Hair color is assigned a level number from 1 to 10, with 10 being the lightest and 1 being black. Black reflects very little light and the lightest shades of blonde reflect the greatest amount of light. A colorist would say that a level 10 blonde is two steps lighter than a level 8 blonde. When hair is lightened, it produces warm, or yellow-red, undertones. Refer to the wheel to cancel out some of the orange tone but leave enough to keep the warm tones.
Cool tones are blue-red.
If your skin has rosy pink, rosy beige, dark olive, dark brown or ebony tones and your eyes are light blue, gray-blue, deep blue, deep green, brown or black, your best hair color options are plum and burgundy highlights, ash and platinum blonde, brown, dark brown, black, slate, salt and pepper and pure white. Your choice of hair coloring product depends on what you're trying to accomplish and how long you want your color to last. Most women start with a lower commitment level and move up to a higher level over time. If you're seeing more gray or your hair coloring isn't covering gray as well as it did, you might need to move to a higher-level product. Level 3 is the only kind of product that can completely and permanently cover any amount of gray.