P4/27 is the highlight colour that sells more than any other, and the reason is simple: it is the only coloured unit that looks like something a colourist did to you rather than something you bought.
What the code means
The numbers are two separate colours and the slash means they are blended. 4 is a medium chocolate brown — the base. 27 is a honey or caramel blonde — the highlight. P stands for piano, the industry term for alternating strands of two colours rather than a block of one.
So a P4/27 unit is brown hair with honey blonde woven through it, strand by strand, rather than in chunks. That is what makes it read as highlights instead of streaks.
Why it looks more natural than other coloured units
Three reasons, and they are worth understanding because they apply to any highlight unit:
- The base is dark. Your roots and your eyebrows are not blonde, and neither is the base of a P4/27. The colour at the scalp is plausible.
- The contrast is small. A 4 and a 27 are about three levels apart. Big jumps — a 1B base with 613 blonde — read as deliberate and artificial. Three levels reads as sun.
- The distribution is fine. Alternating strands behave like real highlights, which never come in solid panels.
Who it suits
P4/27 is warm, so it sits best against warm and neutral skin tones — golden, olive, deep complexions with warm undertones. On very cool, pink-toned skin the honey can read brassy, and a cooler highlight code such as P4/30 or an ash-toned blend will usually sit better.
It is also the safest coloured unit for a workplace. Nobody in an office looks at highlights twice, where a 613 blonde or a 99J burgundy is an obvious choice that invites comment.
P4/27 versus the other common codes
| Code | What it is | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 1B | Natural off-black | Untouched |
| P4/27 | Brown base, honey highlight | Salon highlights |
| P1B/30 | Black base, auburn highlight | Warmer, higher contrast |
| 27 | Solid honey blonde | A colour choice |
| 613 | Lightest blonde | Deliberate, high maintenance |
| 99J | Deep burgundy | Dark red, subtle indoors |
Density matters on highlight units
The blonde strands have been lifted, and lifting removes mass from each one. A highlight unit at 150% density therefore looks slightly sparser than a natural black unit at the same number. We would point most people at 180% for P4/27, and 200% past 22 inches. The density guide explains what those numbers look like on a head.
Upkeep
Lower than any other coloured unit, but not zero. The blonde is the part that changes:
- Purple shampoo every third or fourth wash to keep the honey from turning brassy. Not every wash — overuse leaves a grey cast on the lighter strands.
- Cool water. Hot water opens the cuticle and lifts tone out of the highlights first.
- Heat protectant always. Lifted strands scorch at temperatures the brown base shrugs off.
- Wash every eight to ten wears, not weekly. The single biggest factor in how long any colour holds.
Expect the highlight to soften over a year, which most people prefer to the day they bought it. Our care page covers the full routine and how to make a wig last goes further.
Can you dye a P4/27 darker?
Yes, and it is the one direction that works well. A demi-permanent brown over the whole unit knocks the highlights back to a subtle warmth without touching the base much. Going lighter is the problem — bleaching a P4/27 lifts the brown base unevenly and you end up with a patchwork rather than a blonde.
Strand test on hair from the nape first. Human hair wigs take colour faster and darker than growing hair, and dyeing voids most return policies including ours.
Where to start
Ruby is our honey blonde highlight unit — body wave, 13x4 HD lace, 180% and 200% density. Body wave suits a highlight particularly well, because the movement catches light at different angles and shows the two tones off against each other. If you want to see the rest of the range before deciding, the coloured collection covers highlight, blonde and burgundy together, and which wig should I buy works through construction and density once you have settled on colour.