How Undertones Affect Hair Colour Choice
- Daria
- Feb 23
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 3
My friend Kirsty loved me with auburn hair.
To her great disappointment, I don’t have it anymore — I’m back to my natural brown, which she finds unbearably boring. She never misses a chance to message me and remind me how gorgeous I looked at uni. Back when I had auburn hair.
What Kirsty didn’t see was how much work was hiding behind that bright facade.
I loved my auburn hair too. It felt like a dream — finally being red-haired. But there was one big “but.” Every morning, without makeup, I would look in the mirror and feel unsettled. My skin looked sullen. Slightly tired. Slightly off. It was as if my hair was living a separate life from my face.
At the time, I didn’t know I was cool-toned. I thought I was neutral. I blamed the weather, the lighting, lack of sleep — anything but the colour itself.
After auburn, I went warm blonde. Kirsty loved that too. Not quite as passionately, but definitely more than my natural brown. Looking back at photos now, I can see my face looks pink in all of them. Slightly blotchy. Slightly inflamed. But Kirsty’s opinion never changed.
Now I understand why.
Kirsty, a true Hellebore, wears platinum blonde while dreaming of fox-red hair herself.
She adores edge, contrast, visible tension — the “wrong” hair colour on purpose. Her favourite celebrity is a German rock band singer with clashing dyed hair colour, piercings, tattoos, dressed in very contrasting colours.
Kirsty just loves the combo of warm and cool, but why?
Why Do Some People Love the Clash of Warm and Cool?
That's the thing: some people, like Kirsty, are drawn to drama and tension. Often this aligns with the Rebel archetype.
The Rebel archetype (sometimes called the Outlaw or Revolutionary) is a personality pattern in storytelling and psychology that represents people who challenge rules, authority, or the status quo. Rebels want change and often reject traditions they see as unfair or limiting.
These individuals don’t crave harmony. They don’t want quiet. There is always a spark of protest in their hearts, and their colour choices reflect that. These choices aren’t random — they are expressions of personality and worldview. The clash of warm and cool creates visual tension. And tension feels expressive, bold, even artistic.
Colour choices are rarely random. They are psychological.
Is It Wrong to Wear Opposite Temperatures?
The thing is, if you wear shades opposite to your undertone, you will often disappear in them. Your natural self becomes masked, replaced by artifice. Is that necessarily bad? No — if that is your intention. You may look striking, eye-catching, even beautiful.
But people on the outside will often sense that something feels slightly untrue, slightly constructed. Because you cannot change your undertone. You can cover it, warm it up, bronze it, fight it — but it remains.
If you are cool-toned and wear heavy bronzer, it will still read as orange and brown against cool eyes and cool skin.
If you wear warm hair, it may amplify pinkness or dullness in your complexion. It becomes a protest, in a way. Sometimes a protest against rules. Sometimes against expectations. And sometimes, quietly, against yourself.
And if that is your intention — that’s fine. Everyone has the right to construct an image.
But if it isn’t intentional, stay away from opposite temperatures, especially near your face. Don’t let them swallow you up. This is what stylists call image-making — an artificial construction with the real you hiding behind it. It isn’t wrong. But when it stops being a choice and becomes rejection, it can grow unhealthy. From non-acceptance of your palette, it can slowly grow into non-acceptance of your face and body.
How to Wear Opposite Colours Without Looking Washed Out
If you love colours from the opposite temperature, incorporate them intelligently. Keep them away from your face. Use them in accessories — shoes, bags, belts. Create distance. Or bridge the gap: wear a scarf from your own palette that harmonises with the opposite colour and layer them together. Build connection instead of collision.
And What If You Feel Your Natural Palette Is Not Enough?
It is always enough.
In Zazu Feu's system, everyone can wear bright and deep colours — as long as they exist inside their temperature family.
If you are like me — cool and mid-tone, sometimes bored of mid-brown hair — the question is not how to escape your palette. It’s where inside it you belong.
Are you closer to Periwinkle or to Hellebore?
If you lean lighter and softer, very light blonde may work beautifully. If you lean deeper, dark brown or near-black may feel striking and authentic. But look at your natural contrast too. If it’s medium, like mine, very light blonde may feel unnatural. If your contrast is low and you’re closer to Periwinkle, blonde may harmonise easily. If you sit right in the middle, both light and dark can work — just in different ways.
The answer is rarely to change everything.
It is to understand yourself precisely.
If you already know your colour type and would like to explore it in more detail — or if you don’t yet know your colour type and are ready to begin your journey — our personalised Bloom service is the perfect option.
You’ll receive your full colour analysis, including your temperature, colour depth, brightness, and contrast, plus a 25-page personalised colour guide designed for your specific colour type.
Inside your guide, you’ll find everything you need to look your best, including:
Celebrity inspiration
Detailed explanations of your best colour shades
Easy and harmonious style ideas for your colour type
Hair colour recommendations
Jewellery guidance
Makeup recommendations, including foundation, bronzer, highlighter, blush, eye makeup, and lip colours
Bloom is our essential package, designed to help you look and feel your most beautiful and confident every day. ✨
