you’ll find that your veins appear blue or purple, whereas if you have a warm skin tone, your veins will look almost green. Those with neutral skin tones may have a mixture of both or it will be difficult to decipher.

Another option is to examine how silver and gold jewelry look against your skin. People with warm skin tones suit gold, but silver is the better choice for those with cool skin tones. If you are neutral, either will look attractive on you.

Finally, consider your natural hair color. People with cool skin tones usually have black, deep brown, or light blonde hair. If you have a warm skin tone, you are more likely to have dark blonde or brown hair. Lastly, those with neutral skin tones tend to have light brown hair or blonde hair with ashy streaks.

So, what does this all mean for hair extensions? If you have a neutral undertone, you should probably stick to natural hair shades like brown and blonde but avoid vibrant colors. Those with warm skin tones look great with bright shades, although they should avoid icy colors. If you have a cool skin tone, bright colors will work for you, too. You’ll also look fantastic with an ashy shade. Just steer clear of ginger.

If this will be your first time buying hair extensions, it’s always worthwhile to take advantage of color matching services — especially since they tend to be free. This will guarantee you pick a color you love and that suits you perfectly.