At-Home Hair Color Tips

Going to the salon to color your hair can come at a hefty cost and can also be time consuming. Don’t even mention the routine maintenance! If you have the patience and are willing to try it out, there are some pretty decent hair coloring systems that you can buy from your local beauty supply.  Quite often they have the same results. A few tips to remember when coloring your hair at home:

1. Blond is best done in a salon! If you’ve ever wanted that “Beyonce blonde” hair, this my friend is a shade of blonde you will want to let your stylist take care of. It’s best to try and only go two shades darker or lighter with a DIY hair coloring system. The mixutres are pretty straight forward and don’t allow much tweaking so the user has no control over the volume levels. In the name of NOT damaging your hair or ending up with pumpkin orange strands, play it safe. For a more dramatic change, leave it to the professionals.

2. Is it your first time trying this out? Well don’t make your first time a disastrous practice session. My first time trying to color my hair I couldn’t figure out how in the heck I was going to get all of my thick strands covered within the specified time frame. So, I practiced with conditioner the week before. I used the brush and bowl and just timed myself covering my strands quickly and EVENLY. This is extremely important. You don’t want the product to over process on the hair so timing is everything, but you also want to be diligent about getting every bit of your strands covered otherwise you will end up with an uneven look. The bonus to this faux practice session is that it doubles as a deep conditioning treatment!

3. Be prepared to make a mess. The color is meant to stain, so therefore you need to prep your styling area as well as your body for any potential spills and errors. One thing I like to do is prep my hairline with Vaseline. This prevents staining the skin around the hair, making your new hair color look even more unnatural. I also wear a shirt that I don’t mind ruining and cover my floor with old towels. If you are going red, a beautiful color but the best at staining, be weary of staining your tub when you go to rinse. I’ve found that a vinegar/water mixture and soak helps to alleviate permanent staining if done right after your shower.

4. Color your hair when it’s dirty. The chemicals in these systems, though maybe not as powerful as the ones your stylist uses, are still strong. The dirt of your hair will not only protect your scalp from agitation, it also protects your hair from over processing.

5. Color you hair in sections. As I stated earlier, being too hasty and quick will have you with missed pieces and an uneven look. If you have long thick hair, section your hair into 4-6 sections so that you can have a focal point and you can be more mindful of your coverage.