How to be a redhead

Anonymous

A redhead here who is curious to know if there's enough interest to ask Angie to do a feature on redheads--colors they rock, wild card outfits, what to explore/what to avoid, etc. I have loved her posts on wearing red and debunking the ol rule of avoiding it and how she prefers redheads in purple more than green, the usual go-to for redheads and advice on book ending for shoe colors. Of course there are all shades of red hair and that layers in complications for one size fits all advice. Plus I am a saging redhead (over 65) and still highlighting and not quite ready to grow it out and see what that is! Any redheads who want to share their go to colors?

10 years ago

Dressing

11 replies

Latest reply was from

Anonymous

Well, mine's out of a bottle and more on the coppery side now that it's faded a bit :P, but I love wearing olive, rust and coral. From what I can see on your profile pic, your hair looks gorgeous!

10 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Please tell me how.

I was a redhead briefly in my 30s and loved it!! But it always faded so very quickly.

(I'm naturally a dark blonde, now greying of course).

When my hair was red, I found my favourite colours on me were purples and chocolate brown. I can wear these colours as a blonde, too, but they looked even better when my hair was red. I wear black a bit better as a blonde (it is never my best, but not bad). Blues are always winners.

10 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I dress lots of strong redheads and ginger heads actually, CJ. Hands down they look best in shades of purple (both blue and pink purples). Cool blues are good too, especially when the redhead has blue eyes.

Coppery redheads with hazel, green or brown eyes - like Diane - look amazing in shades of coral, rust, burnt orange, and watermelon. Also burgundy, mustard, olive, cream and just about any shade of brown. Some can even wear a tomato red.

I also love redheads in slate grey, charcoal and ink. I like some redheads in black.

Cognac footwear is THE way to go for bookending.

10 years ago

Anonymous

I've been a redhead more often than not. I still contemplate doing it again but the upkeep is such a nuisance. I'd be interested in reading a dedicated feature on red hair as those colours, tips, tricks etc still all apply. I'm a naturally very freckled, hazel-green eyed , have naturally reddish brown hair and you can really do some amazing things with eye makeup with red hair too

10 years ago

Greyscale

Veteran

Great idea!

I have natural red hair and pink-fair skin.

I wear almost entirely black, and I think I pull it off well, especially when my hair is down. I sometimes wear light silvery greys (ones that go well with my pink skin) or white (which emphasizes my slight sunburn, but I like it). Despite my username, dark greys don't flatter me. I just glanced at a photo of me and my best friend at her wedding - my bridesmaid dress is silver and I think it works very well with my skin and hair.

When I wore more color, my favorites were dark jewel tones like purple, green, and blue. Or teal, like the glasses in my icon, but I like that better as an accent color.

I've avoided pink, because I was always told it was bad with red hair and because I grew up adamantly not interested in being feminine. But I realized recently that the right pink looks great on me, and some of my favorite shirts from my pre-black-clothes days were delicate tiny floral prints.

My color mistake as a teen was thinking that coppery hair meant I should wear warm tones for makeup and clothing. My coloring is more cool.

10 years ago

Rambling Ann

(website)

Veteran

Olive, cobalt and violet I can almost guarantee I'll love on me. And lime green, but save me from burgundy. My hair is fading now from Greyscale's brilliant reds to a blonder tone, which I'll take any day over going gray. It can have a brassy tone that I need to be careful not to accentuate. I'm also steering clear of higher contrast looks these days, which out-compete my coloring, like using faded blue instead of crisp white near my face.

10 years ago

approprio

(website)

Veteran

It varies. Redheads can be warm or cool, and high or low contrast. My red is out of a bottle, but there's a lot of ginger in my family on both sides. My cool, soft-toned sister looks great in black and grey (similar to Greyscale) and my bright, warm-toned cousin looks amazing in coral and teal.

Some redheads can do brights very well IMO. I myself find soft, muted colours wash me out. In that case, I agree with Angie that purple is a good choice. Cooler shades of green work very well, true red and shocking pink are also fun to wear. And lots of blue.

I skew cool, so for neutrals I favour black, white, navy and grey. But a warm redhead like DianeG can do olive and taupe beautifully.

10 years ago

Anonymous

My DDIL has gorgeous red hair and green eyes. One of her best colors is lemon yellow.

10 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

Anything from the purple, plum, mauve family and through to wine/burgundy. Olive and mustard up close to my face. Pale silver. (Like Greyscale, a bridesmaid dress in palest silver was surprisingly attractive.)

Black works, but was better when my hair was a more vibrant copper. Navy and anything Jean blue are current favourite neutrals. With about 50% white coming in, and hair more sandy coloured, ice blue and white are surprisingly flattering.

Cognac leather was made for redheads! Leopard is also fab for bookending. I had an orange leather bag that was my signiture until it became too worn to use.

I really like Aveda's madder root shampoo. It seems to deepen the red in my hair without turning the white orange, and it smells divine!

10 years ago

Laurel

Active Member

My hair is naturally coppery red, lightening to strawberry blonde--- I'm blue eyed, fair skinned. I'd love to read an in-depth feature with scads of photos! I think my best color is a deep teal blue. My mom loved to see me in kelly and forest greens. I know more about colors that DON'T work (at all!) for me near my face: WHITE, TOMATO RED, YELLOW, DUSTY ROSE. I don't like pastels, but I'm not sure if that's just a preference, or if they're unflattering.

10 years ago

Anonymous

I've garnered so many great ideas from all of you and I'm in the process of consulting your posts now. Thank you so much!

Diane--olive and coral I love as well. So happy to see more olive in stores now. I have one dress and one top in rust and they work for me, partly because the rust is a bright tone and not too flat.

Suz--purple is my friend, black not so much, charcoal, not too silvery is as well. Shades of blue work, except pale blues, a wash out for me. Blue teals are better than green teals for me. Certain periwinkles I love as well.

Angie--yes, cognac is a winner! love inks and navy blues over black; trying out a purple magenta dress, both my daughter and husband love it on me--a new color for me, a dress in your NAS recommends (Halogen side shirred ruche with interesting hem).

Lisa--I will work on the eyes! I did "sugar lashes" recently to free myself from mascara and I really like them. Been wearing a shimmery low lavender on eyes on some days (a BOOM product).

Greyscale--your comments on "pink" echo what I was told as well. I used to wear pink because I was told not to! You have a good sense of your coloring and what it responds to. I encourage you to return to the shade of pink that works for you, a happy feel good color.

Rambling Ann--cobalt, olive, violet, all glorious colors. You must have enjoyed Angie's post on cobalt and olive mixing. Violet I'm just discovering. Your comments on being more discerning on what you place close to your face helps a lot--crisp vs faded blue. I've been noticing that as well.

Approprio--your comments highlight an observation of mine of late: so many shades of green! I need a better sense of my coloring as a redhead. Not real fair (I freckle, tan), probably lean toward warm redhead but could be in between because I do love grey, charcoal, ink, on me. I can trick myself into thinking I'm a certain label because I don't want to give up any of the colors I love! I used to wear a lot of black in career college teaching days.

I had my colors done years ago and need to have them done again. I was noted as a late spring.

Joy--I am definitely not a lemon yellow but I would love to see that color on a redhead. I bet your DDL rocks it!

Runcarla--Leopard I need to try on my feet! for sure. Olive is your color and navy--I just saw a post of yours with you in an olive jacket, blue shirt, and white pants. Loved that combo on you.

Laurel--I hear ya with these colors not next to your face--WHITE, TOMATO RED, YELLOW, DUSTY ROSE. The latter is a great vintage color I would love to wear but cannot. But I found a scarf with that color in it plus the teal so a win/win. deep teal blue is just divine!

10 years ago

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