Best Plum Hair Color Dye – Deep Burgundy, Red, Fuchsia Plum for Dark Hair

What is the best plum hair dye and color? Can you wear deep plum hair color on dark hair? How will you look in shades of plum including red, deep plum, burgundy, purple and fuchsia? Here are the best ideas for your skin tone and hair color, including black hair and brown hair.

Plum hair color may not be the norm or most popular hair shade out there, but it does manage to make a statement – just look at celebrities like Katy Perry, Cheryl Cole, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, and Lana Del Rey which were seen at times with plum hair colors and you will know why.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU:

• Best Red Hair Color for Your Skin Tone
• Best Blonde Hair Dyes
• Best Hair Color for Fair Skin

While even a good plum hair color needs proper care and maintenance to show at its best and is not for everyone, we have gathered some tips and info on how to make the most of it.

Plum hair color ideas, shades and pictures

So what exactly is plum hair dye? Plum hair dye is basically a mixture of dark red, purple, and dark brown hues that closely resemble the color of a plum (and an eggplant) — thus the name “plum”. And even though some may argue that plum comes only in 1-2 shades, in reality there are over 10 shades of plum hair color depending on the undertones of each shade.

Some shades for example have stronger red undertones, while others have stronger cool blue and purple undertones. The original hair color could also affect the depth and tone of the shade — plum hair dye on darker hair for example will obviously look darker while in blonde hair color, plum will look more bright and light.

Best Plum Hair Color for Light, Medium, Dark, Olive Skin Tones

Now the question is, is plum hair good for me or my skin tone? Most probably yes if:

• You have light to medium skin tone with neutral to golden undertones (not too pink nor too light yellow)
• You have the time and money to invest in products for preserving its shade
• You would like an obvious change to your hair with little to none bleach
• Your hair is not too light to begin with

Of course, before we discuss their best hair dye choices for plum hair shades it is important to first sort out the different shades of plum hair color. You can use the article as guide for each and we have made an effort to include all hair dye recs for each shade.

Deep plum hair color for brunettes

Deep plum hair color is basically a dark shade of plum with balanced red and blue undertones. Deep plum hair dye is an appropriate shade for brunettes and those with dark features of medium to dark golden or neutral skin tones. However, deep plum hair color looks especially good on those of exotic and African American skin tones.

Good choices for this shade are available both in drugstore and professional beauty supply stores. The best deep plum hair color shades we recommend are:

• L’Oréal casting crème gloss in Plum 316
• Vidal Sassoon Pro series in shade 5VR
• L’Oréal Professional Richesse hair color in shade 0.62 RV.

If you choose a professional line, make sure you use a low volume e.g. 3% or 10-20 because if you choose a stronger volume you may end up with a brighter shade that is more towards burgundy red.

Burgundy plum hair color

Burgundy plum hair color is a shade that has dark red undertones in it and is ideal for those of light to medium cool skin tone. To achieve a burgundy plum hair dye we suggest you try the hair dyes of:

• L’Oréal excellence in 316,
• Revlon Color Silk in shade 48
• Garnier color intensity in shade 5.62 deep burgundy.

As these are affordable drugstore options, the color will most likely last anywhere from 2-4 weeks (in some cases the color lasts only a few washes but with proper care, it should last longer). These dyes also come with conditioning agents which are enough for up to three washes, depending on how thick your hair is.

If you want a richer color and a more permanent result, you should maybe invest in a professional salon line e.g. Chi Ionic Red color in 7RV/Red violet and Koleston Perfect in shade 44/55. These will preserve your hair color for longer and add the necessary depth and shine your hair needs.

Plum red hair color

Plum red hair color is a shade of plum with stronger red undertones and weaker blue undertones. This the most popular shade of plum as it looks richer and brighter than most other cooler shades of plum.

The only downside of this shade is that is not suitable for light people with strong pink undertones as it tends to make skin look more red and flushy that it actually is. Those with more neutral and golden undertones can sport this shade with no problems.

Good drugstore options for plum red shades are:

• L’oreal preference in PR04,
• Clairor Textures & Tones in 4 RC cherrywood
• Vital Sasson Salonist in shade 4/46.

The latter could also be used to achieve a professional result at home as it treams first the roots and then the lengths of the hair shaft to achieve a better and more uniform result.

If choose to go to a salon or buy a professional plum hair dye at home, we recommend you look for the L’Oréal Professional Majirel line in shade 5.62 and Matrix Hair color in 5R.

Plum brown hair color for warm undertones

Plum brown hair color is a shade of plum that has rich brown or mahogany undertones and is a tad warmer than other shades of plum. Some may argue that it is close to dark chocolate shades and this is somewhat true although it differs slightly in that it has a hint of reddish purple in it.

Those with shallow skin will love this shade of plum as it’s the only shade of plum with the lowest risk of making you look washed out since it doesn’t have any obvious red or purple undertones. Some good drugstore options of this shade include:

• Revlon Colorsilk in shade 52
• L’Oréal casting crème gloss in shade 550/mahogany
• Clairol natural instincts in shade 32/Egyptian plum

Good professional options of this plum hair color shade are:  Satin hair color in shade 5MV & Chi Ionic in shade 5RV. If your hair is dark, you will probably need a medium strength volume such as 20 while lighter hair will require only a 3% of mixing volume to darken their hair to this shade.

Plum purple hair color

Plum purple hair color is a shade of plum that has strong blue and purple undertones with minimal to none hues of red. This shade is a less common choice among other plum shades as it’s a bit hard to find and may look a bit excessive or weird on some people – if your skin is too light for example, we don’t recommend this shade as it will wash you out and make you look gothic/ghostly (unless you want to get that look for Halloween or crazy looks).

If you have decided to adopt this shade, unfortunately there are not much drugstore options available but very close shades are the shades of:

• Medium Violet/ V48 of L’Oréal feria line
• Shade 4.62 Dark Garnet Red of Garnier Olia line.

If you want something more purple and vibrant, it’s best to get a professional hair dye at home or dye your hair at a salon. Recommended shades: Matrix so color in shade 1V, la-riche semi permanent hair color in plum & Berina professional hair color in shade purple violet A6.

The above lines are mostly available online in sites like EBay and Amazon and their price ranges anywhere from 6-10 per package. The thing is the online hair color swatches are on bleached hair and those with darker hair may need some amount of bleach to get the desired shade of purple e.g. a volume of 20-25 strength.

Plum hair color on dark hair

Have you tried plum hair dye on black hair? If you fancy a hair color change that is noticeable without bleaching your hair or using harsh chemicals like Ammonia, you could try dying your hair a dark shade of plum with an at home dye kit.

Garnier Nutrisse in shade 3.16 and Clairol nature’s instincts in shade 4BG/burgundy eggplant are very good options as they are ideal for giving just the right amount of plum color in dark hair whilst nourishing your hair and protecting it from damage.

How to get plum hair at home

For even more vibrant plum color naturally, you can try this DIY mask to add shine and a hint of color to plum hair — it works just as good in preserving plum hair minus the cost of buying a fancy and expensive hair treatment.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of blueberry juice
• 1 beetroot
• 1 tbsp of yogurt

Preparation procedure

1. Puree the beetroot and combine it with the blueberry juice and the yogurt in a small bowl.
2. If the mixture is too runny, add a few teaspoons of corn flower.
3. Apply the mixture with gloves (careful not to stain your clothes as berries and beetroot stains are hard to remove).
4. Wrap your hair tightly with plastic rub so it all penetrates hair shaft better and leave for 15-20 minutes.
5. Wash off, shampoo and condition as usual.

Tip: You can make this mask 1-2 times a week for best results. Here’s another video on how to get plum purple hair at home.

References

1. OK Magazine: 12 Celebrities Who Have Dyed Their Hair Purple
2. HerInterest: 50 Best Auburn Hair Color Ideas
3. Style Blazer: Purple Hair Color on African American Women is Beautiful
4. Hair World Mag: Burgundy Hair Color Ideas