Your hair color level is a number from 1 (black) to 10 (lightest blonde), indicating its lightness or darkness, determined by comparing your natural hair (away from your face) to a standard chart. To find your level, pull a small section of hair from the back of your head and match it to a color chart; if it's dark brown, you might be a 3-4, while light blonde could be a 9-10, helping stylists know how much to lift or deposit color.
These levels are used to describe how dark or light your hair color is. Level 10 is the lightest blond, level 9 is light blond, level 8 is medium blond, level 7 is dark blond, level 6 is light brown, level 5 is medium brown, level 4 is dark brown, level 3 is darkest brown, level 2 is black-brown, and level 1 is black.
Among those ten key depths, ranging from 1.0 for Black all the way to 10.0 for Pale Blonde, is 7.0, which represents Medium Blonde. This popular base shade is universally recognised – so much so, that several years ago the big hair colourant corporations attempted to give it its own name of 'Bronde'.
Tonal Profile: #27 is a warm light golden blonde with subtle honey undertones, typically around a level 7–8 on the hair color chart. It's lighter and more golden than #30, but not as pale as platinum shades.
People often call 27 a light auburn or honey blonde, while 30 reads more like medium auburn or chestnut.
As we age, our skin tone can change, becoming more pale or taking on different undertones. Lighter colors often brighten up the face and can make your client look more refreshed. Meanwhile, darker shades can bring out a warm, rich complexion.
For women over 50, youthful hair colors focus on adding warmth, softness, and dimension, like caramel, honey, or golden blondes, and warm browns (chocolate, auburn) with balayage highlights to blend grays and brighten skin, while avoiding harsh, flat, or overly dark colors that can harden features. Lighter, multi-tonal shades create softness and reflection, making skin look more luminous, notes Southern Living, The Right Hairstyles, and Pure Spa Direct.
If you're rocking a brilliant shade of orange, try out the Wella Demi in 7A or 8A- this will tone down the orange and leave you with a light ashy brown.
If done correctly you can lift the hair up to 8 levels using bleach plus developer.
To understand this in a real-world application, the darkest hair color (black) is a 1 and light blonde is a 10. Brown-colored locks range from level 2 to level 5 (dark brown to light brown) and level 6 and upwards cover the blonder shades. Some charts even go up to level 12, which is considered ultra-blonde.
Hair color levels are typically numbered from 1 (black) to 10 (lightest blonde). Brunette shades usually fall between levels 2 and 7. Your stylist will help you choose a level that complements your natural hair color, desired look, and skin tone.
Benefits of dying your hair darker
Darker hair is better at camouflaging damage— If your hair needs some TLC, going dark is a smart option. Darker color molecules naturally weigh down flyaways and seal split ends much better than blonde bleach, making hair look thicker and shinier.
4b hair is easily distinguished by its zigzag pattern. Unlike 4a or 4c, 4b has tight “Z” shaped strands with little definition in curl shape. Often, 4b hair is fluffy and can be soft or coarse depending on hair texture.
The level system is made up of 10 numbers which help determine the depth level of your natural hair. 1 is black, 5 is light brown, 6 is dark blonde, 7 is blonde and 10 is the lightest blonde. Your L'Oréal Professionnel colourist will analyse your hair and assess your natural base colour in-salon. WHAT IS A BASE COLOUR?
Typically, cool skin tones match cooler hair colors, like a platinum shade, cool brown, or ashy hue. Warm skin tones, on the other hand, are complemented by warmer hair colors like golden brown or blonde, bronze, and copper-red hair dyes.
If you have any orange left in your hair, T14 is probably the best for your hair over T18. T18 is only effective if your hair is a level 10 or higher (purely yellow). Putting the wrong toner in your hair won't necessarily harm it, but it likely won't affect the color at all.
The hardest hair colors to remove are typically black and vivid reds, due to their dense pigment load and strong staining power, often requiring multiple bleaching sessions; while vivid blues and purples are also very difficult, especially cool-toned ones, because their small dye molecules deeply bond to porous hair, making them stubborn to lift.
Refer to the color wheel above. As you can see from the color wheel, the color opposite to orange it on the color wheel is blue, as well as blue-green. So the way to neutralize the orange would therefore be to use blue-based colors.
As you age, hair often gets lighter (due to graying) or may need to be lightened to look more youthful, as very dark colors can create harsh contrasts, accentuating wrinkles and shadows on mature skin; adding softness and warmth with lighter tones, highlights, or multi-dimensional browns/blondes is generally more flattering and rejuvenating. The key is to choose colors that harmonize with your current skin tone, not your skin tone from decades past.
Going too dark. Hair that's too dark doesn't reflect light. It can look opaque and age you, zapping life and color from your face. Very dark, one-dimensional hair will put a spotlight on your grays and regrowth.
Is it better to go darker or lighter with gray hair? “It depends on skin tone, but in general, going a bit lighter or warmer can soften features and create a more natural blend with grays as they grow in,” Esposito says.
To look younger, opt for styles with movement, layers, and face-framing elements like the Butterfly Cut, Modern Shag, or a Layered Lob, which add volume and soften features, while Curtain or Wispy Bangs conceal forehead lines and highlight eyes, and a well-placed Pixie Cut can lift the face for an instant refresh. The key is to avoid heavy, one-length styles and embrace texture, fullness, and strategic highlights to create a fresh, vibrant look.
Just like a person's skin, hair goes through five specific signs of aging, says AGEbeautiful. They are: thinning hair, wiry gray hair, graying hair, dryness and dullness.
There's no single "ugliest" hair color, as beauty is subjective, but natural red hair is often cited as least popular in attractiveness studies due to rarity and stereotypes, while some find unnaturally dyed colors (like harsh yellow blonde from bleaching, flat coal black, or certain aggressive fashion shades) less appealing, or simply, a color that clashes with a person's skin tone.