What hair colour is right for me?
Hair colour is a multi-headed beast, with so many different options. The first question to ask yourself is: natural colour or fashion colour? We offer plenty of options for both, so feel free to check out our menu above for more inspiration. Once you’ve decided on the general vibe, picking a colour is obviously super important. But how do you know which hair colour will suit you best? Well, there are many schools of thought. Most stylists agree that your hair colour should complement your skin tone. So, if you have cool undertones, complement them with a warm hair colour (something with red or orange undertones), and vice versa. You can also pick from lighter tones to darker (for instance, do you want a hot Barbie pink, or a dreamy pastel pink?). You want to know our opinion? You should just pick the colour that makes you happiest!
Of course, you should also be mindful of other factors. For instance, how light is your hair? Here is our hair level chart:
The lower your hair level, the easier it will be to get a vibrant hair transformation. We always recommend a level 7-10 base to get the best outcome possible. However, it’s up to you whether you want to pre-lighten your hair or not. If you’re not bothered about a super bold transformation, you can always put one of our more pigmented shades over brown hair and still achieve a gorgeous colour tint. Or, you might want to experiment with only bleaching a part of your hair, like the tips or the underside. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. If you’re not interested in bleaching or you already have dyed hair, how can you get your ideal colour result?
Hair Dye Colour Theory
First, it’s time for a little lesson. What is colour theory, and how can we use it for dyeing hair at home? Colour theory is the concept that different colours will work together in different ways. Take a look at our Manic Panic colour wheel below:
As you can see, the colour wheel contains every colour of the rainbow. We have warm colours (red, orange, yellow) and cool colours (green, blue, purple). Our three primary colours are yellow, red, and blue. Green, purple, and orange are our secondary colours, and then we have some more shades in between (tertiary colours).
Colours that are right next to each other are analogous, meaning that they work well together. For hair dye, this means that you can go from one colour to another without any hassle. For example, if your hair is already dyed bright blue, the easiest option might be to attempt a teal colour or a dark navy. You can do this by looking at your desired final colour and finding the two colours next to it. For teal, you want to mix green and blue. If your hair is already blue, simply add some green on top, and you should achieve a perfect teal transformation.
Colours that are opposite each other are complementary. This means that they’re opposites and will cancel each other out. For instance, if you choose to put orange on your blue hair, you’ll probably be left with a brown shade. This is the same for any complementary colours: red and green, yellow and purple, etc. Ever heard of using purple shampoo to get rid of yellow or brassy tones? That’s because purple and yellow are complementary colours, and cancel each other out!
Now comes the complicated part: do we want to use complementary colours? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. For instance, let’s imagine that you have blue hair and want to change it to red. Blue and red aren’t close to each other on the colour wheel, which means that it won’t be very easy to shift from one to the other. If you put red hair dye straight onto the hair, the two pigments will mix, and you’ll probably be left with a purple tone. So, how can you get to your dream red? First, we need a neutral base. We want to cancel out all of that blue pigment so that there’s nothing left. One way of doing this is to simply bleach your hair. We have a whole guide here on how to bleach hair at home if you’re interested. However, you might not want to bleach your hair if it’s already damaged or coloured. And even if you do bleach your hair, it may take a few rounds before the blue pigment is gone entirely. So, how can we get to a neutral tone without bleach? Well, let’s look at our complementary colours. We know that orange and blue are opposite each other on the colour wheel. So, it stands to reason that if we add orange hair dye on top of our blue hair, we’ll be left with a neutral base, probably some kind of brown shade. From there, it will be a lot easier to get to red. You can always use bleach to lighten your hair before dyeing, for a bright and fiery red result. Or, simply add one of our darker red shades to the brown hair, for a passionate crimson tint that will have heads turning everywhere you go!
What are the worst hair colours to get rid of?
The worst colours to remove are our primary colours. Yellow isn’t too bad, as it’s light enough that it reverts back to blonde with enough bleaching, but red and blue are the most pigmented hair dyes out there. Of course, you can still balance them out with their complementary colours, as we explained above, but you should always expect red and blue pigments to be really stubborn. It’s possible that you’ll still be left with a few unwanted undertones. Hair colour is super complicated, after all, and every head of hair is different. Our advice is applicable to the general public, but we also know that everyone has a different situation: different undertones, different hair texture and porosity, different history with dyeing and bleaching… There are so many different factors that go into the final colour result, so make sure to always do a strand test ahead of time, so that you can check that you’re happy with the outcome before applying the colour to your entire head of hair. Here is how to do a strand test, step by step:
If you’re still uncertain about experimenting with complementary or analogous colours, you can always get a professional opinion. Check in with your nearest Manic Panic ambassador salon here, or send us an email at sales@manic-panic.co.uk. We’re always happy to help, and we’ll do the best we can to answer your questions or to direct you to professionals who can better assist you.
What hair colour should I use?
Now that we’ve covered all of the complicated stuff, let’s take a look at some fun Manic Panic colours! We spoke about the colour wheel, and we also talked about different undertones, hair types, and hair levels. With so many different factors, each head of hair is pretty much entirely unique, and you should be able to find a customised hair colour that’s just as unique. That’s why we developed our intermixable hair dyes! All of our Manic Panic colours feature the same gorgeous, nourishing formula, which can be mixed together to create brand new shades, hues, and tones. That means that there’s an infinite number of Manic Panic colours just for you! You can assess your hair colour, tone, and level, and decide exactly which shades you want to mix in. The Manic Panic High Voltage® Classic Hair Colours lend themselves to this the best, thanks to their handy resealable pots. If you can’t find the perfect shade for you in our range, simply make it yourself! And if you’re not sure what colours to mix together, remember the colour wheel: colours right next to each other (analogous colours) will mix together the best. Find your desired colour, and pick the two colours on either side of it as your ingredients. Purple is made by mixing blue with magenta, teal is made by mixing green and blue, and so on. Just remember not to mix complementary (opposite) colours unless you want a brown result. If you’re ever in doubt, just take out a little dollop of each dye and mix it in a basin to see what the outcome is.
Want some inspiration? Here are our favourite Manic Panic pairings:
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Mix Cotton Candy and Electric Tiger Lily for the perfect pinky peach colour.
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Mix Pillarbox Red with Hot Hot Pink for a bold and fiery magenta shade.
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Mix Velvet Violet and Cotton Candy for a dreamy lilac hue.
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Mix Blue Moon and Electric Lizard for your ideal aqua colour.
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Mix Atomic Blue and Rockabilly Blue for a bright blueberry tone.
You can also mix our Pastel-izer with any Manic Panic shade to immediately make it lighter! The Manic® Mixer Pastel-izer® features the same enriching formula as our classic semi-permanent hair dye, but with a white colour. Add it to our hot pinks and magentas for fairycore pastel pink, or to our electric blue shades for the perfect sky-blue hair colour, and so on.
So, we hope that we’ve given you all the tools you need to find and create the perfect shade. Remember, just take things step by step: first, determine your current hair colour, level, and tone. Then, choose the perfect desired shade, and decide how you’re going to get there. Mix your dream colour, and get dyeing! No matter what you choose to do, make sure to always do a test strand, and get in touch if you have any doubts or questions. Want to know more about dyeing your hair at home? You can find all of our hair dye guides below for step-by-step instructions to the whole process. And, as always, tag us @manicpanic_uk with your colour transformations. We can’t wait to see them!
