Colouring your hair – going red

Understand your skin tone

For fair and warm skin tones, copper reds work well or if you’ve got a medium/olive skin - a red-brown auburn can look amazing and darker skins can easily pull off more fiery reds.

Think about your eye colour

If your eyes are green, blue or hazel…

Think about using a warmer shade with red-orange undertones, such as auburn.

If you’ve got brown eyes…

You’re in luck! You can use any tone of red – burgundy to neutral to any tone of red, light or dark.

If you need some help choosing a colour

• If you have medium to dark brown hair to get the brightest, most vibrant results, select a Nice’n Easy (permanent) shade that is two levels lighter than your natural colour.

• If you have light brown to dark blonde hair and would like to add subtle rosy tones to your colour, select a Natural Instincts (demi-permanent) red shade and apply for an all over warm result.

When you’ve chosen your colour, its best to apply it from roots to ends.

Maintain your colour

Red is the fastest colour to fade so you’ll probably need to top up your colour quite often (maybe even every four weeks).

Use the right products

Healthy hair will help keep your red hair colour longer, so use shampoos and conditioners specifically designed for colour-treated hair.

Remember to wash your hair in warm water, not hot to keep the cuticle more sealed and smooth.

Add some gloss

A gloss is a great way to keep your red looking vibrant, shiny and fresh. Our Color Gloss range offers a salon inspired colour boost that will keep your red vibrant for longer (while also conditioning your hair). Its super easy to use, you just need to squeeze the colour out of the tube and apply it for up to 15 minutes.

We’d recommend using a gloss about two weeks after you’ve first coloured your hair.

Test before you apply

As with every colour, always strand test. The instructions will be on the leaflet inside your box. This is a great way to check to make sure you have the right timing for the tone (vibrancy) you want.

And…make sure you do an allergy test (even if you’ve coloured your hair before). It’s easy to do.

• Mix a spoonful of colour (and the same amount of the developer) in a bowl

• Put some on a cotton bud and dab it on the inside of your elbow

• Leave it on for 48 hours (make sure you don’t wash it off!)

If you don’t have any redness, itching, burning or rashes, you’re okay to colour.