In hair color terminology, what does 'tone' refer to?

In hair color terminology, 'tone' specifically refers to the warmth or coolness of a color. This concept is crucial for achieving the desired hue in hair coloring. Different tones can be categorized as warm (like golden, copper, or chestnut) or cool (like ash, platinum, or mahogany). Understanding tone allows a cosmetologist to tailor hair color to complement the client's skin tone and personal preferences, resulting in a more flattering and harmonious overall look.

The other aspects of hair color, such as brightness, depth, and saturation, play important roles too but are distinct from tone. Brightness refers to how light or dark a color appears, while depth relates to the level of darkness or lightness in the hair (like level 1 being very dark and level 10 being very light). Saturation describes how vivid or muted a color is. While these characteristics contribute to the overall color outcome, they do not specifically define tone as warmth or coolness does.