What Color Is My Hair? Color Levels Guide | Madison Reed (2024)

We love this question because it’s so relatable. If you’ve been coloring your hair for as long as some of us have, who knows what your “real” hair color is now? And if you started coloring your hair in your teens or twenties, could your natural color have changed? We’ve got a trick for figuring out what your current natural hair color is...but first, let’s talk hair color levels.

Hair color levels - all you need to know

The level system of hair color is a universal system used by colorists, cosmetologists, and hair color manufacturers to standardizehair color charts. Your level simply refers to how light or dark your hair color is—the lower the number, the darker the hair. Our permanent hair colors range from level 2–10, with 2 being our darkest black and 10 being our lightest “natural” blonde. (We also carry three level 11high lift shades, which are not “natural” levels and are not recommended for gray coverage.)

When we’re talking about hair color, speaking in terms of levels can help clarify things, because levels are a kind of universal language everyone refers to, regardless of what hair color shades are called or how they are described. “Medium brown hair” means different things to different people, but a level is the same (or similar enough) across the board. This is why it’s so important to know what hair color level you have now, and what hair color level you want after coloring, so you can find the shade of hair color that checks all the boxes for you.

What level is my hair?

Knowing your current natural hair color level is the best way to helpdetermine the best shade of hair colorto use to get the results you want. Here’s how you can figure out what level of hair color you currently have:

1.Choose a section of your hair and hold it up, extended outwards away from the rest of your hair. (Hair always looks darker when it's layered on top of the rest of your hair and no light can come through the section.) For best results, make sure you are standing in natural light.

2.The section you’ve chosen should be from the farthest part of the crown you can closely examine. Your hair is always lightest around the front of your hairline, where it is finer and gets the most sun exposure. If you use the roots right along your hairline as your guide, you’ll probably come away thinking your hair is lighter than it actually is (which could result in your hair color coming out darker than you expect or want).

3.Take a very good look at the shade of hair growing out from your roots, close to your head. If what you're seeing is mostly gray, look for the color in between the grays. Tons of people think “natural hair color” refers to what color they were born with, or what color their hair was in early childhood, but our hair tends to change color as we age. Often, our hair gets darker when we get older. So, while you might remember having had lighter hair as a kid, you want to know what color your hair is right now, so you can choose the shade that will give you the results you’re looking for.


4.Now take a look at the hair color chart on this page. Which shade best matches your current natural hair color? That’s the one you want!


5.If you’re looking to go lighter or darker, that’s another story. Our hair color lifts 1–2 levels lighter—for example, if you’re a natural level 4, the lightest you will be able to take your hair is a level 2.

6.Going darker? Though it’s always easier to take your color darker, we recommend doing so in steps and only going one shade darker at a time (for the health of your hair). If your color isn’t dark enough, you can always go a shade darker next time!


7.Important to note: permanent hair color cannot lighten hair that has already been color-treated. So, if you most recently colored your hair with a level 5 shade, applying a level 6 shade on top of it will not lighten your color at all.

What color is my hair? Conclusions

Not near a Hair Color Bar? If you have any questions or need one-on-one, person to person help determining your level or choosing a colorgive us a call at (866) 817-0814 or schedule a freevideo consultation with a licensed hair colorist. Got another “hair level” question? Hit us up in the comments below.