The looks here run from soft strawberry to bright copper in long waves or with bangs, and which one suits you depends on your skin tone and how much warmth you want.
1. Natural Red Hair
Red hair that reads as natural usually looks like a mix of tones rather than one flat shade.
A soft green sits well beside it, and a black dress keeps the color the focus. Pin the look as a reference, but bring a few photos in different light to a stylist.
2. Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is the name that comes up first for me when someone asks about redheads who are the real thing. She has been open about being a natural redhead, even in the stretches when she changes her color.
Her copper-red with bangs is the look to save. The fringe frames the face and keeps the red from feeling heavy.
3. Madelaine Petsch
Copper is the word I’d bring to a stylist for Madelaine Petsch’s hair, and she says hers is real. Long, loose waves give that orange-leaning red the most room to catch light.
If you’re growing out your own natural red, length is the easiest way to get this effect.
4. Rachelle Lefevre
Long waves, a fringe and a red that stays warm against a plain background: Rachelle Lefevre is one of the actors most often named when people list natural redheads.
I like this one for readers who want a red that looks lived-in. Ask for bangs that blend into the length so the waves keep their movement.
5. Alicia Witt
Alicia Witt’s hair is a good case for strawberry tones. Her red shows up consistently, and it reads as natural because it leans soft rather than saturated.
Long, wavy layers and bangs suit it. Dark, structured pieces like a black leather jacket make a lighter red stand out more.
Natural Hair Color Prevalence
Red is the rarest natural hair color, and the 2 figures on offer disagree a little.
Natural red is rare: estimates run from about 2 percent of people worldwide up to just under 4 percent, depending on who is counting. Either way, true redheads are a small group.
That rarity changes what you should expect from a salon. Many stylists see natural reds only occasionally, so a color that looks lived-in often has to be built, not simply matched.
If yours is natural, tell the stylist before anything else; it affects how the hair takes color and how much of the original tone is worth keeping.
A single flat red tends to look painted on, so I ask for 2 or 3 tones woven together, like copper over a deeper auburn base.
That’s what makes a color read as the real thing, and it’s also what a rare natural red tends to look like in person.
Despite redheads only accounting for an estimated 2 percent of the population, Hollywood is teeming with celebrities boasting the hue in natural form.
— Newsweek
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has natural red hair?
Julianne Moore, Madelaine Petsch, Rachelle Lefevre and Alicia Witt are all actors people name as natural redheads.
Petsch says her orange-leaning copper is real, and Witt’s strawberry tones read as natural because they stay soft instead of saturated. Only about 2 to 4 percent of people worldwide are born with it.
Who is the prettiest natural redhead?
Beauty is a matter of taste, but one large vote has a clear favorite. Isla Fisher took the top spot in that poll, with over 10,000 votes and three-quarters of them positive.
