Shedding Light on Hair Color: How Lighting Transforms Your Look

When it comes to coloring and styling your hair, one of the biggest influences on your final look is lighting. Have you ever walked out of the salon and noticed your hair looks different in various settings? Lighting has a major impact on how we perceive color and how it impacts dimension through light and shadow, and understanding this can help set more realistic expectations and ensure satisfaction with your chosen hue.

Through this blog post, I will be sharing an example of a client for whom I created a beautiful, rich copper all-over color at Paul Mitchell the School in Spokane, WA. Let’s take a look at four different lighting scenarios — overhead lights, a mix of overhead and natural window light, a photography ring light, and full natural light outdoors — and how they affected her hair color results.

1) How Artificial Overhead Lighting Affects Hair Color

The tone of the overhead lighting - cool or warm - will affect the appearance of the color. For example, cool lighting will neutralize any warmth in hair color and make the color appear more muted, while warmer lighting will enhance the warmth and bring out more red, orange, and yellow. Also, often times overhead lighting is not distributed evenly throughout a space. This will create an inconsistency in light and shadow on the surface of the hair, which can make hair color look uneven regardless of having natural or color-treated hair.

With my client, the overhead lighting was more warm and the lighting not evenly distributed, which made her copper tone look much more red-orange where the light hits at the bends of her curls, and more orange-yellow in the shadow.

2) Overhead Lights with Natural Light and Its Effect on Hair Color

When overhead lighting is mixed with natural light, the results can vary depending on the balance between the two sources. Natural light has a fuller spectrum, which can enhance the vibrancy and depth of hair color, while overhead lights will still subtly influence the overall appearance. This mixed lighting is often found indoors near large windows, making it a more forgiving environment for most hair colors. It’s also closer to how hair might look in real-world scenarios, such as at home, office, or store.

In my client’s case, I photographed her with overhead lights and natural light from a window shining towards her hair. You can see that the tone is more even throughout her hair, but the warmth of the overhead lighting still brings out more red at the bends of her hair where the overhead light hits.

3) How a Photography Ring Light Showcases Your Hair Color

Ring lights are a favorite tool for photography. Known for their ability to create even, shadow-free lighting, ring lights provide a bright, neutral light source that can highlight the details of your hair color. Under a ring light, hair color appears incredibly vivid and polished. However, because ring lights are often set to a neutral or slightly cool temperature, they might neutralize any warmth in hair color. As you see with my client, you can see her copper tone look more even and the bright red we were seeing from the warm overhead lighting is less prominent and looks more red-brown.

Also, as awesome as it would be, we can’t have a ring light shining on us at all times! So unfortunately, it won’t represent how your hair will look in everyday environments.

4) Full Outdoor Natural Sunlight on Hair Color

Natural sunlight is considered the gold standard for assessing hair color because it offers the fullest and most balanced light spectrum. Under full sunlight, the hair’s true colors and undertones are most accurately revealed. Warm tones look their best in natural sunlight, appearing vibrant, shiny, and multidimensional. As you see with my client, the rich copper tone is revealed. The underlying red tone is still brought out due to the warmth of the sunlight.

Cool tones also benefit from natural light but may appear slightly less intense compared to their appearance under cooler artificial lighting. It is also important to note that a cloudy day will affect the appearance of hair color as well. It will offer more of a cool tone as the overcast covers the warmth of the sun. Regardless, the natural light will still offer a much fuller spectrum of light than artificial lighting.

Final Thoughts

Understanding how lighting affects hair color perception is essential for both clients and stylists. To get the most out of your hair color appointment, consider stepping outside into natural light to assess the results before making any judgments or decisions. Additionally, discuss your lighting conditions at home and work with your stylist to ensure the chosen shade complements your lifestyle.

By taking lighting into account, you can set more realistic expectations and fully appreciate the beauty of your new hair color in every setting!