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21 Beautiful Red Hair-Color Ideas for Every Skin Tone
21 Slides
If you’re contemplating whether you can pull off red hair, just go ahead and stop right there. You heard it here first: It doesn’t matter if you’re the fairest of fair or melanin rich — there’s a fiery hue out there that will work for you. And one that will earn you oodles of compliments to boot. Still skeptical? Look to A-listers like Emma Stone, Blake Lively, our girl RiRi, and Lupita Nyong’o, all of whom have managed to slay the scarlet hair game at one time or another. Even better, we tapped a few hair color gurus to help set the record straight once and for all. Now, stop what you’re doing and find the shade of crimson made for you, ahead.
Sparkling Ginger On fair-skinned women like Emma Stone, renowned colorist and founder of #mydentity Guy Tang loves incorporating gold tones to enhance the eye color and add more depth to the look as a whole. He also notes that vibrant shades of red offer pale complexions a more lively appearance, which we can definitely attest to, considering Stone looks lit from within with this shimmering hue. Speaking of, colorist Jenna Perry would call this a “sparkly” red, which she says is the best for fair skin.
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Fair
Gilded Chesnut While it might not be the Game of Thrones star’s natural color, I still sometimes have a hard time believing so considering how well, naturally she pulls off Sansa Stark’s infamous golden-chestnut shade. Nikki Ferrara, a Serge Normant colorist at John Frieda in New York City, says this is likely because the medium copper creates a creaminess in her fair skin and draws out the pink tones in her cheeks, evoking an almost child-like rosy glow. “The pink-orange hue also brings out the brightness in her blue eyes,” says Ferrara.
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Fair
Muted Copper Save for Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman might just be the most classic celebrity redhead in the game. And even though she’s since gone blonde, we’ll never forget her signature shade. “This is my absolute favorite hair color on her!” exclaims Ferrara. “I love the lighter shade of copper for her skin tone, as it’s bright, shiny, and makes her skin look a beautiful ivory tone,” she says, adding that since orange is a contrasting color to blue, it allows her eye color to pop.
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Fair
Dark Strawberry “Jessica Chastain’s natural-looking strawberry hue compliments her skin tone and light eyes,” says Perry of the 40-year-old actress’s cooler, strawberry-blonde shade. Colorist Aura Friedman also adds that this kind of color works well on pale skin tones with more pink in them, as the strawberry or pink tones actually aid in drawing the pink out of the complexion, offering a more neutral, even-toned effect. We can definitely see why Chastain has rarely strayed from this shade over the years — it’s her signature.
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Fair
Bright Crimson Another timeless redhead, Christina Hendricks wears this “bright crimson tone” (as Ferrara calls it) so well because, similar to Sophie Turner’s color, it extracts the red in her skin, creating a natural blush that’s extremely flattering. “This works well for women with red undertones in their skin,” says Ferrara. “The depth also makes her blue eyes take on a darker shade as well.”
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Fair
Electric Orange Who says fair-skinned folk can’t rep a high-voltage hue like this nearly-neon orange-red color? Ferrara explains that this route is ideal if you’re looking to add a little more “pop” to your copper hair. “Keeping in the orange family, which is great for her skin tone, this is definitely a look for someone that wants to add a dramatic effect to their natural or color-treated hair,” she explains. Color chameleons, I dare you to try this look in the coming year.
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Light-Medium
Golden Copper On light-medium skin with gold or yellow undertones á la Blake Lively, colorist Aura Freidamn recommends golden, coppery shades like we see here to brighten the complexion and bring out the warmth in the skin. Perry also adds that medium skin tones work best when there’s more dimension throughout, meaning incorporating several different hues rather than just one all-over color. “I love giving my light-medium skin tone clients blends of copper reds — it’s not only good for fall but all year round,” muses Tang. As you can see, Lively was absolutely glowing with this sparkling sepia shade, so if you have a similar skin color, might I suggest bringing this photo in next time you’re due to see your colorist?
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Light-Medium
Bright Auburn “A red that’s auburn with a balance of warm and cool will work for medium skin with both warm and cool undertones,” says Freidman. She also explains that people with medium skin tones are lucky, as they have the widest range of red and red tones they can work with. “Paprika and auburn highlights are ideal for medium skin tones,” adds Perry, also sharing that she prefers a darker root to create a more natural, yet vibrant effect. The takeaway: If you’re on the light-medium side of the spectrum, it can’t hurt to experiment with different shades of red, especially an eccentric hue like we see here on Bella. (Neon green ends optional.)
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Medium
Blue-Red Those with medium-to-tan skin have a lot of room in which they can play around with different shades of red, explains Ferrara. This is more than likely why BTS member J-Hope pulls off this fire-engine red color so flawlessly, as he has a balance of pink and yellow tones in his skin, though is mostly neutral overall. (Fun fact: J-Hope has been cotton-candy pink and fluorescent orange, too.)
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Medium
Glistening Auburn If you have a medium-toned complexion á la Sarah Hyland and are looking for a way to ease into the red-haired lifestyle, her shimmering auburn hue is a great place to start. “This tone works for Sarah’s olive complexion because she has shades of gold throughout her hair,” says Ferrara. “It also brings out her eye color because of the mix of copper, which is a contrast to blue,” she adds.
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Tan
Cherry Coke “Tan skin tones look great with cherry red or vibrant crimson, [as] it enhances one’s natural glow,” explains Tang. Here, Demi Lovato shows off a subtle cherry coke shade that deepens her eyes for a more intense look, while also making her her skin appear healthy and natural. If you’re on the tanner side but aren’t ready to go for a full-on bright (or even neon) cherry, this color makes for an ideal happy medium.
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Tan
Subtle Scarlet Cherry or muted scarlet hues are a foolproof go-to for tanner complexions with olive undertones, which Ariana Grande has here in this throwback photo. Friedman loves this shade on the former Victoriousstar, though explains that it’s important to not go too purple and ensure there’s still a brightness to the strands for the most flattering effect. Now how do we convince Grande to go back to this color?
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Deep Tan
Gilded Russet RiRi has slayed just about every shade under the sun, including various hues of red, though this one is hard to top. “I would describe this as a coppery red tone, and I have to say, I absolutely love this!” says Ferrara. “The golden undertone of this hair color works really well with the gold in her skin tone,” she explains. Also, can we please just have a moment of silence for those space buns? They’re just too good.
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Deep Tan
Fire Engine Red “For darker skin tones, I’d stay away from gold. Gold hues on darker skin can look very DIY but not in a good way,” says Perry. Instead, take a cue from Rihanna and opt for a red with blue undertones — fire engined red, if you dare — as Friedman explains this will enhance the gold in the skin and ultimately be very complementary. Perry also adds that she fancies shades of berry, burgundy, and wine, like merlot, for darker skin tones, so there’s quite a bit of wiggle room in terms of what red you can go.
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Deep Tan
Electric Orange Blac Chyna’s in-your-face orange-y red hue washes her out, but not in the unflattering way you’re thinking of. Friedman explains that this shade makes her skin tone look noticeably cooler, so if that’s the aesthetic you’re aiming for — rather than say, a warm golden like Rihanna — this could be the perfect color for you. As Friedman muses, it all comes down to perception and what you personally feel works best on you.
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Dark
Deep Cinnamon Jourdan Dunn’s curls are very brown with just a hint of auburn. The deep, cinnamony hue looks amazing against her golden skin tone.
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Dark
Burnt Orange “[Anyone] can rock red hair, it just has to be well thought out,” says Perry. “With skin tone being the main factor, eye color and the person’s style and lifestyle is important to factor in too.” She continued, explaining that Teyana Taylor is a prime example of this, as her hue is playful and works well with her overall look. “I’m really into this bright orange-y, almost coral color,” says Friedman. “She has a lot of cool blue undertones in her skin so the orange is complementing that quite well,” she added. Case in point: Don’t be afraid to play with more unique, out-of-the-box reds, because they could end up being your ultimate shade.
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Dark
Blackberry “The violet in this red is enhancing her golden tones,” says Friedman of Keke Palmer’s deep maroon braids. Perry also added that berry tones like this make darker skin tones, as well as the hair itself, glow. “It creates an illusion of the sun shining down on the hair,” she explained, which we will say, Palmer seems to have going on here. Her hue airs on the purple side, for sure, but still has enough warmth in it that it maintains an ultra-flattering balance.
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Deep
Violet Red For girls with very dark skin tones like the lovely Lupita Nyong’o, Perry recommends a reddish purple, much like the semi-permanent hue Nyong’o debuted at the 2014 Met Gala. “I’d stick with a purple-y red like plum or merlot,” she said. It brings extra life to the skin and creates and all-around ~lit look. (Though, IMHO, Nyong’o could slay in any shade of red without a problem.)
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Deep
Cherry Coke “This shade works really well for missy because if you look closely, her eyes have a beautiful chestnut shade to them,” says Ferrara. “It’s almost like this hair color was tailor-made for her,” she adds. And well, we’d have to wholeheartedly agree. It no doubt makes her eyes sparkle, and the purple-red tone looks fresh and modern on the rapper.
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Deep
Auburn We’ll never forget the moment Viola Davis turned out to the 2012 Oscars with her kinks and coils on full display. The actress’s strands were dyed an auburn color, which looked amazing against her rich skin tone. We’d love to see her rock this color again!
