A Wella shade is written as depth/tone — the number before the slash tells you how light or dark it is, and the digits after tell you the colour direction. Learn those two halves and you can read any code on the chart at a glance.
The short answer
- Depth = lightness, 1 (black) to 12 (lightest), the number before the slash.
- The first digit after the slash is the main tone; a second digit is a subtle nuance.
- Tone key: 0 natural · 1 ash · 2 matte · 3 gold · 4 copper/red · 5 mahogany · 6 violet · 7 brown · 8 pearl · 9 cendré.
- So 7/43 = a level-7 blonde, copper-gold.
The number before the slash: depth
Depth (also called level) is simply how light or dark the colour is, on a scale from 1 to 12. 1 is black, 6 is a dark blonde, 8 is a light blonde, and 10–12 are the very lightest. It’s the single most important part of the code, because tone only makes sense relative to a level.
When you’re matching a regrowth or planning a lift, you’re first deciding the target depth — then you choose the tone that sits on it.
The digits after the slash: tone
The digits after the slash describe the tonal direction. The first is the dominant tone; a second digit, if present, is a secondary nuance at roughly half the strength. Wella’s tone key is consistent across the ranges:
- 0 — natural
- 1 — ash (blue/green base, cools warmth)
- 2 — matte (green)
- 3 — gold
- 4 — copper / red-orange
- 5 — mahogany (red-violet)
- 6 — violet
- 7 — brown
- 8 — pearl
- 9 — cendré (soft ash)
Worked examples
7/43 is a level-7 blonde with a copper (4) primary tone and a gold (3) nuance — a warm, golden-copper blonde. 6/0 is a natural dark blonde with no added tone. 9/1 is a very light ash blonde, good for keeping lifted hair cool. 5/75 is a light brown with a brown-mahogany (chestnut) character.
Mixed tones simply blend: the further the two tone digits sit apart on the colour wheel, the more they balance each other; the closer they sit, the more they reinforce. That’s the whole logic of the system.
Quick questions
What does the second number after the slash mean?
What does a 0 before the slash mean, like 0/43?
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