A Guide to Overtone Hair Color and Its Best Products

If you’ve ever dyed your hair, you’re well aware of just how quickly it can fade. While that’s true of all colors, it’s especially pertinent for ultra-bright hues. It’s because of this that the founders of Overtone developed a business plan to launch what is now a household name in colored haircare. 

“Overtone started out of a personal need,” says co-founder Maegan Scarlett. “I’ve had vivid hair color for years and it would always fade quickly after being colored at the salon. So I started mixing dye with conditioner in between salon visits, and while it did help the color stay longer, my hair felt dry, rough, and damaged. I knew there had to be a better way. Liora [Dudar], my co-founder, and I had been seeking a project to work on together and when I brought up this issue I was having, we immediately went to work on creating a solution. We put our complementary skill sets together—mine for science and business and hers for photography and community engagement—and the first hair-healthy Overtone Coloring Conditioners were born.”

Not yet acquainted with the fan-favorite haircare brand? Read on to learn more.

While Overtone wasn’t the first brand to develop temporary hair colors, they are among the first to get the process right. In that, we mean that they not only created color-depositing conditioners that deliver jaw-dropping results, but the products themselves are made with vegan and cruelty-free formulas, too. But that’s not all.

“Aside from being a hair-healthy alternative to traditional dyes, Overtone’s brand ethos—making hair color easy and inclusive—is really what sets us apart in the beauty space,” says Dudar. “Our goal has always been to offer every color imaginable, to have the full-color wheel at the consumer’s disposal. We hold ourselves to incredibly high quality standards and are dedicated to education around hair health and hair color. Our goal is to share content that gives everyone the confidence to create a custom hair color of their own, at an accessible price point. Maximum knowledge, maximum fun!”

Notice how Dudar mentions inclusivity as a key ethos for the brand? One look at Overtone’s Instagram and website and it’s clear to see that they hold true to their promise of accepting everyone while creating a platform of creative takes on beauty. 

“When we first launched Overtone in 2014, a large segment of the beauty industry was only starting to scratch the surface of inclusion and representation in regard to both marketing and products on offer,” says Dudar. “As a values-driven brand, it remains a top priority for Overtone to not participate in upholding the ‘norm’ of prescriptive beauty standards or exclusionary product ranges.” Scarlett adds to this, noting that, “In the last six years, it’s been really exciting to watch the beauty industry embrace radical inclusivity. More and more brands are pushing in the same direction to create a more inclusive and accessible space.”

“Our target consumers are people who value autonomous agency around self-expression,” Scarlett explains. “They’re aesthetic-conscious people who want a hair-healthy, easy-to-use product—individuals who value better-for-you hair color without sacrificing formula efficacy.”

The best part? Unlike some brands that can be incredibly messy and difficult to apply, Overtone makes coloring your hair at home easier than ever. With all that in mind, read on for our favorite Overtone products.