Young Woman With a Long Wavy Brown Hair

Are you looking for the best hair color for olive skin?

Changing your hair color is one of the best ways to experiment with your look.

While there are no boundaries in hair coloring, there are some rules you must follow when picking a hair color for your skin tone.

While making a choice based on your skin tone and undertone is a tried and tested way to make the right decision, some skin tones are tricker than others.

Olive skin is one of the trickiest skin tones to work with.

Olive skin tones are complexions with a dusky, slightly greenish undertone, making it difficult to choose the hair color.

Luckily, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you and researched the best hair colors for olive skin tones.

20 Most Popular Colored Hairstyles for Olive Skin Tone

The olive skin tone is gorgeous, and there is so much you can do for your look if only you could find a hair color that goes well with it.
You can enhance your look by matching your hair, skin and eye color.

The best hair color for olive skin helps bring out the skin’s undertones and makes the light parts pop and the dark parts look stunning even when in shadow. We’ll help you find new hair color ideas for your olive skin.

Keep reading to find the most famous colored hairstyles that suit olive skin tones.

Two-Tone Ombré

Try the two-tone ombre if you’ve always wanted to see how your hair would look with dark roots with blonde ends. The hair color is perfect for an olive skin tone as it transitions from a chocolate brown to an almost blonde hue towards the end.

It’s an excellent choice for women who have hazel eyes as it brings out the brown, green, and gold shades more.

Face-Framing Chestnut Highlights

If you want a romantic look, try the face-framing chestnut highlights. This is the perfect time to experiment with balayage or highlights.

All-Over Platinum Blonde

A platinum blonde and white mix is perfect for olive skin tones. Ask for an all-over hair color with lighter pieces near your face to draw attention to your eyes.

When done correctly, the all-over platinum blonde will look stunning and make a statement. Talk to your hairstylist to ensure you get the right blonde.

Platinum Blonde Haired Girl

Deep Mocha Hue

Mocha colors work for everyone. They are perfect if you are going for that mysterious, witchy vibe. Mocha is a balanced neutral shade of cool and warm that complements most skin tones but looks incredibly good on olive complexions.

Cocoa Sheen

With this hairstyle, your hair will have a mild ombre look that transitions from a rich chocolate brown to a somewhat milkier shade.
Wear your hair straight, curly or wavy; either style will make a statement.

Auburn With Bangs

If you are like many olive-skinned women, you must assume that copper tones like auburn don’t suit you. That couldn’t be further from the truth. To pull off the look, ensure your undertones aren’t orange or red but more chestnut since it can look two-dimensional and tacky.

Olive skin tends to look slightly green. Because of that, anything that’s too red will clash with it. That’s why a muted auburn is the perfect shade. Pair that with bangs for a timeless look.

Glossy Mocha With a Hint of Chestnut

If you are going for a subtle, understated dimension that prevents the dark color from hanging too heavy, go for a glossy signature mocha wave with just the barest hint of chestnut lowlights.

All-Over Caramel

Caramel balayage hair is a gorgeous hairstyle that has an effortless sun-kissed look. To replicate that, consider an all-over caramel color. Caramel is a warmer tone that beautifully illuminates olive skin tones. It has golden undertones that create that beautiful sun-kissed glow.

Ice Blonde Highlights

If you desire to sport dirty blonde hair, this ashy hue is everything you need to complete your next hair makeover. It is a light, cool-toned hue with a few hints of beige, making it highly flattering on many skin tones, including olive skin.

What we like about this hair color is that there are many ways to make the shade your own, from dimensional balayage to blonde highlights.

Baby Pink Ombré

If you want to spice up things, go for flattering pink ombre hair. A baby pink or purple hue would look perfect against your olive skin.
Keep the pinkest color towards your hair’s ends to remove that shocking factor.

Honey Blonde

One of the best choices for olive skin tone is perfect in-between honey that is not ashy or warm. It’s a sexy and effortless color. Pair it with smoky eyes to make it pop more.

Woman With a Curly Medium Honey Blonde Hair

Balayage Highlights

Balayage highlights are rich, dimensional hand-painted accents added to the hair. The coloring technique creates a beautiful multi-tonal, natural look perfect for olive skin tones.

All-Over Soft Blonde

Taking the blonde to your scalp is a great way to enhance your look. However, grounding it with darker roots and keeping the blonde beige rather than white results in a softer appearance.

Doing that can also reduce the number of salon visits making it easy to maintain.

Chocolate Brown Balayage

The sweeping strokes of light are perfect at complementing olive skin tones and hazel eyes. Ensure that you don’t have any red color in your hair, as this will clash with your skin tone.

Rapunzel Silvery Blonde

Here is the thing about going all-over platinum – be ready to commit to the maintenance. Silverly blonde is a high-maintenance color that can cause unreversible hair damage when done incorrectly. So, research the hair colorist you intend to go to and ensure they are highly skilled.

Medium Amethyst

This involves a very light tone of purple. It, however, does an excellent job of complementing your olive skin tone.

Mocha With Babylights

Mocha with babylights is low maintenance and can be achieved by asking your stylist for babylights all over, toned with a nice mocha.

Cool Grey-Blonde

A growing trend is women dyeing their hair gray. Consider a cool, gray blonde if you want to jump on this bandwagon. Like with platinum blonde hair, eliminate any brassiness and yellow tones using purple shampoo a few times a week.

Rich Chestnut Brown

Consider a deep shade of reddish-brown hues if you want to mix up your brunette hair. Rich chestnut brown hair helps warm your features while maintaining a subtle look.

Indian Girl Wearing Rich Chestnut Brown Hair

Pastel Lavender Waves

Pastel lavender hair is a brighter, slightly faded olive color bound to help you stand out. It is the perfect way to add flair and youthfulness to your overall look.

This look is perfect for you if you have extremely curly hair. You may go all out with a solid lavender color or ease into the style with peekaboo streaks or highlights.

Things to Consider When Choosing Hair Colors for Olive Skin

So, what should you consider when choosing hair colors for olive skin tones?

When deciding on the best hair color for your olive skin tone, consider whether you have a warm or cool undertone. Olive skin can look like a range of tones, but it incorporates warm and cool tones, although some olive-skinned people lean strongly in one direction.

To determine your undertone:

  • Look at the inside of your wrist.
  • Observe the color of your veins. If they are purple or blue, you have cool undertones and warm undertones if they are green.
  • If you have both undertones, take it as a blessing, as it means you can experiment with multiple colors.

How to Style and Maintain Colored Hair for Olive Skin

Here’s how to style and maintain your chosen color for olive skin and the best products to maintain the vibrant color:

Step 1 – Choose the right one

Your undertone is the main factor determining what hair color to go for if you have an olive skin tone.

Using your undertone as a guide, if you lean more towards the cooler side, go for cool-toned hair colors like ash brown and platinum blonde and cooler-tone pastels like purple or blue.

For warmer undertones, shades like chocolate brown, honey blonde and fantasy shades like orange or pink will do. In the hands of a professional stylist, any hair color will work for olive skin.

However, some hues may not be as flattering. Ideally, avoid neutral colors like beige since they wash out the complexion making your olive tone appear dull.

Step 2 – Crucial styling tips

Just like when dealing with any other colored hair, avoid heat styling as this can damage the delicate hair strands and cause color bleeding. When you are styling your hair, avoid overly tight styles as well.

Step 3 – Maintain your chosen style

Once you have colored your hair, following a proper hair care routine is vital to prevent color fading and maintain healthy hair.
The best practices involve washing your hair less frequently, skipping shampoo and using a deep conditioner instead.

If you must use shampoo, use a color-safe shampoo free of sulfates. Use a heat protectant to prevent heat damage. Use hair masks twice a week for healthy hair and when you wash it, allow it to air dry rather than using hair dryers or flat irons.

Lastly, removing green from blonde hair is daunting, so before swimming, condition your hair.

Step 4 – Best products to use

To maintain your hair color:

  • Get color-protectant shampoo and conditioner.
  • Invest in heat protection sprays for heat styling to minimize damage.
  • Use a hair mask to add a dose of healing nourishment to help repair any existing damage, increase shine and keep the color stronger for longer.
  • If you go for lighter hues, consider getting a suitable dye and bleach unless you want to lighten your hair without bleach. In this case, an apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar solution would work perfectly.

FAQ

How to determine your skin undertones?

To determine your skin undertones, observe the color of your veins. Purple or blue veins mean you have cool undertones, while green veins indicate warm undertones.

Should you go for warm or cool undertones in your hair color?

While it may not be obvious, your natural hair color is the same tone as your skin color. By design, warm skin tones work best with warm colors, while cool tones look best in cool colors.

Does gray hair look good with olive skin?

Not all gray hair looks good with olive skin. Certain gray shades, like smokey and denim, look fabulous with olive skin tones.

Does olive skin age better than other skin tones?

Yes, olive skin ages better than other skin tones. People with olive skin tones are more resistant to developing wrinkles and fine lines.

However, pigmentation issues like post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma and uneven skin tone can be problematic with this skin tone.

What common mistakes do people with olive skin make when choosing a hair color?

One of the mistakes people with olive skin tones make is choosing blonde colors when choosing hair color. Opt for caramel shades and avoid anything too dark and vice versa.

About the author: Anthony Giannotti

Anthony Giannotti is a senior writer and editor for Beardoholic and a licensed barber for more than 13 years. He owns 3 barbershops and has his own hair care product line that is sold in barbershops worldwide. Known for his impeccable technique and skills, Anthony is an expert in hair and beard care and he knows the best products and tools to get rid of all beard problems and have an amazing beard.

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