Everything a Colorist Needs to Know About The Hair Color Wheel

The Hair Color Wheel is incredibly useful to a colorist because it sets out the relationship between the major color groups.

Most importantly, it helps the colorist understand which are the cold colors and which are the warm colors.

Cold Colors : Purple, Blue, Green. Anything with a hint of these colors in them will be cold. So 2 very commonly used colors, Ash and Violet are both considered cold colors.

Warm Colors: Red, Yellow, Orange. Again, anything with a hint of these colors will be considered warm. So red colors, copper colors, golden colors are all considered warm.

Now, very importantly: the Color Wheel makes the relationship between the colors very clear.

Take a look at the arrows to understand the color complementarity. Orange is complementary (or opposite, if you like) to blue, red is complementary or opposite to green, and purple is complementary or opposite to yellow.

Knowledge of the Color Wheel helps the colorist when it comes to neutralizing undercoats, which are the warm reflects that come through when a colorist is lifting the hair level.

By referring to the color wheel, you can add in a bit of green in to your color if you are looking to neutralize red, add in blue to neutralize orange, and add in violet to neutralize yellow.

No need to have brassy hair anymore ! Just add in the complementary color and you will get your target hair color!

To learn more about this and other hair coloring topics, visit the Ugly Duckling Hair Color site :

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