Cool Colour!

The most-wanted hair colours of the season are often inspired by the hottest celebs on the circuit. Sienna Miller, Posh and Jennifer Aniston have spawned mainstream copycat mania in less time than it takes to say 'tint brush and foils', while edgier stars such as Gwen Stefani, Sarah Harding and Keira Knightley inspire the urban-cool crowd. However the potential to get a colour change wrong is considerable. Ignore at your peril skin tone, eye colour, brow colour and your hair's texture and condition, as they will all have a bearing on how successful the outcome is. With deluxe-natural getting the nod this season, it's all about making a perfect marriage between features and follicles, improving on Mother Nature rather than going all GM, so to speak. 'Stripy, too vibrant or unnatural-looking colour does not translate into expensive hair!

If you're heading to the salon, a professional opinion from your stylist is worth listening to, as what works for your favourite superstar might do you no favours at all. And if you're doing it yourself at home, choosing a shade that's either two shades lighter or two shades darker than your natural colour is about as adventurous as you should get.

Skin tone – cool
Skin with pale pink undertones is classified as cool. Eyes are usually blue or grey. Blue-eyed blondes are the classic male fantasy and blue-eyed brunettes look unusual and striking, the right brown shade making eyes look more intensely blue. Grey eyes go with everything.

Golden rule: use predominantly ash tones to neutralise the pinkness in your skin if you regularly fall into the flush/blush/looks-a-bit-of-a-lush category, despite being pre-menopausal, unselfconscious and sober.

Skin tone - warm
Your complexion is often described as 'peaches and cream' and has yellow undertones, or you could have an olive skin, Mediterranean, Asian, dark or black skin. Eye colour tends to be brown, hazel or green.

Golden rule: creamy is usually dreamy, but brown eyes, dark brows and blonde hair need careful blending, and picking up on a toning brown and combining it with blonde will blur the join, as it were. The brunette buzz is for golden, rich browns and melting, milk-chocolate shades. Sallow complexions don't tend to be flattered by yellow gold or light copper tones, but intense dark chocolates, deep reds and burgundies will have an energising effect on skin that looks jaded.