Deep Autumn · Hair color
Deep Autumn hair color: what works and why
By the Skintonic team · SKINTONIC LLC · Updated
Deep Autumn coloring is warm, deep and medium in contrast, and those three between them decide almost everything about hair. The warm undertone picks the direction, the deep depth picks the level, and the medium contrast decides how far Deep Autumn hair may sit from Deep Autumn skin before the face stops reading as one thing.
Most hair advice skips the middle one. It will tell Deep Autumn to stay warm and stop there, which is true and not very useful, because the Deep Autumn shade that goes wrong is usually the right direction at the wrong level. Here is all three.
The Deep Autumn level
Level 2 to level 5 — near-black through to a mid brown, which is the Deep Autumn band. Deep coloring carries dark hair the way nothing else does, and Deep Autumn is one of the three seasons that can take a true black-brown without it taking over. Espresso and dark chocolate sit against a Deep Autumn face rather than on top of it.
Going very light is where Deep Autumn gets into trouble. A blonde three or four levels above a deep natural leaves Deep Autumn features with nothing to sit against, and the usual response is more makeup to compensate for something the hair caused.
The Deep Autumn direction: warm
Deep Autumn leans toward golden, caramel, copper, chestnut and warm chocolate, and away from ash, platinum, cool-beige blonde and anything described as "smoky".
Warm skin under ash hair is the most common bad outcome in a salon chair, and Deep Autumn is squarely exposed to it: the ash pulls gray into the face and the skin answers by looking tired. On Deep Autumn it usually starts with a request to avoid brassiness.
The part most people miss: contrast
Deep Autumn sits at medium contrast, which buys room to move a level or two in either direction before the balance of the face changes at all.
For reference, Deep Autumn coloring usually comes with hair that runs dark — deep brown through to near-black, eyes that read as clear without being striking, and skin that leans golden or peach.
What to ask for at the salon
- With a colorist, Deep Autumn should ask for warm rather than for "not brassy" — brassy means orange that went wrong, warm means gold kept on purpose, and the two get treated as one request.
- Give the level as a number: level 2 to level 5 is the Deep Autumn band, and a number is unambiguous where "medium brown" means whatever that particular colorist happens to picture.
- Have the swatch held against your jawline at a window before anything is mixed, because salon lighting runs warmer than it looks and will flatter a warm Deep Autumn tone in the chair that stops flattering you at home.
- Ask where the fade lands. Warm tones fade warmer still, so the real question for Deep Autumn is whether it settles on gold or tips into orange.
- Say at the start if you are covering gray, because it changes the formula and a Deep Autumn tone chosen without that in mind arrives a level lighter than the one you agreed to.
The Deep Autumn colors your hair sits next to
Whatever shade you end up with will be seen against these Deep Autumn colors every day, which is a better test than any swatch book. Eight Deep Autumn colors, the same eight the free result hands you:
- Warm Deep Burgundy
- Pine Green
- Chestnut
- Deep Amber
- Espresso Red
- Deep Rust
- Burnt Orange
- Deep Mustard
All twenty-five Deep Autumn colors grouped by how to wear them, plus the shades to avoid and the reason for each, are in your report.
Not sure you are Deep Autumn?
Hair is the costliest thing on this page to get wrong, and everything above is only yours if Deep Autumn is. The scan settles whether you are Deep Autumn from one photo in about thirty seconds, free, with nothing uploaded and no account.
Questions
What hair color suits Deep Autumn?
For Deep Autumn, level 2 to level 5 — near-black through to a mid brown, which is the Deep Autumn band, taken in a warm direction — so golden, caramel, copper, chestnut and warm chocolate. For Deep Autumn the level matters more than the exact shade: a tone two levels away from where deep coloring sits will look wrong even when the undertone is right.
Can Deep Autumn go blonde?
Yes, but not a pale one. Deep Autumn going blonde does best with a rich, low blonde — dark honey or bronde rather than platinum — and roots kept near natural so the face still has something to sit against.
Does hair color change my season?
It moves two of the four — depth and contrast — because both are measured across the whole face with the hair in it, while undertone and chroma stay exactly where they are, so a big change can shift you off Deep Autumn and onto a neighbor. The honest position is that a Deep Autumn result describes you as you look now, which is also how everyone else is seeing you.
What should I ask a colorist for?
With a colorist, Deep Autumn should ask for warm rather than for "not brassy" — brassy means orange that went wrong, warm means gold kept on purpose, and the two get treated as one request. Take a reference photo at a window rather than relying on the salon's own lighting, and ask for the Deep Autumn level — level 2 to level 5 — out loud, because that is the half of the brief colorists most often fill in for themselves.
More for Deep Autumn
Deep Autumn makeup · Deep Autumn outfits · Deep Autumn colors to avoid · Deep Autumn in full