Which shade of red hair is best for me?

So, you’ve decided to step on over to the fiery side, but, there are so many different shades of ginger out there – which shade of red hair do you choose?

There are a couple of ways of finding the best shade for you.

Firstly, do you have an idea in mind of the tone of ginger you fancy? Fire engine red? Strawberry blonde? Mahogany? For inspiration, take a look at celebrities and popular figures – what shades are they sporting?

Which brings us to step two of choosing the right red hair shade. This all depends largely on skin tone. Simply put, skin tone is determined by ‘cool’ or ‘warm’.

Once you know what skin tone you are, your next decision relates to which shades will enhance your features to their best advantage (which is what beauty is all about).

Shades for cool customers

For those of you with cool skin tone, you can totally recreate the Nicole Kidman a la Moulin Rouge look (lucky you!), with a vibrant ruby red shade. If you want a more subtle shade, you can also go for a light red, like Jessica Chastain.

As a general rule, those of you with cool skin tones will suit shades with an underlying ruby tone in pigment.

Shades for warm welcomers

For those of you with a warmer skin tone, as a general rule, the darker your skin, the more vibrant you can go with your hair colour, such as the fire engine red of Rihanna (above, left)!

Isla Fisher (above, right) rocks a lovely warm mahogany shade, which compliments her brown eyes perfectly.

The equation is simple…

Cool skin tone = look for shades that are generally ‘cool’ or ’cold’
Warm skin tone = look for shades that are generally ‘warm’ or ’spicy’

Tippity top tips

A word of advice about hair dye: As well as the general stuff (do a strand test to check what the colour will look like on your hair, as opposed to the glossy image on the box), always do a skin sensitivity test 48 hours beforehand.

Also, be aware that if you have naturally brown hair, you may need to pre-lighten it to achieve a vibrant or lighter result.

Alternatively, you could just go to the hairdressers, sit back, and let them do all the work while you daydream about how fabulous your newly dyed ginger hair will look.

So, whichever red hair shade you go for, remember to hold your head up high as you get all those admiring glances. And, use the helpful hand of hair products for redheads to help boost and maintain your shade.