How Many Different Hair Colors Are There?
Last week we announced our 3 new natural red shades—Colette (#99J), Vivian (Red Wine), and GiGi (#38)—available right now in all 4 professional hair extension methods. Together with our other red shades—Betsy (#3R), Emmie (#5R), and Ruby (#30/33)—that makes for 6 total natural red shades in our Babe collection! New extension colors means more exact matches for your clients, better extension blending opportunities, and safer color jobs (for when you choose to color the hair extensions to a different shade). That’s why we’re on a mission to provide you with the most extensive color range possible. But how many possible hair colors are there, you might wonder? Today, we’ll investigate that very question.
Human hair and skin color is determined by the relative amounts of two different, naturally occurring pigments—eumelanin and pheomelanin—which dictate the lightness or darkness and redness or yellow-ness of the color, respectively. Together, these pigments produce 4 easily recognizable hair color categories (not including grey or white): black hair (high eumelanin, low pheomelanin), brown hair (moderate eumelanin, low pheomelanin), blonde hair (low eumelanin, low pheomelanin), and red hair (varying eumelanin, high pheomelanin). Grey or white hair, which is typically a byproduct of the aging process, is caused by lack of melanin in some (grey) or most (white) hairs.
Within each of these color categories, though, you may find a vast and finely graduated range of possible hair colors, from light blondes to dark blondes, chestnut browns to mousey browns, warm to cool blacks, and beyond. It wouldn’t be possible—or practical—to count the number of total hair colors, especially when you consider that most hair includes various different shades, highlights, and lowlights within it. And that’s just the natural colors—when you include fashion colors in the mix, it’s basically a question of how many colors the human eye can see (about 8-10 million, in case you were wondering).
Obviously, Babe can’t offer millions of different extension color options (no matter how much we’d like to!). Instead, we offer what you might call “core colors”—distinct color steps that cover a reasonable range of the black, brown, blonde, red, and fashion color categories—paired with hair techniques like blending or coloring so you can produce the precise results you want. With our latest red hair additions, we’ve fleshed out the red color line to the point that you can easily accommodate basically any redhead client (aspiring or natural) with the right tools and some creativity. We look forward to seeing the new transformations you’ll create!
Visit your local distributor today to get your hands on our new colors, and click here to share your transformation photos!
