Understand Hair Color Wheel To Choose Best Hair Color

Whether you want to color your hair yourself or a professional stylist, understanding the hair color wheel is fundamental. This blog will take you through the basics of color composition, so you can get the basic rules of color right and make the color you really want in the ever-changing hair color trend. We'll help you understand how to mix and match colors according to the hair color wheel, so let's start with the basics.

Ⅰ. Hair color wheel

1. Primary colors of Hair color wheel

Primary colors are colors that cannot be created in nature because they exist in nature itself, they are red, yellow and blue, we also call them the three primary colors of color.

2. Secondary colors of Hair color wheel

Secondary colors are the colors achieved by mixing primary colors together. For example, if we mix red and yellow we get orange, if we mix red and blue we get lavender purple, and if we mix blue and yellow we get green.

3. Tertiary color of Hair color wheel

tertiary color is the color obtained by mixing primary colors and secondary colors together evenly, for example, we will get some beige green, turquoise, dark purple, dark yellow, etc.

4. Complementary colors of Hair color wheel

Complementary colors exist as complementary colors, they are the colors that oppose each other in the hair color wheel, they are called complementary colors, they not only complement each other but also neutralize each other, these colors are very important when you create hair colors. For example, if you want to eliminate the orange tones in your hair we have to use a blue-based color that corresponds to it, so that you can get a neutral brown or blonde color. These complementary colors lead to the next level system we will introduce.

5. Level system and underlying pigment

The level system is used to describe the level of lightness and darkness of hair color, with lower levels meaning darker colors and higher levels meaning lighter colors. The level system is usually divided into levels, the darkest of which are brown and black, and the lightest of which is light blonde. Underlying pigment is the basic pigment that exists in our native hair, which is difficult to detect with the naked eye in everyday life, but can be clearly seen when you add a few more shades to these pigments. For example, if IDE's natural hair color is #6, which is an unobtrusive color, you can choose to take the color up a few shades to 8. And since we've learned about complementary colors on the hair color wheel, we know that purple will cancel out blonde, so we can use a purple-based color to get a striking and bright blonde.

Ⅱ. The characteristics of the hair itself

If we want to delve into hair color, we must first understand the characteristics of the hair itself, so let's look at the hair structure.

1.Hair structure

The structure of hair can be divided into three layers - the cuticle, the cortex and the medulla. The cuticle is the outermost layer of the hair, which plays a role in absorbing or losing moisture and hair color. I'm sure you know that excessive coloring and perming can damage the cuticle of your hair, and this is because the damage to the cuticle makes your hair lose moisture and thus become dry and frizzy. The cortical layer is inside the cuticle, where the dyeing techniques we use in hair coloring or the chemical reactions that occur during the process take place. The innermost part is our medulla, which is not common to all hair, but is usually found in coarse hair.

2.Hair texture

Whether you have curly or straight hair we have divided the texture of your hair into three types: fine, medium and coarse. Fine hair is the thinnest of the three, you can barely feel it and it is the most vulnerable. Medium hair is the most common type of texture, while coarse hair is the most resistant to damage and it is thicker than all other types of hair.

3.Hair density

Hair density is related to the tightness of the hair on the scalp, fine hair may have a high density of hair while coarse hair may have the opposite.

Ⅳ. Porosity

The porosity is related to the hair's ability to accept and retain moisture or color, and is also divided into two types, high porosity hair is very easy to absorb color but they will also face the problem of rapid fading, while the lower porosity hair will resist hair dye, which means that the dye is not as easy to adhere to the hair, the corresponding processing time will also be longer, after understanding hair After understanding the hair color wheel and the characteristics of the hair itself, we also need to understand the different types of dyes in order to ensure the creation of the perfect effect.

Ⅴ. Type of dyes

1.Direct dyes

Direct dyes are larger molecules than indirect dyes, they do not require a developer and can be used directly on the hair cuticle.

2.Indirect dyes

Indirect dyes have smaller molecules, they require a developer and they will be present in the cortical layer of the hair.

Ⅵ. Developers

Developers are necessary for the hair color to work best. The developers that we can find on the market are made with different volumes, ingredients, buffers and conditioners, so it is important to take into account the performance and integrity of the developers used.

Hair coloring is not as simple as it seems. We need to make full use of the color principle in hair color wheel, master the basic characteristics of hair and understand the difference between different hair dyes to ensure that we have better color results!