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Deep Autumn · Hair color

Deep Autumn hair color: chestnut, mahogany, and what to ask for

Amber copper at the top, black tulip at the bottom - levels 6 to 2, the deepest range of the three autumns. Deep Autumn (Dark Autumn in some systems) is also the only autumn whose palette includes mahogany. Most Deep Autumns are born at level 3 or 4, inside their own range, so the work at the salon is rarely about going lighter. It is about adding warmth and shine at the depth you already have. Below: the codes, how far up it goes, which reds work, gray, and what to avoid.

  • Levels 6 to 2
  • Warm depth, never ash
  • What to say at the chair
Find my color season The full Deep Autumn palette →

Your range, in salon levels

  1. Amber copper hair color for Deep Autumn
    Lightest Amber copper
  2. Bronze sheen hair color for Deep Autumn
    Bronze Bronze sheen
  3. Rich chestnut hair color for Deep Autumn
    Natural mid Rich chestnut
  4. Black tulip hair color for Deep Autumn
    Deepest Black tulip

Start here

You are a Deep Autumn. Here is what to dye it.

Salon color runs on two numbers. The level is how light the hair is, from 1 for black to 10 for the palest blonde. The tone is the digit after the point, and it says which way the color leans. Say something rich and three colorists will mix three colors. Say level 4, copper-gold and they will mix one.

Your palette names shades at levels 6 to 2: amber copper at the top; bronze, cinnamon and rich chestnut in the middle; bitter chocolate, dark mahogany, warm espresso and black tulip at the bottom. It is the deepest hair palette of the three autumns, centered around level 3 to 4 - which is also where most Deep Autumns are born. So the usual Deep Autumn appointment is not a lift. It keeps your level and changes the tone: warmer, glossier, with a few amber lights, or a step toward mahogany.

The whole page in one line

Keep within about two levels of your natural color - three at the very most, and never lighter than level 7 - and put the change in the tone: copper, chestnut, bronze or mahogany, never ash. A gloss at your own level does more for this coloring than any amount of lightening.

The salon scale, and your part of it

  1. L10
  2. L9
  3. L8
  4. L7
  5. L6 lightest
  6. L5
  7. L4
  8. L3
  9. L2 deepest
  10. L1

Five rungs light up, 6 down to 2, the levels where your palette names a shade. Level 7 stays dark, but the amber copper ramp reaches it, so it is the top of the range rather than outside it. Level 1 stays dark because only a ramp runs through it; espresso already reaches almost to black. The band marks where dye pays off: above level 7 the hair gets lighter than your brows and eyes can carry, and the golden and honey blondes past that point are on your avoid list by name.

What is on this page

  1. What to ask for The sentence for the chair, the one tone digit only this autumn gets to use, and why fine lights beat one flat dark color.
  2. How light? Lighter, yes. Blonde, no. Level 7 amber copper is the ceiling, and your start decides whether you can reach it.
  3. Mahogany and red Red works on this coloring right down to near-black. The line is depth: lift a mahogany too far and it turns pink.
  4. Going gray The darker the base, the faster the gray shows. Four ways to handle it on the deepest autumn.
  5. Keeping it Dark chestnut does not fade lighter. It fades rusty. Four ways to slow it down.
  6. Colors to avoid Twelve shades on an ordinary face, including four warm ones that fail anyway.
  7. The level list All eight shades with their levels, plus the tone digits, in one block for the salon.

What to ask for at the chair

A Deep Autumn rarely needs to be made lighter. She needs to be made richer - more warmth, more shine, a little light caught in hair that is already dark. That changes what you book: often a gloss or a demi-permanent color at your own level, not a lightening service. One sentence says it; after it, the three decisions inside the sentence.

Find my levels

Jumps to the board. Choose your natural level to see your part of the copper column.

Also, mahogany is neutral, meaning it is neither warm nor cool.
Hair & Makeup Artist Handbook, International Colour Charts for Hairdressing
Say this

I am about a level 3 naturally. I would like a level 4 copper-gold - a 4.43 - as a gloss or demi, with fine amber lights through the top and around my face. Keep it warm: no ash toner, and if you add mahogany, pair it with copper.

Change the first number to your own. The rest travels: a warm digit pair, lights that are fine rather than chunky, and one rule about mahogany. Those are what make a dark head look lit rather than heavy.

Three decisions in one sentence

  1. How deep

    Your palette names shades at 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2, with 3 to 4 at its center. If your own hair sits there, the level barely has to move - a gloss at your natural level, or one level up, is the whole job. Say where you are and where you want to be; for most Deep Autumns the two numbers are close.

    “I am a 3. Stay at a 3 or take me to a 4.”
  2. Which warmth

    After the point: .3 gold, .4 copper, .5 mahogany. With two digits the first one leads, so a 4.43 is copper with gold behind it - your rich chestnut. Mahogany is the digit the other autumns avoid and you can wear, as long as it is paired warm: a 4.54 or a 4.45, not mahogany with violet.

    “Copper-gold, a 4.43. For more red, a 4.45.”
  3. Where the light goes

    On dark hair, light should be fine and scattered: babylights of amber copper, a level or two above the base, densest around the face and in the top layer. Thick stripes and chunky highlights look pasted on at this depth. Finish warm - a clear or chestnut gloss, never an ash toner.

    “Fine amber babylights, a chestnut gloss.”

Reading the number on the tube

The label on a tube is level.tone. Below, one woman at level 4 in every frame, so the depth is held still and only the digit after the point moves - which on dark hair is the whole difference between glowing and flat.

  • Level 4 copper-gold hair color, a 4.43, on a Deep Autumn woman 4.43 Copper gold Rich chestnut. Her skin warms and her dark eyes look lighter by contrast.
  • Level 4 mahogany hair color, a 4.5, on a Deep Autumn woman 4.5 Mahogany Wine-red at the same depth - yours, and the digit the other two autumns skip.
  • Level 4 natural hair color, a 4.0, on a Deep Autumn woman 4.0 Natural Plain brown. Nothing wrong with it, and nothing lit either.
  • Level 4 ash hair color, a 4.1, on a Deep Autumn woman 4.1 Ash Smoky at the same depth. Her skin goes olive-gray and the shadows under her eyes deepen.
  • 4.43 Copper gold The center of your palette: the chip is your rich chestnut, which the palette names at level 4. Copper leads and gold softens it, so it reads red-brown in daylight and deep brown indoors.
  • 4.4 Copper Copper on its own, a touch redder than the 4.43. The chip is your amber copper’s level 4 value. It fades faster than the gold-led codes - see keeping it.
  • 4.3 Gold Bronze territory: the chip is your bronze sheen at level 4. The quietest warm digit, good if you want shine without visible red.
  • 4.5 Mahogany Red with a little violet in it - neutral on its own, which is why the other autumns avoid it and why you should pair it: 4.54 or 4.45. The chip is your dark mahogany’s level 4 value; the palette names it at level 3.
  • 4.0 Natural No direction added. At this depth it comes out a flat mid brown, and it varies between brands. It covers well; it just gives your skin nothing to answer.
  • 4.1 Ash Blue-based, made to cancel warmth. Often what arrives when someone asks for less red. On dark warm hair it looks smoky and turns the skin sallow - ash and graphite are both on your avoid list.
  • 4.2 Violet, or matt Violet in some brands, a green-leaning matt in others - say the word, not only the digit. A 4.52 pairs mahogany with violet and pushes it cool, which is the version of mahogany that does not suit you.

The four warm chips are your palette’s own level 4 values: rich chestnut named there, and the amber copper, bronze sheen and dark mahogany ramps at that rung. The three cool chips are made to the same lightness from a grayed chestnut and two avoid shades, ash blonde and graphite, so the digit is the only variable.

The whole chart, and the part of it that is yours

A salon swatch board is a grid of depth against tone. Keep only the Deep Autumn squares and the board shrinks to its lower half and its warm edge - plus one column no other autumn uses.

How to read it
  1. Down the side: how light. Salon depth, lightest row at the top. Start by finding your own hair - for most Deep Autumns it is the level 3 or level 4 row.
  2. Across the top: which tone. The digit after the point, cool on the left and warm on the right, with mahogany added at the far right. A 4.4 sits where the level 4 row meets the copper column.
  3. The column is the season. The row is you. The outlined column belongs to every Deep Autumn. Your squares in it start at your own row and go up to three rungs higher, stopping at level 7.
What is your natural level?
Tone · the digit after the point  —  cooler → warmer
Level .1Ash .2Violet, or matt .0Natural .3Gold .4Copper .5Mahogany
L10lightest blonde
L9very light blonde Rose gold
L8light blonde Ash blonde
L7medium blonde Amber copper
L6dark blonde Bronze sheen Amber copper
L5light brown Bronze sheen Amber copper
L4medium brown Ash Violet, or matt Natural Bronze sheen Amber copper Dark mahogany
L3dark brown Bronze sheen Cinnamon brown Dark mahogany
L2darkest brown Warm espresso Rich chestnut Black tulip
L1black Blue-black Warm espresso

This is the copper column for every Deep Autumn. Choose your starting level to see your slice of it.

  • The Deep Autumn column. Copper, at the depth that is yours.
  • A square with a real value behind it: your palette’s ramps on the warm side, the avoid list or a salon code on the cool side.
  • This palette publishes nothing at that combination.

Outlined: copper, from level 7 down to level 2. Gold beside it runs from 6 to 1, bronze sheen into warm espresso. Mahogany, on the far right, fills only levels 4 to 2 - dark mahogany and black tulip - because above that it turns pink. The cool side carries avoid shades and salon codes only.

Before you use it at a salon: the squares are our values, measured from your palette, and a brand’s 4.4 will not match them exactly - say the word as well as the number. Copper is outlined because your rich chestnut, a 4.43, leads with it; gold is equally yours. The mahogany column is the part to notice. It exists on this chart and not on the other autumns’ charts, and it stops at level 4 on purpose.

And how it is placed

One chestnut, one head, and only the placement of the light changes. Underneath, a second woman, natural level 3, photographed from above three weeks after coloring - dark hair shows regrowth faster than any other, so the parting pair matters more here than on any lighter season.

  • Level 4 rich chestnut applied as one flat block from root to tip One flat block Right shade, one value everywhere. At this depth it reads as a dark helmet with no movement.
  • Level 4 rich chestnut with fine amber copper babylights scattered through Fine amber lights The same chestnut with fine amber copper babylights through the top and the face. The hair catches light like polished wood - what highlights should mean on a Deep Autumn.
  • Level 6 amber copper grown out flat, a solid band of natural level 3 regrowth along the parting A hard regrowth line Amber copper taken to the roots, three levels above her own. Three weeks on, a dark band.
  • Level 6 amber copper with a soft root smudge, the natural level 3 root melting into the length A root smudge The same amber, with her own depth left at the root and blended down. The band never forms.

And what the distance costs you

Why the script keeps the move to a level or two. Regrowth shows in proportion to the gap between the dyed length and the hair coming in, and on a dark natural the gap opens fast. One natural level 3, two gaps, three weeks each.

  • Level 3 dark brown regrowth against level 5 cinnamon brown, a faint shadow along the parting Two levels from natural Cinnamon brown at level 5. The regrowth is a shadow you have to look for.
  • Level 3 dark brown regrowth against level 7 light amber copper, a stark dark band along the parting Four levels from natural Level 7 amber copper, the top of the palette. Same three weeks, and the parting is a stripe.

The phrasebook

Say this

“A gloss at my own level, copper-gold”
Warmth and shine with no lightening at all - the service most Deep Autumns actually need.
“Fine babylights, not chunky highlights”
Light scattered through dark hair reads as shine. Thick sections read as stripes.
“Mahogany paired with copper”
The red-wine depth only your autumn can wear, kept on the warm side.
“No ash toner, please”
Lightened dark hair goes orange first, and the reflex is to tone it cool. On you, the orange is the point.

And what these get you

“Something darker and more dramatic”
Usually blue-black or a cool espresso. Blue-black is on your avoid list; your darkest is warm.
“Brighten it up with highlights”
Often thick golden stripes - golden and honey blonde are on your avoid list, and stripes are the placement that fails on dark hair.
“Burgundy, like the photo”
Many burgundies carry a .2 violet. Ask for the digits: 4.54 is yours, 4.52 is not.
“Get rid of the red”
An ash or green corrector over warm dark hair - it removes the warmth your coloring runs on.

So the brief is mostly about tone: your level, a warm digit pair, fine light. The level barely moves on a Deep Autumn - which is exactly why it is worth asking how far up it can go at all.

How light can a Deep Autumn go?

Lighter, yes. Blonde, no. The lightest shade your palette reaches is a level 7 amber copper, and the two blondes people usually try next - golden and honey - are on your avoid list by name. How close you can get to level 7 depends on where you start. Two women, two starting levels, only the lightness changing.

The answer

Up to about three levels above your natural, and no lighter than level 7 - so copper-brown, not blonde. Whichever limit comes first is your ceiling. Past it, the hair turns lighter than your brows, eyes and skin depth can hold, and the richness that defines this coloring is the first thing to go.

A natural level 4, near the middle of the palette. Three levels up is level 7, the top.

  • Deep Autumn woman with her natural level 4 medium brown hair Her natural, L4 Her own medium brown, soft and unremarkable - the canvas most Deep Autumns start with.
  • The same woman with level 6 amber copper hair, two levels above her natural Two up, L6 amber Amber copper. Two levels up, and her skin picks up the warmth.
  • The same woman with level 7 light amber copper, the top of the Deep Autumn range Her ceiling, L7 Light amber copper at level 7 - the lightest shade on the palette, and still reading as copper-brown.
  • The same woman with golden blonde hair, past the top of the Deep Autumn range Past it, golden blonde Golden blonde, from your avoid list. Bright and pretty on its own, and it leaves her dark brows stranded.

Now a natural level 2 - espresso, close to black. Her ceiling is two levels lower.

  • Deep Autumn woman with her natural level 2 espresso hair Her natural, L2 Her own espresso. Very dark, still warm - a classic Deep Autumn natural.
  • The same woman with level 4 rich chestnut hair, two levels above her natural Two up, L4 chestnut Rich chestnut. Two levels up already reads as a real change on hair this dark.
  • The same woman with level 5 bronze brown hair, her ceiling Her ceiling, L5 Bronze at level 5, three up - the lightest this start carries without a stripe at the root.
  • The same woman with level 7 light amber copper, five levels above her natural Past it, L7 Level 7 amber copper, five rungs from her espresso. On her it looks like a wig.

Hold the third photo of the top row against the last photo of the bottom row. One hex: level 7 amber copper, the top of your palette. From a natural 4 it is three rungs and looks like her own hair turned up. From a natural 2 it is five rungs and looks borrowed. The shade is fine in both; the distance decides. On a Deep Autumn that distance opens quickly, because most of you start near the bottom of the scale.

The ceiling is also chemistry. Lightening dark hair lifts through red, then orange, then yellow. From a level 2 or 3, stopping at orange-copper and glossing it warm gives you amber and chestnut. Pushing through to yellow takes several sessions, costs condition, and ends at exactly the golden blonde your avoid list names.

If you want the feeling of blonde without the stripe, put it in the placement: fine amber babylights around the face and in the top layer, a level or two above your base. From a few feet away that reads as light in the hair, which is what the blonde was supposed to give you.

If you want to go lighter anyway

  1. Lift the lights, not the head

    Babylights or a soft balayage put the lighter color where it shows, and leave your own depth at the root. No regrowth stripe, no all-over lightening.

    Fine amber lights, my own root.
  2. Stop at copper

    Ask your colorist to stop lifting while the hair still shows red-orange, then gloss it chestnut or amber. That is where Deep Autumn light lives.

    Stop at a 6 and gloss it amber, please.
  3. Keep the brows dark

    Your brows are part of the depth. Do not lighten them to match lighter hair; the contrast between the two is what keeps a light copper looking deliberate.

    Leave my brows as they are.

So the ceiling is copper-brown, not blonde. Red is the opposite: this coloring can take it further than any other autumn, as long as it stays deep.

Can a Deep Autumn wear red?

More than any other autumn. Your palette runs red from amber copper and cinnamon to dark mahogany and black tulip - the wine-red that Soft and Warm Autumn both keep on their avoid lists. The catch is depth. Two women, one red-mahogany family, only the level changing.

The answer

Yes - from copper to mahogany, as long as it stays deep. At level 2 to 4 almost any warm red, even a wine-red, works on this coloring. Lift the same red toward level 6 and it turns pink and sits on top of your face instead of framing it. Copper is the only red that stays yours all the way up to level 7.

Tan skin, one mahogany family, the level rising from 2 to 6.

  • Level 2 black tulip hair on a Deep Autumn woman with tan skin Black tulip, L2 Almost black, with a wine glint in the light. Striking, and still her.
  • Level 3 dark mahogany hair on a Deep Autumn woman with tan skin Dark mahogany, L3 Dark mahogany - brown first, red second. The richest frame in the row.
  • Level 4 mahogany hair on a Deep Autumn woman with tan skin Mahogany, L4 One level lighter and the red starts to lead. Still wearable, closer to the edge.
  • Mahogany lifted to level 6 on a Deep Autumn woman with tan skin, a rosy pink-red Lifted to L6 The same family lifted two more levels. The red has turned pink, and it sits on her face like a filter.

Deep warm skin, the same family, the same four depths.

  • Level 2 black tulip hair on a Deep Autumn woman with deep skin Black tulip, L2 Almost black, with a wine glint in the light. Striking, and still her.
  • Level 3 dark mahogany hair on a Deep Autumn woman with deep skin Dark mahogany, L3 Dark mahogany - brown first, red second. The richest frame in the row.
  • Level 4 mahogany hair on a Deep Autumn woman with deep skin Mahogany, L4 One level lighter and the red starts to lead. Still wearable, closer to the edge.
  • Mahogany lifted to level 6 on a Deep Autumn woman with deep skin, a rosy pink-red Lifted to L6 The same family lifted two more levels. The red has turned pink, and it sits on her face like a filter.

Read each row left to right. The hue barely moves; the depth does, and the verdict follows the depth. Black tulip and dark mahogany are both named on your palette. The last frame is the same hue lifted to level 6, which is derived rather than published, and that is why it carries no chip. The two rows agree: the line falls in the same place on tan skin and on deep skin, because what fails is a light red, not a red on a particular complexion.

In salon codes, mahogany is .5, and on its own it is neither warm nor cool. Paired with copper - a 4.54 or 3.54 - it leans warm and suits you. Paired with violet - a 4.52 - it leans cool, which is the burgundy the other autumns are right to avoid. Ask for the digits, not only the word.

For a brighter red, stay in copper: amber copper holds up to level 7. Mahogany and black tulip belong at level 4 and below.

Deep reds are also the colors that show a gray root the fastest. That is the next question.

Going gray as a Deep Autumn

Gray shows on a Deep Autumn sooner than on anyone else, because it has the darkest background to stand out against. That makes the usual answer - dye it back to your old dark shade - the most expensive answer on this page. Four ways to handle it, on two women.

The answer

Blend it rather than cover it, and go lighter as you go grayer. Solid dark dye over gray shows a silver line within weeks. Warm lowlights woven through let the gray read as light. Full silver is a real option once most of the hair has turned, and your skin depth decides how striking it looks.

Warm tan skin, about sixty, a third of her dark hair gone gray.

  • Gray hair on a Deep Autumn woman with warm tan skin, fully covered with warm espresso Covered Espresso over the gray. It looks like her old hair - for about three weeks, until a silver line appears.
  • Gray hair on a Deep Autumn woman with warm tan skin, blended with warm lowlights Blended Chestnut and bronze woven through the gray. The silver reads as light instead of as regrowth.
  • Gray roots growing out against dark dye on a Deep Autumn woman with warm tan skin Growing it out White root, near-black length. The highest-contrast grow-out of any season, and the stage to shorten.
  • A Deep Autumn woman with warm tan skin and fully gray hair Full silver Soft and even, and much lighter than the face it frames. On tan skin with dark brows, the silver can look faded rather than chosen.

Deep warm skin. The same four choices.

  • Gray hair on a Deep Autumn woman with deep skin, fully covered with warm espresso Covered Espresso over the gray. It looks like her old hair - for about three weeks, until a silver line appears.
  • Gray hair on a Deep Autumn woman with deep skin, blended with warm lowlights Blended Chestnut and bronze woven through the gray. The silver reads as light instead of as regrowth.
  • Gray roots growing out against dark dye on a Deep Autumn woman with deep skin Growing it out White root, near-black length. The highest-contrast grow-out of any season, and the stage to shorten.
  • A Deep Autumn woman with deep skin and fully gray hair Full silver The same silver, and here it reads as intent: the contrast with deep warm skin is strong and clean.

Compare the first frame and the last frame of each row. Covered looks like her old hair until the root grows - and on dark hair a root is visible within two or three weeks. Full silver never grows out, and it lands differently by skin depth: close in value to tan skin, a bold contrast against deep skin. The blended frame is the one that works in both rows, and the easiest to maintain.

The study quoted above edited the same faces to gray and found them rated older and less attractive - but with no effect on how competent or high-status they looked. It tested plain gray against plain color, not a blend, which is the option most Deep Autumns end up choosing.

Going lighter as you go grayer is the practical rule. At level 2 or 3, gray regrowth is a white stripe on near-black. At level 5, with chestnut or bronze woven through, the same regrowth disappears into the lighter pieces. Move up a level every year or two and the gray does the lightening for you.

These results suggest that gray hair is independently used as an indicator of some important social evaluations (age, attractiveness, and trustworthiness), while others (social status and aggression) may be better informed by other characteristics.
Nutt, Thorstenson & Yorzinski, Frontiers in Psychology (2025)

Whatever you choose, the tone is what you are protecting between appointments - and dark warm color fades in a way that surprises people.

Keeping it, between appointments

Dark chestnut and mahogany do not fade the way blonde does. They keep their depth and change their tone, and on this coloring the change goes one way: toward rust.

What is actually happening

Your color is not getting lighter. It is going rusty. The red dye washes out first; what is left underneath dark hair that has been colored is a warm orange-brown, and it shows through as the red goes. Week ten is as dark as day one, just flatter and more orange. The fix is to put chestnut back with a gloss, not to cool it down with ash.

One head of level 4 rich chestnut, the same close-up, over ten weeks. The depth never changes; the red slips toward orange and the shine goes.

  • Level 4 rich chestnut hair on the day it was colored Day one Polished chestnut, red and brown moving through it.
  • The same chestnut three weeks later, a little more orange Three weeks A shade more orange, just as dark.
  • The same chestnut six weeks later, a flat rusty brown Six weeks Flat and rusty in daylight. Same level.
  • The same chestnut ten weeks later, a dull rust brown Ten weeks Dull rust-brown, brassy at the ends. Still level 4.

The four chips share one lightness. What moves is the hue, from red-brown toward orange-brown, and the shine. Because nothing gets lighter, "it faded" is the wrong diagnosis and "make it darker" is the wrong fix: darker dye over rust just builds up, dense at the ends, flat all over.

Washing is where most of it goes: oxidative dye leaves hair mostly by dissolving into water. Fewer washes and a gentle shampoo on the roots only do more than any product.

When chestnut goes rusty, the tempting fix is an ash or green toner to "take the orange out". On dark warm hair that flattens it to a muddy brown. Put the red back instead, at the same level: a chestnut or mahogany-copper gloss resets it.

The fading of oxidative color in hair as a result of daily shampoo washing activities has become a common problem and a source of frequent complaints by consumers.
Zhou, Foltis, Moore & Rigoletto, Journal of Cosmetic Science (2009)

Four things that keep the depth

  1. A woman working a brown color-depositing mask through her chestnut hair Deposit, never lift

    A brown or chestnut color-depositing mask once a week puts pigment back. Nothing in your routine should lighten: skip clarifying shampoos and sun-in sprays.

    Chestnut mask on Sundays, ten minutes.
  2. A woman lathering a mild shampoo into the roots of her chestnut hair A gentle shampoo

    Wash the roots, let the rinse run through the lengths. A mild, color-safe shampoo and fewer washes keep the most dye in.

    Roots only, every other day at most.
  3. A woman in a wide-brimmed straw hat, her chestnut hair in its shade Shade in strong sun

    Strong sun pushes dark red toward orange faster than anything else. A hat on long days outdoors is the cheapest protection there is.

    A hat for the beach, every time.
  4. A chestnut gloss being combed through a woman's hair in a salon A chestnut gloss at week six

    A demi-permanent gloss at your own level puts the red and the shine back without lifting anything. It is short, cheap, and the single best thing you can book between color appointments.

    Just a 4.43 gloss, no lightener.

That covers keeping a color that suits you. Next, the colors that never did - and the two ways a Deep Autumn head goes wrong.

Hair colors to avoid, and why

First two diagnoses that look similar in the mirror and are fixed in opposite directions. Then twelve shades, photographed on an ordinary face on an overcast street - the light that shows what a color really does, which a studio never will.

The two mistakes

It went heavy

How you can tell
The hair reads as a dark block around your face. Your features look smaller and your skin a little sallow, especially in photographs taken indoors.
Why
One flat dark color - often an espresso or a cool dark brown chosen to cover gray - with no light anywhere in it. Deep hair needs something to reflect, or it absorbs the face next to it.
Fix
Add light and warmth, not lightness. Fine amber lights through the top and a warm gloss. Do not lighten the whole head; a lighter flat color is still flat.

The hair wears you

How you can tell
People comment on the color before they notice you. The hair looks brighter or lighter than anything else on your face, and your brows look out of place.
Why
The hair has moved too far from your own depth: a golden blonde over a natural 3, or a mahogany lifted into pink. Deep Autumn contrast comes from depth, and a light head removes it.
Fix
Close the distance. Come back down to within two levels of your natural color and keep the warm tone. Changing to another light shade at the same level fixes nothing.

The twelve shades, on a real face

The first eight are your palette page’s avoid list, swatch for swatch, in two groups of four. The last four are new here: warm colors from your own palette pushed the wrong way. One ordinary woman, one gray street, only the hair changing.

Cold and flat

  • An ordinary woman outdoors with ash blonde hair Ash blonde warm
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with platinum blonde hair Platinum blonde warm
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with blue-black hair Blue-black warm
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with graphite hair Graphite warm

No warmth anywhere in them. Ash and platinum at the light end, blue-black and graphite at the dark end - and on warm deep skin all four pull the color out of the face.

Too light, too bright

  • An ordinary woman outdoors with golden blonde hair Golden blonde hard
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with honey blonde hair Honey blonde hard
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with rose gold hair hair Rose gold hair clean
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with fantasy blue hair Fantasy blue clean

Too light or too loud for the depth of this coloring. The two blondes are warm but sit far above your range; rose gold and fantasy blue are brighter than anything else on your face.

Warm, and still wrong

  • An ordinary woman outdoors with warm espresso, taken to level 1 hair Warm espresso, taken to level 1 hard
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with mahogany, lifted to level 6 hair Mahogany, lifted to level 6 clean
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with chunky copper stripes hair Chunky copper stripes clean
  • An ordinary woman outdoors with rusty faded chestnut hair Rusty faded chestnut warm

For readers of the rest of this page. Each one starts from a shade you own and fails on something else: too dark, too light, too chunky, or faded.

What the tags mean

warmNo warmth
Ash, platinum, blue-black, graphite - or a chestnut faded until its red is gone. The makeup page uses the same tag; for a warm season its meaning flips to mark the shades with nothing warm in them.
cleanToo bright
Louder or lighter than the face: rose gold, fantasy colors, a pink-lifted mahogany, chunky stripes. Deep Autumn is deep and rich, so on this page the tag marks color that outshines the coloring.
hardToo far
Several levels from your own hair, up or down. The one tag that means the same thing on every season.

Five tags for no warmth, four for too bright and three for too far - a more even split than on the other autumns, because a Deep Autumn can fail in both directions: too cold at the dark end, too light at the other. The last group repays a second look. Warm espresso is a shade you own at level 2 and a heavy flat block at level 1; mahogany is yours at level 3 and pink at level 6. Those four swatches are derived from your palette’s ramps and the upkeep row, not printed on the palette. Everything that does work is in the next block.

Your shades, and the numbers to say

Eight shades with the level each one sits at, and the seven tone digits you are likely to hear. Keep it on your phone for the consultation.

The shades, with the level to ask for

Deep chocolate shades
  • Bitter chocolate L3 #4C3A34
  • Warm espresso L2 #2E2119
  • Rich chestnut L4 #6B3E26
  • Black tulip L2 #3A1F24
Spiced and copper accents
  • Cinnamon brown L5 #7B4A2E
  • Bronze sheen L5 #7E5A3A
  • Dark mahogany L3 #4F2127
  • Amber copper L6 #A0592A

The numbers

Tone digits
  • Copper gold 4.43 #6B3E26
  • Copper 4.4 #66381A
  • Gold 4.3 #64482E
  • Mahogany 4.5 #6E484D
  • Natural 4.0 #53453E
  • Ash 4.1 #524B3F
  • Violet 4.2 #4C3D54

Ask for 4.43 (your rich chestnut), 4.4, 4.3, or mahogany paired warm as a 4.54. Say no to 4.1 and 4.2, and to a mahogany written as 4.52; 4.0 is harmless but flat. The number before the point is your own; for most Deep Autumns it stays within a level of where it is now.

Or read out the full brief: “I am about a level 3 naturally. I would like a level 4 copper-gold - a 4.43 - as a gloss or demi, with fine amber lights through the top and around my face. Keep it warm: no ash toner, and if you add mahogany, pair it with copper.” The full Deep Autumn palette →

Deep Autumn hair color

Questions people ask

What hair color is best for a Deep Autumn?
Warm, deep color between level 6 and level 2. Amber copper at 6; bronze sheen and cinnamon brown at 5; rich chestnut at 4; bitter chocolate and dark mahogany at 3; warm espresso and black tulip at 2. Pick the level nearest your own hair - usually 3 or 4 - and change the tone rather than the depth.
Is Dark Autumn hair color the same as Deep Autumn?
Yes. Dark Autumn and Deep Autumn are two names for the same subtype, so this page covers both. The hair advice is the same under either name: warm, deep color with copper, chestnut and mahogany, never ash.
What hair colors should a Deep Autumn avoid?
Anything cold, and anything much lighter than your own hair. Ash and platinum blonde, blue-black and graphite are too cold; golden and honey blonde are too light; rose gold and fantasy colors are too bright. Warm shades fail too when pushed: espresso taken to near-black, mahogany lifted until it turns pink.
Should a Deep Autumn get highlights?
Yes - fine ones, in amber copper, a level or two above your base. Babylights through the top layer and around the face read as shine on dark hair. Chunky stripes and golden-blonde highlights read as stripes. Gold, not silver: keep the lights warm and finish with a chestnut gloss, not an ash toner.
Can a Deep Autumn be blonde?
Not really - copper-brown is the ceiling. About three levels above your own natural, and no lighter than level 7. From a natural level 4 that means level 7 amber copper; from a natural level 2, bronze at 5, with the same amber copper five levels too far. Golden and honey blonde are on the Deep Autumn avoid list.
Can a Deep Autumn have red or burgundy hair?
Yes, as long as it stays deep. Dark mahogany and black tulip are on the Deep Autumn palette - the only autumn where they are. Keep mahogany at level 4 or below and pair it with copper (4.54), not violet (4.52). Lifted toward level 6 the same red turns pink. For a lighter red, choose amber copper.
What hair color suits a Deep Autumn with very dark hair?
A warm gloss at your own level, and fine amber lights. Starting from level 2 or 3, rich chestnut, dark mahogany or warm espresso add warmth without lightening. For light in the hair, amber copper babylights a level or two above the base. Lifting further runs through orange - stop there and gloss it warm.
How should a Deep Autumn handle gray hair?
Blend it and go a little lighter as you go grayer. Solid espresso over gray shows a silver line within weeks, because the contrast is so high. Chestnut and bronze lowlights let the gray read as light. Full silver is a real option later on, and it tends to look most deliberate on deep skin.
What should I ask for at the hair salon?
Your level, a warm digit pair, and fine light. For most Deep Autumns that is a gloss or demi at level 3 or 4 in copper-gold - a 4.43 - with amber babylights, and no ash toner. The full sentence: “I am about a level 3 naturally. I would like a level 4 copper-gold - a 4.43 - as a gloss or demi, with fine amber lights through the top and around my face. Keep it warm: no ash toner, and if you add mahogany, pair it with copper.”
Why does my dark hair color turn rusty?
The red dye washes out and the warm orange underneath shows through. The hair stays just as dark; it gets more orange and loses its shine. Do not tone it ash - that makes it muddy. Put the red back at the same level with a chestnut gloss around week six, wash less, and keep dark red out of strong sun.
Which box dye is best for a Deep Autumn?
We do not name brands - formulas change too often to vouch for one. Box color at your own level is the safest home job on this palette, since you are rarely lifting. Look for .43, .4, .3 or a copper-paired .5, stay within a level of your own color, and skip anything sold as ash, cool, natural black or blue-black.

Where this came from

The sources behind the factual claims on this page: salon numbering and mahogany, the pigments in hair, what lightener does, why one color cancels another, why dye fades, and how gray hair is read.

  1. International Colour Charts for Hairdressing (opens in a new tab) Hair & Makeup Artist Handbook, 2023

    The level-and-tone numbering in the salon section, and the mahogany rule: the source describes mahogany as neither warm nor cool, so the digit it is paired with decides which way it leans. That is why this page asks for a 4.54 rather than a 4.52, and why the other autumns can avoid mahogany while a Deep Autumn wears it. Not every brand follows the convention, so say the word as well as the number.

  2. Diversity of human hair pigmentation as studied by chemical analysis of eumelanin and pheomelanin (opens in a new tab) Ito & Wakamatsu, Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2011

    Background for the red and keeping-it sections. Hair color comes from the ratio of black-brown eumelanin to reddish-brown pheomelanin, and the study finds that the chemistry matches what is seen. The warm pigment in dark hair is why lightened Deep Autumn hair runs through red and orange first.

  3. Mechanistic insights into the bleaching of melanin by alkaline hydrogen peroxide (opens in a new tab) Smith, Garrett, Naqvi et al., Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 2017

    What lightener does, behind the blonde section: alkaline hydrogen peroxide breaks melanin down rather than recoloring it. Lifting dark hair far enough to reach blonde means removing most of its pigment, which is why this page stops at copper.

  4. The Art of Color: the subjective experience and objective rationale of color (opens in a new tab) Itten, Reinhold (Internet Archive), 1961

    Behind the rule that neutralizing works on color-wheel opposites - blue and green against orange and red. It is why an ash or green toner turns rusty chestnut muddy instead of fixing it.

  5. Protection of oxidative hair color fading from shampoo washing by hydrophobically modified cationic polymers (opens in a new tab) Zhou, Foltis, Moore & Rigoletto, Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2009

    Behind the keeping-it section. The study treats fading from shampooing as a common consumer complaint and finds that dye leaves hair mainly by dissolving in water, with surfactant type among the factors - hence fewer washes and a gentle shampoo.

  6. Gray hair influences perceived age and social perceptions (opens in a new tab) Nutt, Thorstenson & Yorzinski, Frontiers in Psychology, 2025

    Behind the gray section. 120 participants rated the same faces with their own color and edited to gray; gray faces were rated older and less attractive, but not lower in status. One study, with digitally changed photographs and no blended gray - the page says so.

  7. Dedifferentiation maintains melanocyte stem cells in a dynamic niche (opens in a new tab) Sun, Lee, Hu et al., Nature, 2023

    Background for the gray section: hair loses its color when melanocyte stem cells stop supplying pigment. Research, not a treatment, so gray remains a decision about what to do rather than a condition to fix.

  8. Color Me Beautiful (opens in a new tab) Jackson, Ballantine (Internet Archive), 1980

    Background on the four-season system. Color Me Beautiful (1980) took seasonal color analysis to a general readership; the twelve-season split that separates a Deep Autumn (Dark Autumn in some systems) from a Warm or Soft one came later, but Autumn as warm, rich and earthy starts here.

The numbering, the chemistry, the color theory, the fading and the gray-hair study are sourced. Which shades suit a Deep Autumn, where the ceiling sits, how deep a red has to stay, and how silver looks on tan and deep skin are our own analysis, drawn from the parent palette. The measurements - lightness, hue and saturation - come from this site’s own swatches. Three statements are colorists’ practice rather than measured findings: that red is the first tone to wash out, that sun pushes dark red toward orange, and that lightener lifts dark hair through red and orange first. We have not found studies that measure them, and say so rather than dress an opinion up as a citation.

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