Modeling Natural Looking Hair Color

Based on extensive consumer research, the most desired attribute of permanent hair dye is natural looking color.  For the past 5 decades, scientists have been working to develop dyes that match natural shades of red, blonde and brunette.  Since every strand in a head of hair has a slightly different shade, and no one has the exact same hair color as anyone else, it is extremely difficult to create a natural looking dye that can be used universally. 

However, P&G Beauty has developed a model that plots out the naturally occurring shades of hair and designed their corresponding hair color shades to match.  Using a process called sphere reflectance spectrophotometry, scientists collected data points from chemically untreated hair to demonstrate the ways that light reflects off of individual strands.  Through studying the absorption of light by eu- and pheo- melanin granules, pigments in hair that have the most influence on formation of natural tones in hair, researchers were able to determine a scale of natural looking hair color shades and apply this knowledge to their products.

Naturally Occuring Color Shades

Based on this color scale, P&G Beauty was able to create a new and improved coloring technology that works by forming a blend of differently colored pigments within the hair fiber itself.  Blending 3 tones strikes the right balance between ‘color variation' and ‘natural looking color', creating dimension, highlights and shine.