Choosing the Right Hair Color Shade for Your Skin Tone

It's easy to pick a hair colour shade based on what looks good on someone else, or simply what you've always used. But the same shade can look completely different depending on your skin's undertone, flattering on one person and slightly flat or harsh on another. Understanding a little about undertones makes it much easier to choose a shade that actually works with your complexion, rather than against it.

Understanding Skin Undertones

Skin tone is how light or deep your skin is, but undertone is the subtle hue beneath the surface, generally categorised as warm, cool, or neutral. Warm undertones lean yellow, peachy, or golden. Cool undertones lean pink, red, or bluish. Neutral undertones are a balanced mix of both. A quick way to check is to look at the veins on your wrist in natural light, greenish veins usually suggest a warm undertone, bluish or purple veins suggest cool, and a mix of both suggests neutral.

Which Shades Suit Which Undertones

Natural Black is a highly versatile shade that tends to work well across most undertones, since true black doesn't carry a strong warm or cool cast of its own the way many colour shades do. It's often the safer, more universally flattering choice, especially for anyone unsure of their undertone or wanting a natural, low-risk result.

Burgundy, with its deep red-wine base, tends to be especially flattering on warm and neutral undertones, where it can bring out a healthy glow, while on very cool, pink-leaning undertones it can sometimes emphasise redness in the skin rather than complementing it. That said, undertone is only one factor, personal preference and how a shade is applied matter just as much as the theory.

Our comparison of Burgundy versus Natural Black goes further into the style and personality side of this choice, beyond just undertone matching.

Why the Triple Oil Blend Is What Makes This Worth Choosing Over a Plain Colour

Colouring hair and conditioning it are usually two separate purchases, a dye plus a deep treatment to undo the damage it causes. Indica Xpress Crème's triple oil blend is built to close that gap in one product. Onion Oil goes to work right at the roots and scalp, exactly where it's needed to support scalp health and hair strength during a process that can otherwise leave that area feeling stripped. Coconut Oil penetrates the hair shaft itself, reducing the protein loss that's usually the real reason colour-treated hair ends up dry and brittle. Argan Oil finishes the job at the surface, leaving hair with the soft, glossy result you'd normally expect only after a separate conditioning treatment. This is the actual reason to choose this formula over a plain, oil-free colour: you're not paying for colour now and damage control later, the conditioning is already built into the same 10-minute step.

Natural Black

Universally Flattering

Rs. 179 Rs. 199

Shop Natural Black →

Burgundy

Warm & Neutral Undertones

Rs. 179 Rs. 199

Shop Burgundy →

Both shades: 10-minute colour, 100% grey coverage, no-ammonia formula with Onion, Coconut, and Argan Oil.

How to Test a Shade Before Committing

Step 1: Do a strand test on a small, hidden section of hair to see how the shade actually looks against your skin in natural light, not just under indoor lighting.

Step 2: Hold a swatch or coloured fabric close to your face in the shade you're considering, this rough approximation can reveal whether a tone flatters or clashes with your complexion.

Step 3: Consider your everyday makeup and clothing colours too, a shade that works well with your existing wardrobe and makeup tones will generally feel more cohesive day to day.

Step 4: Always patch test 48 hours before full application, regardless of how confident you are in the shade choice. Our guide to the patch test process covers exactly how to do this safely.

Natural Black vs Burgundy, at a Glance

If a fast, ten-minute application matters to you regardless of shade, our piece on how fast-acting colour formulas work explains the mechanism behind quick grey coverage in more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I know if I have a warm or cool undertone?
   Check your wrist veins in natural light, greenish veins suggest warm, bluish or purple suggest cool, and a mix of both suggests neutral. Jewellery preference (gold vs silver) can also be a rough hint.
2. Is Natural Black safe for every skin tone?
   Yes, Natural Black is one of the most universally flattering shades since it doesn't carry a strong warm or cool cast, making it a reliable, low-risk choice regardless of undertone.
3. Will Burgundy look too red on my skin?
   It depends on your undertone. Burgundy tends to complement warm and neutral undertones well, while very cool, pink-leaning undertones may find it emphasises redness. A strand test is the best way to check.
4. Does the triple oil blend actually prevent dryness from colouring?
   Onion, Coconut, and Argan oil each support hair conditioning in different ways, helping offset the drying effect colour treatments can have, though following up with your regular conditioning routine still helps.
5. Can I switch between Natural Black and Burgundy later?
   Yes, though moving from a deeper colour like Burgundy to Natural Black is usually more straightforward than the reverse. If switching from black to a lighter or brighter shade, expect more gradual results over a few applications.