IS YOUR HAIR COLOUR RUINING YOUR LOOK?

An important question if you colour your hair - does the colour you've chosen fit harmoniously with your natural colouring? If it doesn't, you could be looking much less than your best.....

Apparently around 80% of women colour their hair at some point during their lives, and of course we all love to experiment at times with a different colour - just to make a change or try a new look!

Few of us welcome the onset of grey hair and - though there are ladies who can look stunning with silvery tresses and celebrate their 'natural highlights' - the natural reaction for most of us is to rush to the hairdresser or grab a DIY hair colourant from the supermarket shelves..........

And therein can lie some serious pitfalls, because choosing a shade which is 'out of synch' with your natural 'seasonal' colouring can really spoil your look - you can end up looking washed out and worse still, colours which normally look fabulous on you can start to look wrong.

Take the example of Victoria

Beckham, a lady who seems to

change her hair as often as she changes her underwear. She is naturally dark and cool toned so looks wonderful in strong and vibrant colours - black, dark navy, bold fuchsia pinks, bright blues and pure white. But these colours would look horrid with her Californian Blonde Look....

Many a client has come to me feeling totally confused about what suits her and often the problem lies with how she has coloured her hair!

We all make mistakes, persuaded by St Cheryl of Cole or some other celebrity advertisement, I've done it myself; I tried a very dark brown shade once when I was much younger, misguidedly

thinking that with a suntan it would work - the results were simply frightful. The colour was much too harsh and I looked as if I should be in intensive care.....

Interestingly, Cheryl Cole who is also naturally dark haired but with a warm skin tone, can carry off lightening her hair to a blonder look much more successfully - the mistake she has made in the picture on the right is with her lipstick - a cool fuchsia pink is not a good choice for her, whatever her hair colour! The warm red lip colour on the left is much more flattering...

Our hair is so visible, and such an important element of how we look and feel, that it really does pay to get our 'crowning glory' right.

Some common mistakes to avoid:

• If you are naturally fair or light brown haired, don't choose a dark hair colour - it will completely overpower you
• If you have a cool skin tone and eye colour, don't be tempted to put a warm or russet toned colourant on your hair - it will look perfectly awful
• Dark haired ladies should be very careful about attempting to 'go blonde' or covering grey with blonde hair colourants - it often leaves you with reddish, brassy tones in your hair which can be very unflattering
• Ladies who naturally have warm reddish tones in their hair - from the strawberry blonde to a rich darker auburn - should avoid allowing themselves to go grey. Cool silver tones in the hair will be at odds with your naturally warm skin and eye colour, and colours which normally look great on you will start to look less good
• If you are choosing a colourant to cover grey, it's best to go a couple of shades lighter than your natural hair colour

Colour your hair by all means - but choose a shade which really flatters your natural colouring. If you're not sure what this is, then it's well worth investing in finding out! It will stand you in good stead for many years to come!

Best wishes

Cass