For the past several years, I have been thinking about going with an ‘all-over’ color to keep my life simple and easy as I embrace my 50’s. Through many conversations with hair colorists (literally dozens) and research, I have decided that it just won’t work-for me at least. I know as a color analyst that color is one of the most effective ways to keep your hair natural and youthful looking. After all I don’t necessarily want to look ‘younger’, I want to look ‘youthful’ and ‘vibrant’. Choosing the right color is a task that I leave to the hair color experts. Celebrity hair colorist Rita Hazan offers some words of advice for women who want to maintain natural and youthful-looking tresses!

Choose the Right Color for Your Skin Tone

Extreme colors may have been o.k. in your 20’s but now they tend to make you look older. Follow this guide to determine the right shade for you:

• Reds: Pick a more auburn tone—not a fiery red.
• Browns: Pick a more chocolate brown. As we mature, our skin color changes and we lose pigment in our skin. Stay away from very dark colors like black or dark brown. Lighten up your color a few shades—this will take years off!
• Blondes: Pick more of a honey blonde—never baby or platinum blonde. Blondes especially need golden tones to add a rosy and sun-kissed glow to the face.

Highlighted Hair Looks Natural

Stay away from monotone (single color) hair color. Multidimensional, tone-on-tone highlights add movement to the hair. They keep hair looking natural and healthy, not fake.

• Too many highlights can look artificial and fake.
• Choose a pretty base color and accent your base color with a few highlights. This will give you a more sophisticated but modern and sexy look.

Be Careful with Trends

If you like to keep up with fashion and beauty trends, don’t go full force. You can always accent your color with a little trend. For example, with highlights, go warmer.

Wash That Gray Out!

When you start to notice gray hairs, start using a vegetable dye in your natural color family. This will wash out rather than grow out, and it will last about three months. Never let your grays show—this is very aging! Vegetable dye also helps if you are trying to grow out a color you don’t like. Also, the combination of darker roots and light ends is never a youthful look.

Don’t Forget the Eyebrows

Lighten your eyebrows a shade or two. This will help soften up your face. If you have gray in your eyebrows, color it—this will help give you more color and brighten up your face!

Posted by Karen Hughes on April 26th, 2008 in Color, Hairstyle, Style Tips