What is a hair color level chart?

A scale from 1 to 10 that measures depth, how dark or light hair is, separate from tone. Level 1 is black and level 10 is the lightest blonde. Each level also has an underlying pigment that appears when the hair is lifted, which is what decides the toner you need.

What are the hair color levels 1 to 10?

1 black, 2 very dark brown, 3 dark brown, 4 medium brown, 5 light brown, 6 dark blonde, 7 medium blonde, 8 light blonde, 9 very light blonde and 10 extra light blonde. The pigment they expose runs from very dark red at level 1 through orange around level 6 to pale yellow at level 10.

What hair color level am I?

Check your mid-lengths, dry, in natural daylight, held against a white background rather than your skin. Roots read lighter because of scalp heat and wet hair reads darker, so both mislead. Between two levels, count yourself as the darker one.

What is the underlying pigment at each level?

Levels 1 to 4 expose red, level 5 red-orange, level 6 orange, level 7 orange-yellow, levels 8 and 9 yellow, and level 10 pale yellow. It is exposed rather than created: lightener removes dark pigment faster than warm pigment, so the warmth that was always there is what remains.

Why did my hair turn orange when I bleached it?

Because orange is the underlying pigment in the middle of the level chart, roughly levels 5 to 7. Lightener strips dark pigment faster than warm pigment, so lifting dark hair passes through orange every time. You either keep lifting to a paler stage or cancel it with a blue-based toner.

How many levels can hair be lifted in one session?

Box color usually lifts one to two levels. Anything beyond that means bleach, and how far it can safely go depends on your starting level, the condition of the hair and whether it has been colored before. Large jumps are normally staged across more than one appointment.

HAIR COLOR · LEVELS

Hair color level chart: all 10 levels and their underlying pigment

PUBLISHED JUL 22 · 2026 DATA REFRESHED AT EACH BUILD

By the PlaySpinWheel editorial team

The hair color level chart in wheel form: each level hides a different underlying pigment, from red at level 1 to pale yellow at level 10.

A hair color level chart runs from 1, black, to 10, the lightest blonde, and every level hides a different underlying pigment that only appears once you lift the hair. Levels 1 to 4 hide red, levels 5 to 7 hide orange, and levels 8 to 10 hide yellow.

That hidden pigment is why bleach drags dark hair through orange on the way to blonde, and it is what decides which toner you need. The full chart is below, along with how to work out your own level.

What is a hair color level?

Level is depth: how dark or light hair is, and nothing to do with what color it looks. Level 1 is black, level 10 is the palest blonde a colorist will name, and every natural head of hair on earth sits somewhere on that scale. Tone is the separate half, the warmth or coolness sitting on top, which is why two people can both be level 6 and look nothing alike.

Levels matter because they are the honest constraint. Tone can be swapped in half an hour. Depth has to be lifted out or deposited in, and how far you are moving on this scale is what decides whether a color is a quiet afternoon or a five-hour appointment.

The hair color level chart, 1 to 10

This is the standard chart. The third column is the one that does the work: it is the pigment sitting inside the hair at that depth, invisible until lightener starts stripping the darker pigment away from around it.

HAIR COLOR LEVELS 1-10 CHART WITH UNDERLYING PIGMENT
LEVEL	DEPTH	UNDERLYING PIGMENT EXPOSED
1	Black	Very dark red
2	Very dark brown	Dark red
3	Dark brown	Dark red
4	Medium brown	Red
5	Light brown	Red-orange
6	Dark blonde	Orange
7	Medium blonde	Orange-yellow
8	Light blonde	Yellow
9	Very light blonde	Light yellow
10	Extra light blonde	Pale yellow

Read it as a journey rather than a list. Lightening level 3 hair to level 8 does not jump; it travels, through dark red, red, red-orange, orange and orange-yellow, and it has to pass through every one of those stages to arrive. Anyone who has bleached dark hair and watched it go a violent tangerine at the halfway point has watched this chart happen in real time.

Why does lifted hair turn orange?

Because orange was in there the whole time. Hair contains two pigments: eumelanin, which is dark brown to black, and pheomelanin, which is red to yellow. Lightener breaks down eumelanin considerably faster than pheomelanin, so as the dark pigment goes, what remains is the warm pigment that was always sitting underneath it.

So orange is not a mistake, or a sign the product failed. It is the middle of the level chart made visible. The two ways past it are to keep lifting until you reach a paler stage, which the hair has to be healthy enough to survive, or to stop and cancel the warmth with a toner.

Which toner do you need at each level?

Toning works on opposites: each pigment is cancelled by the color facing it on the color wheel. Match the level you have actually reached to its pigment, then reach for the tone facing it. Tone numbers below follow the key on the hair color chart.

LEVEL, PIGMENT AND THE TONER THAT CANCELS IT
LEVEL REACHED	PIGMENT SHOWING	TONER TO CANCEL IT
1 to 4	Red	Green or matte, the .7 tones
5	Red-orange	Blue-green or teal toner
6	Orange	Blue ash, the .1 tones
7	Orange-yellow	Blue-violet, between .1 and .2
8 to 9	Yellow	Violet, the .2 tones
10	Pale yellow	Violet, used lightly, or purple shampoo

One limit worth committing to memory: toner deposits, it does not lift. If the hair has only reached level 6 and you want a level 9 result, no toner in the world closes that gap. It will simply put a cool cast over an orange base and read muddy.

How do you find out what hair color level you are?

Look in natural daylight, near a window, never under a bathroom bulb. Warm indoor light adds warmth that is not there.
Judge your mid-lengths, not your roots. Scalp heat makes root regrowth process lighter and read a level or so off.
Check dry hair. Wet hair looks one to two levels darker than it is.
Hold a small section away from your head, against a white background, so you are not reading it against your skin.
If you are stuck between two levels, call yourself the darker one when planning anything that lightens. It builds in the margin you will need.
Ignore old color. Previously dyed lengths do not behave like virgin hair, and the level chart describes natural pigment.

How many levels can you lift at once?

At-home box color generally moves you one to two levels lighter, and that is the honest ceiling. Past that you are into bleach, where the variables multiply: your starting level, the condition of the hair, whether it has been colored before, developer strength and timing. Each is a place the result can go wrong, and they compound.

This is the single most useful thing the level chart tells you, so it is worth stating plainly. A level 3 wanting to be a level 9 is a six-level move, usually more than one appointment, and attempting it in one sitting at a kitchen sink is how hair snaps. Going darker is far more forgiving, because depositing pigment does not have to fight anything already in there.

Know your level and still torn between shades? Put them on the wheel and let it decide:

Spin the hair color wheel →

Fair questions

What is a hair color level chart?: A scale from 1 to 10 that measures depth, how dark or light hair is, separate from tone. Level 1 is black and level 10 is the lightest blonde. Each level also has an underlying pigment that appears when the hair is lifted, which is what decides the toner you need.
What are the hair color levels 1 to 10?: 1 black, 2 very dark brown, 3 dark brown, 4 medium brown, 5 light brown, 6 dark blonde, 7 medium blonde, 8 light blonde, 9 very light blonde and 10 extra light blonde. The pigment they expose runs from very dark red at level 1 through orange around level 6 to pale yellow at level 10.
What hair color level am I?: Check your mid-lengths, dry, in natural daylight, held against a white background rather than your skin. Roots read lighter because of scalp heat and wet hair reads darker, so both mislead. Between two levels, count yourself as the darker one.
What is the underlying pigment at each level?: Levels 1 to 4 expose red, level 5 red-orange, level 6 orange, level 7 orange-yellow, levels 8 and 9 yellow, and level 10 pale yellow. It is exposed rather than created: lightener removes dark pigment faster than warm pigment, so the warmth that was always there is what remains.
Why did my hair turn orange when I bleached it?: Because orange is the underlying pigment in the middle of the level chart, roughly levels 5 to 7. Lightener strips dark pigment faster than warm pigment, so lifting dark hair passes through orange every time. You either keep lifting to a paler stage or cancel it with a blue-based toner.
How many levels can hair be lifted in one session?: Box color usually lifts one to two levels. Anything beyond that means bleach, and how far it can safely go depends on your starting level, the condition of the hair and whether it has been colored before. Large jumps are normally staged across more than one appointment.