Is Your Hair Dirty Blonde Or Light Brown?

Are you curious if your natural hair color is considered dirty blonde or light brown? Where is the line really drawn between what hairstylist’s consider blonde hair and brown hair? In this post I’m going to answer the question once and for all to settle the argument on what is considered blonde hair vs. brunette hair.

Below you can watch my Youtube video for this topic:

What do hairstylist’s consider dirty blonde hair?

When it comes to this hair color, many people may disagree over what should be considered dirty blonde vs. light brown hair. I know that when I released my Youtube video on this topic, I received A LOT of hate from people that disagreed with me.

The color that I am referring to is one of the most common hair colors that I see among caucasians. I personally have this hair color and if you were blonde as a child, you also likely have this hair color currently as an adult.

So let’s break down what the professionals consider dirty blonde vs. light brown.

Are dirty blonde and light brown the same?

I first want to point out that not all hairs on your head are the same color universally. Everyone has different shades of natural highlights throughout their hair. Some of these highlights are more subtle with not much contrast, while others may have a lot of contrast.

This means that there are brunettes with natural blonde highlights, or blondes with natural red highlights. I find natural hair color extremely fascinating in how diverse one head of hair can be, and I actually love it when people leave their hair their natural color. This is because it is impossible to replicate natural color.

So because of this, dirty blonde and light brown can be considered the same, based on how many light blonde highlights a person has vs. natural brunette low lights. Most of the hairs in the front near the hairline are lighter, while the hairs on the back of the head are usually darker.

But this varies from person to person. As humans we like to group ourselves into categories such as “brunette” or “blonde”, but the truth is that nature doesn’t really work that way.

What color level is dirty blonde hair?

Now if you do want to get an exact answer, hairstylist’s consider a level 6 to be dark blonde hair. Some stylists may disagree with this statement, but if you look at the names of the levels in most professional hair color books, level 6 is considered dark blonde.

Ultimately, half of the levels are brown, and the other half are blonde. I think that with the advancement of coloring hair, we have it in our minds that only bleached blondes are considered blonde. But this is just not true.

Below are the most common labels given to each hair color level among professional hair color lines. I’ve also included a picture from my Pravana color book for reference.

1. Black
2. Darkest Brown
3. Dark Brown
4. Brown
5. Light Brown
6. Dark Blonde
7. Blonde
8. Light Blonde
9. Very Light Blonde
10. Lightest Blonde

To learn more about the level system in hair color, see my post here.

Conclusion

The debate between what is technically considered dirty blonde vs. light brown is a pretty controversial one. I have personally received a lot of hateful comments from those that disagree with what I’m sharing in this post, but I’m merely delivering the information provided to me from cosmetology school and my professional color books.

Since not all hairs on your head are the same exact color universally, it’s hard to categorize a head of hair as “brunette” or “blonde”. That being said, the level system helps us to do this to the best of our ability.

The professional color books consider level 6 to be dark blonde hair, and level 5 to be light brown hair. So half of the levels are brown, and the other half are blonde. Obviously there are reds and coppers as well, but we’re only talking about the levels of the hair which are considered neutral.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think! What is your natural hair color? Are you considered dirty blonde, or light brown? Make sure to subscribe below if you’d like to make everyday a good hair day!