How do I pick a hair color?

Do you know how to photoshop? You could take a photo of yourself that you like a lot, select your hair, and then mess around with the hue/saturation tool to see which color fits your face. As far as the brands go, I’m not a pro in that area.

I believe you can do the same thing with the basic windows picture editing program.

You could start with a temporary hair color and see how you like it, then go for something permanent. I don’t remember the brand name, but there are hair colors that gradually wash out in about 30 days. I used it a couple of times years ago because I was never brave enough to do anything drastic to my hair. The color I used made my hair a bit redder than it naturally is, and I liked the results.

If you are going to use a box color from a store, your best bet is to try and pick a color close to what you already are. Are you trying to cover gray or touch up your regrowth? Are you looking for an all over gloss? Stay away from the loreal feria brand, as that dye contains metalic pigments and can cause problems if you put another color (brand) over it. Try a semi or demi if you think it might be too dark.
The important thing to remember is hair dye is not paint. Your hair will not be the color on the box. Don’t try to go extremely blonde.

If you are going the bottle route, never colour your hair more than 2 shades lighter or darker than your natural shade. The trick to getting your hair to match the colour on the box if to use a good a good stripper, then conditioner, and finally the dye product not recommended for novices.

How important is it that your “drapes” match the “rug”?

@elijahsuicide, thanks for the advice. I’m looking to cover my gray and lighten the color.

@Raggedy_Ann I don’t know enough about box hair color to recommend a specific brand, just look for something specifically designed to cover gray as it is formulated differently. In professional grade haircolor it would be a NN series, I’m not sure if the box would tell you that or not.
Have you tried looking into a hair school near you? Usually they accept clients for a fraction of the cost, and are closely supervised by instructors. It takes a little more time because the instructor goes step by step with the student to evaluate your needs, formulate your perfect color, and students usually work a little slower. Good schools use top of the line products and the teachers have lots of experience so don’t be afraid to try it.
Good luck!

@Mr_M I guess it depends on if you even have a “rug”, if you do and want to match, they have hair color for there too!