I had no desire to go to the salon for my autumn cut and colour change this year: not only am I exhausted from being a new mum, but I’ve also been incredibly indecisive. Then, one hair-colour trend piqued my interest: content creators who claim you should dye your hair to match your skin tone.
Type the phrase “dyeing hair to match skin tone” into the TikTok search bar, and you’ll find a seemingly endless scroll of people — most of them Black women — lightening their naturally dark hair colour to warm shades of brown, auburn, and even blonde. “A lot of my clients are coming in and requesting this service,” says Angela Calisti, a New York City-based hairstylist. And the results are stunning.
I was sceptical when I first saw the advice to dye your hair to match your skin tone on my phone — that is, until I saw someone walk into our office with a wig (later braids) in a milk chocolate shade that matched her brown complexion beautifully.
Travis Ogletree, a Los Angeles-based colourist and Moroccanoil spokesperson, says he sees this matchy-matchy look return to the trend cycle every few years. “Naomi Campbell went caramel years ago and we’re seeing a resurgence of that low contrast aesthetic again now,” he says. This time around, he credits TikTok.
Despite the crux of this trend, the key to creating a radiant, balanced look is avoiding a colour that matches your skin tone to a T, says James Claytor, a stylist, colourist, and Madison Reed national educator. He explains that if the hair colour is too similar to the complexion and has no dimension, it can look like “a helmet of colour.” Opting for a shade that’s close-ish to your skin tone and has highlights like Naomi Campbell and Justine Skye’s golden brown, “enhances your features and brightens your complexion,” adds Calisti.
All the experts we spoke to agree that this kind of dye job is best left to the experts. “They’ll be able to identify what tone you currently have and what complements it,” says Calisti. If you do attempt to dye your own hair, Calisti says to consider that “warm skin tones look best with golds, coppers, and honey shades, while cool skin tones look best with ash, mocha, and icy hues.” Claytor echoes this, adding that “applying a very ashy, cool brown on someone with warm, golden undertones can make their skin look sallow, grey, or muddy.”
Having a hard time picturing yourself with this look? Ogletree says it best: “While it can work beautifully for some people, trends aren’t one-size-fits-all,” he says. Personally, I’ve noticed this trend works particularly well on Black women. Calisti adds that it’s also flattering on people who have warm to medium skin tones.
Those with fair complexions can still achieve this look, but again, you’re going to want to add warmth to your colour to avoid a washed-out look, says Calisti. Take cues from Rosé — her rose-gold blonde has a pink tint that gives her skin a warm glow.
Now that I have all the intel on this flattering hair colour trend, I can’t wait to try it out at my next colour appointment.
This article originally appeared on Allure.