Cherry Cola Hair Color, Formula, How to get at Home & Pictures

If you want to dye your hair a deep, vibrant, red shade that turns heads but isn’t too crazy at the same time, cherry cola hair color is a great option  to try out. Read on to find the formula of this shade, how to get it home, brands, how it works on black/dark hair plus highlights ideas.

Cherry cola hair color and what it looks like in pictures

What is Cherry Cola Hair color?

This shade is mostly cool shade of red with a touch of brown, burgundy and purple pigments that add that extra depth and dimension not found in most red hair shades. Some hair stylists describe cherry cola hair color as a delicious blend of rosy red and rich brown. Yet some say it is the same as cherry coke.

Compared to chocolate cherry hair color, cherry cola hair color has more of a dark brown base.

Who is Cherry Cola for?

If you are wondering whether this shade suits you, the answer is YES if:

• You have naturally medium hair and light brown, blue, or green eyes
• Your skin has neutral to golden undertones
• You have light to medium, or medium to dark skin.

Cherry cola shades generally suit most skin tones except the very light skin tones that have either strong pink or yellow undertones.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of cherry cola hair color on various eyes and skin tones:

Cherry Cola Hair Color Formula

Although cherry cola is a bit tricky to achieve, you may get it by mixing the following professional grade formulas:

L’Oreal Inoa Carmilane C 4.62 (one part) + L’Oreal Inoa Carmilane in C 5. 62 (half part) + 1 ½ part of 6 or 20 vol. developer (for dark brown to medium hair)

Chi Ionic Hair Color in shade 7RV (one part) + Chi Ionic Hair Color in 7RR (half part) + 1 ½ part of  6X or 20 vol. developer.

Berina Professional Hair color in shade A 14 /Dark Brown Violet (one part) + Berina Proffesional color in shade A8 (half part) +1 ½ part of volume developer

Koleston Perfect Hair Color in shade 55/65 (one part) + Koleston Perfect Hair Color in 55/66 (half part) + 1 ½ parts of 20 vol. developer.

Since this is a deep shade, a 6%/20 vol. developer should work for most dark and medium hair shades. If your hair is extra light blonde to begin with and you don’t want any yellowness to come out, you may use a magenta color corrector first and a 10 vol. developer to darken your hair.

How to get Cherry Cola Hair Color at Home

Although this shade is hard to get at home, you may get good results if you follow the steps below. The good part is that this shade doesn’t need any bleach to lighten as it’s a dark red shade that’s only two tones brighter than natural dark hair color.

Step 1: Make sure your hair is dry before you apply the dye and free of any knots (using a fine toothed brush will work best for this)

Step 2: Mix the formula of your choice ( as shown below) in a bowl with a brush applicator.  If you are using a home DIY dye kit, make sure you follow the instructions listed on the package and use your gloves so the dye doesn’t leave stain to your nails and skin.

Step 3: Begin by sectioning your hair and apply the hair dye to each section from the roots till the middle shaft. Finish off with the rest of the hair, massage it so the dye distributes evenly, and leave it on your hair for 45 minutes or according to the package instructions.

Step 4: Wash off the hair dye well until the water comes out clean and follow with a color care shampoo and conditioner specially suited for deep redheads.

Brands-Redken & Cherry Cola Color Sally’s

Redken is the basic brand that carries this shade and names it after itself. This shade is available in Redken Shades EQ color 06RB/Cherry Cola. The formula offers demi-permanent coloring results and contains no ammonia or bleach, making it less damaging to the hair than other formulas.

To color your hair with this hair dye, mix one part of the main Redken EQ color shade gloss with one part of EQ processing solution (the amount has to be equal). Mix well and apply your hair with a coloring brush section by section (use the tip of the brush or another fine tooth comb brush to help). Leave the hair dye on your hair for 40 minutes and rinse with water and shampoo until the water comes out clean.

This product is available at Sally’s, most beauty supply stores, on Amazon, and Ebay.

If you want to try a DIY home kit with permanent results, these brands and particular shades have a very similar result to Redken’s Cherry Cola:

• L’ Oreal Feria line in shade V48 (Power Violet). This is deep cherry cola shade with strong violet undertones and cool red undertones, ideal for those with light to medium skin and dark eyes. Formula contains glossing agents that add a high dimension shine. If you want a tad warmer shade with stronger undertones, you could also try the shade R48 of this line.
• Revlon Colorsilk line in shade 48 Burgundy. A true cherry cola shade with strong cool violet undertones—perfect for brown eyes and light or medium skin.
• Garnier Nutrisse Creme Hair Color in Burgundy BR2. A deep vibrant shade of Cherry cola with plum undertones. The formula contains nourishing avocado oils for extra gloss, health, and shine boost.

In case you want more intense and crazy looking results rather than just something mild but you don’t want anything permanent, you could also try La Riche Directions in shade rose red.

Cherry Cola Hair Color on Dark/Black Hair

Cherry Cola is an excellent shade on Dark/Black hair, and as mentioned earlier, it doesn’t require any amount of bleach to be achieved.

If you happen to have dark skin and dark-afro hair, this cherry cola shades are ideal:

• Crème of Nature brand in shade 7.6/raging red. This is a perfectly balanced cherry cola shade with vibrant red and brown mahogany undertones. Formula contains organic nourishing agents for natural care and shine.
• Softsheen Carson line in shade Blowout Burgundy. A beautiful deep burgundy shade that looks similar to cherry cola shade with more brown mahogany undertones. Formula offers a great-multidimensional glossy looking result.

Cherry Cola Hair Color with Highlights

If you want to dye your hair a cherry cola hair color and add some highlights to spice the hue a bit up, here are some steps and formulas to try:

Formula 1 for adding subtle highlights that are just a shade or two lighter than the base color:

Chi Ionic Hair Color in shade 7RV (as a base color) mixed with a 20 vol. developer + 7 CM (Chocolate Mocha as a highlight color, mixed with a 30 vol. developer

L’Oreal Professional Color in shade 5.60 (medium mahogany shade) mixed with a 6% vol. developer + shade 6.60 as highlight color mixed with 9% or 30 vol. developer

Formula 2 for adding blonde highlights and extra contrast:

L’Oreal professional in shade 5.64 mixed with 6% vol. developer + shade 7.40 (of the same line) mixed with 9% or 30 vol. developer

Matrix Hair Color in shade 5R (base color) mixed with 6% vol. developer + 7G/light golden blonde (as a highlight color) mixed with a 40 vol. developer

Note: If your hair is already dark enough to begin with and you want a light blonde hair color, you will have to bleach it as a 30 or 40 vol. developer will only work for medium to light brown or dark blonde shades.

Since bright yellow hues as highlight colors don’t make a good color contrast with cherry color as your base, it would be wise to a magenta color corrector to counteract these hues.  You can alternatively choose a more ashy color as your highlight color, but since it’s very tricky to achieve from scratch at home, it’s best to visit a professional hair salon and colorist to get the best results.

Cherry Hair Color Care

The bad thing about cherry hair color is a shade that fades away relatively easily, even after using professional formulations. If you want to prolong your hair color, make sure you use a shampoo, conditioner, and mask, especially for deed redheads.

Some good brands include:

• Revlon 45 days total color care 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner
• Pureology Reviving Red Shampoo and Conditioner line
• Redken color extend shampoo and conditioner line
• Riveting Reds, shampoo and conditioner line

Other cheaper options include L’oreal Elvive Pro Color Vive Shampoo, Conditioner, and Treatment and Clairol’s  Color Me Happy shampoo and conditioner (available in almost all supermarkets/department stores and beauty supply stores).

A good DIY mask you could try at home to revive your cherry color shade is mixing cranberry juice with coconut cream or milk  and 3 tsp of oat flour for thickening up the mixture. Apply this to your hair from the bottom to the ends, leave for 20 minutes and rinse to reveal a radiant and enhanced cherry cola shade.

How to do Cherry Cola Red-Video