Opinions on haircolour, maybe?

[Freija]

Hi!

Naturally, my hair is a mid- or darkish-brown, which I find a little boring. I'd been red-by-choice for years until this summer, when my aunt and my cousin started nudging me to go back to my natural colour. I thought about it, and in the end I did (you've probably seen some of my henna-removal-attempt threads!).

I made the change because I was worried (and told!) that red hair didn't suit me, but four months on, I miss it! I don't hate the brown - actually, I think it might look better than the red(?), and if red really doesn't look good then I'll get used to it - but it doesn't really 'feel' right.

So... I was wondering: could you please let me know which you think looks best, and/or whether I can get away with having any shade of henna-red hair? My dad just makes non-committal noises and I don't really have any female input, but you all seem so friendly and helpful! Besides... I think I'm probably more likely to get honest, objective opinions from people who don't know me.

Please, excuse the awful photos!

Red:









Brown (not quite my natural colour - my natural colour is a little lighter and more silvery/ashy than this):





Thank you!

[Anje]

I think both colors suit you nicely. You're pale enough that you make the red look quite convincing, which is something not everyone can do.

[Lemur_Catta]

You look beautiful anyway. As Anje said, your skin tone is quite light, and it goes wonderfully with henna, but brown suits you too...actually, I prefer the lighter brown, the one in the second picture if I guess right, but overall, my preference goes to red.

[Sylvanas]

Hmmm, if you want less effort, I'd go for the brown. It really suits you, and you don't need any makeup to pull it off either. The last two pics are simply stunning

The red is a bit more tricky. I like the cut and colour it the 3rd picture, but it seems to wash you out with no makeup on. In the 2nd pic it looks like the wrong shade for you, but that could be due to flash. If you want to go for red hair, I think a cooler shade would suit you better. Maybe you could try an auburn shade? The best of both worlds, lol. The most important thing is that you are happy with your colour!

[Freija]

Thank you so much, all of you, for being so helpful and saying such lovely things!

Sylvanas - maybe the problem is finding the right shade of red, then, rather than avoiding it completely? The second picture was henna after bleach - not something I'm going to repeat - so I think it probably ended up too light/bright. I like the sound of auburn, though - do you think that something like Nightshade's gloss over my own natural brown would look okay? If it's henna then hopefully I'd still get the odd flash of lighter red in the sun...

[Sylvanas]

Sylvanas - maybe the problem is finding the right shade of red, then, rather than avoiding it completely? The second picture was henna after bleach - not something I'm going to repeat - so I think it probably ended up too light/bright. I like the sound of auburn, though - do you think that something like Nightshade's gloss over my own natural brown would look okay? If it's henna then hopefully I'd still get the odd flash of lighter red in the sun...

Yes, I think you can totally pull off red with the right shade. It's not like you look horrible in the pics you posted, just more washed out than with the brown. Also keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion, and it doesn't make anything right or wrong Sadly I don't know much about henna, but I'm sure the experts on here can tell you more about what can be achieved. I've definitely seen some people on here with hennaed hair that is a cooler shade of red. Here are a few pictures to show you what I think would be good/not so good.

Do: http://www.becomegorgeous.com/img/us...y_hair-117.jpg
Do: http://hair-craft.co.uk/files/red-hair_0.jpg
Do: http://www.hairfinder.com/haircollections6/tmc7.jpg

Don't: http://yousonice.files.wordpress.com...12/redhair.jpg
Don't: http://th01.deviantart.net/fs19/300W...r_by_krene.jpg
Don't: http://dougbarber.com/red/db_me11.jpg

Auburn(I think this would be gorgeous on you): http://www3.pictures.fp.zimbio.com/2...5ilrRrk8pl.jpg

[lapushka]

Don't: http://yousonice.files.wordpress.com...12/redhair.jpg
Don't: http://th01.deviantart.net/fs19/300W...r_by_krene.jpg

Love that color!

[myrrhmaiden]

Yes, I think you can totally pull off red with the right shade. It's not like you look horrible in the pics you posted, just more washed out than with the brown. Also keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion, and it doesn't make anything right or wrong Sadly I don't know much about henna, but I'm sure the experts on here can tell you more about what can be achieved. I've definitely seen some people on here with hennaed hair that is a cooler shade of red. Here are a few pictures to show you what I think would be good/not so good.

Do: http://www.becomegorgeous.com/img/us...y_hair-117.jpg
Do: http://hair-craft.co.uk/files/red-hair_0.jpg
Do: http://www.hairfinder.com/haircollections6/tmc7.jpg

Don't: http://yousonice.files.wordpress.com...12/redhair.jpg
Don't: http://th01.deviantart.net/fs19/300W...r_by_krene.jpg
Don't: http://dougbarber.com/red/db_me11.jpg

Auburn(I think this would be gorgeous on you): http://www3.pictures.fp.zimbio.com/2...5ilrRrk8pl.jpg

I could not agree more.

[Freija]

Yes, I think you can totally pull off red with the right shade. It's not like you look horrible in the pics you posted, just more washed out than with the brown. Also keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion, and it doesn't make anything right or wrong Sadly I don't know much about henna, but I'm sure the experts on here can tell you more about what can be achieved. I've definitely seen some people on here with hennaed hair that is a cooler shade of red. Here are a few pictures to show you what I think would be good/not so good.

Do: http://www.becomegorgeous.com/img/us...y_hair-117.jpg
Do: http://hair-craft.co.uk/files/red-hair_0.jpg
Do: http://www.hairfinder.com/haircollections6/tmc7.jpg

Don't: http://yousonice.files.wordpress.com...12/redhair.jpg
Don't: http://th01.deviantart.net/fs19/300W...r_by_krene.jpg
Don't: http://dougbarber.com/red/db_me11.jpg

Auburn(I think this would be gorgeous on you): http://www3.pictures.fp.zimbio.com/2...5ilrRrk8pl.jpg

You are brilliant!

You've got a great skin tone for just about any color, I'd bet. Both the red and your natural color look great. I really love your cut in the third picture.

If I were you, I'd totally got ridiculously rich, unnatural shade of red. Like a manic panic in vampire red or something that leans toward purple. But maybe that's my own preference projecting itself... :P

Do (either of) you think I could get a shade similar to http://www.becomegorgeous.com/img/us...y_hair-117.jpg with a vegetable-based dye but no bleach? It is gorgeous (and I can always change my mind, unlike with henna). My only thought, though, would be that I'm not nearly as white as she is (her arms look like bones!) - would it still work okay?

[camirra555]

I think you look good with both colours. Hard to pick a preference but if I had to, I'd say the brown. I agree with everyone else though, it's about what you like best on yourself.