Think of the natural redheads you know. Is their hair bright red, or deep burgundy? No. While vibrant red hair colors are interesting, they don't look natural, and if your'e trying to look like a natural redhead, they just won't do.

In fact, most natural redheads have hair with copper tones as opposed to red tones. Most naturally red hair looks more like a dark coppery blonde than actual red. If your hair is already very light blonde, the red shade shoudl be easy to achieve. Use a strawberry blonde shade so that it looks natural. Some examples are:

• Revlon Colorsilk 72 Strawberry Blonde
• L'Oreal Preference 9GR Light Golden Reddish Blonde
• Sublime Mousse 74 Dark Copper Blonde
• L'Oreal Excellence 8RB Reddish Blonde
• L'Oreal Excellence 9RB Light Reddish Blonde

If your hair is a little darker, you might need to pre-lighten it using bleach. Don't worry about the bleach damaging your hair if you are only looking to lighten it a few levels--only worry if you're trying to go from dark brown to black to a natural-looking red. In that case, you'd be better off bleaching your hair to a medium brown, and then using a light auburn color over that. It will not be light auburn--in fact, it will be pretty dark--but it will look more natural and less orange than if you went all the way.

If you're just going from light brown or medium brown to red, try the following natural-looking auburn shades:

• Garnier Nutrisse Light Auburn (Ginger Spice)
• L'Oreal Preference 6R Light Auburn
• L'Oreal Excellence 7R Red Penny
• L'Oreal Excellence 6R Light Auburn
• L'Oreal Excellence 6RB Light Reddish Brown
• Sublime Mousse 56 Spicy Auburn Brown
• Revlon Colorsilk 53 Light Auburn
• Revlon Colorsilk 55 Light Reddish Brown

Also, you might be a little scared to go all the way red--and that's fine! If your hair is lighter than light auburn, try out a demi-permanent shade just to see how it will look if you go permanent:

• Natural Instincts 16 Light Auburn Spiced Tea
• Natural Instincts 22 Medium Auburn Brown Cinnaberry

This Technique In Real LifeEdit

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