The Best Hair Colors for Cool Undertone Skin

Hair Color Guides  ·  8 min read

Cool undertone skin has pink, rosy or blue tones beneath the surface. Hair colors with a cool or ash quality create harmony with cool skin. Warm golden tones can create tension. This guide covers the hair colors that work best for cool undertones across all skin depths.

Fair to Light Cool Undertone Hair Colors

Fair cool skin often has a porcelain or pink quality that looks most vibrant with cool hair tones. Ash blonde is the most naturally harmonious choice for fair cool skin. The grey-cool quality of ash echoes the cool quality of the skin and creates a cohesive, luminous look.

Platinum blonde is the boldest choice for fair cool skin and one of the most striking. The icy quality of platinum against fair cool pink skin creates a high-fashion look that photographs exceptionally well. Pearl blonde and cool sandy blonde are lower-contrast options that still maintain undertone harmony for fair cool skin that wants something less dramatic.

Medium Cool Undertone Hair Colors

Medium cool skin suits ash brown and cool medium brown shades particularly well. These colors have the grey-cool quality that harmonizes with cool undertones without the strong contrast of platinum or very dark colors. Mushroom brown, a grey-toned brown that sits between cool and neutral, is particularly flattering on medium cool skin.

Cool espresso is a rich deeper option for medium cool skin that wants more depth. The cool quality in the color harmonizes with the skin while the depth creates a sophisticated look. Avoid warm chestnuts and honey browns in this range as they tend to make medium cool skin appear flushed.

Tan to Deep Cool Undertone Hair Colors

Tan and deep cool skin tones look most harmonious with deep cool browns, cool espresso and jet black or blue-black hair. The depth of the skin can carry rich dark hair colors with strong cool undertones. Blue-black, a black hair color with a cool blue sheen, is particularly stunning on deep cool skin.

Cool dark brown and deep espresso with no golden warmth are the most naturally harmonious everyday choices for tan to deep cool skin. Berry brown and deep plum are more dramatic options that sit in the cool color family and suit cool undertones in medium to deep skin.

What Cool Undertones Should Know About Warm Hair

Warm golden and copper hair colors are the main category that creates conflict on cool skin. When a warm hair color sits against cool pink skin, the contrast can make the skin appear flushed or orange. This effect is most visible in natural daylight and particularly notice-able in photography.

Warm auburn is the shade that creates the most noticeable conflict on fair to medium cool skin because the red-brown warmth directly contrasts the pink coolness of the skin. For cool undertones who love red hair, cool red with a berry or blue-red quality rather than a warm orange-red quality is the more harmonious choice.