Understanding the hair color wheel, can help you greatly to select the right shade for dyeing, highlighting, or lowlighting your hair. It is quite simple to understand, once you learn what it is, and know which category of skin tone and eye color you belong to. You can then select the best complementing hair colors. Selecting a wrong shade, can make the face look drawn, pasty, or too bright. Color Wheel Chart Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Shades The hair color wheel consists of the primary colors (illustrated in the picture with largest circles) of red, yellow, and blue. Like red or yellow, for yellow blonde shades and blue for deep blue or purple shades are used for coloring hair. The secondary options (illustrated with medium-sized) are orange, green, and violet. In between the primary and secondary colors are the tertiary colors (illustrated with smallest circle) which are yellow-orange, yellow-red, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green. Warm and Cool Shades Red and yellow are warm colors. Shades of red like light and dark copper and light and dark auburn are also warm colors. Shades of blonde like yellow blonde, and golden blonde are also warm colors. A mix of half red and half yellow, like strawberry blonde is also a warm color. While shades of blue like purple, violet, and shades of green like ash are cool colors. Choosing Colors If you have cool skin tones and a cool eye color, then you should always select from the cool hair shade otherwise a warm hair color can make your face look sallow and drawn. People with a warm skin tone and warm eye shades should opt for warm options, otherwise a cool one can make their face appear 'washed out'. Warm Category People who belong to the warm category can have their eyes either golden brown, greenish blue, green, hazel colored with brown or golden flecks. The skin tone can be freckled, pale with golden or peach undertones, ruddy or brown with golden or pink undertones. Such people should opt for warm and dark shades of brown. Shades like golden brown and chestnut brown can also look great. Base colors of reddish orange or shiny blonde also look great on such people. The best option of highlights are copper streaks, golden brown or golden shades. People belonging to the warm category should avoid blue, purple, ash, or beige shades. Cool Category People who belong to the cool category can have blackish brown, dark brown, grayish blue, dark blue, or hazel colored eyes with light flecks. The skin tone can be bronze or brown after tanning, pale with pink undertones or no color, olive, medium with golden undertones, medium with light pink in the cheeks or have a dark brown complexion. Such people should go with a shiny raven black hair base. Cool blonde shades like mink or icy white also look great. The highlights can be of honey, wheat, or ash color. Such people can also go with purple or burgundy shades. People who belong to the cool category should avoid blonde, yellow, red, or bronze shades. This was about selecting the right dye using the color wheel by your complexion and eye color. So, understand which category you belong to and make the appropriate choice.