Doing your own
home hair color for the first time can be intimidating, to
say the least. Have I chosen the right color? What if I make
a mistake and wind up with green hair? What if I end up with
overprocessed, dry damaged hair?
The fact is that you can achieve excellent results and save
a lot of money by coloring your hair at home as long as you
know a few basics about how to select the right color and
apply it correctly.
Here are seven of the most common questions and my advice on
hair coloring at home.
Advice on Permanent Hair Coloring at Home
1. How do I know whether I should color my hair at home
or go to a salon?
Most people can successfully color their hair at home but
there are exceptions. You should get a professional color
job if your hair is in poor condition - coloring dry damaged
hair at home can result in uneven color. Also, if your hair
has different shades and you want one even tone, a
hairdresser can apply different formulas to the different
areas. Finally, it's best to leave it to the experts if you
want to make a drastic change to your hair color, say dark
brown to platinum blonde, or you want special color effects
or highlights.
2. Are drugstore hair colors just as good as salon hair
color products?
In general, salon hair colors contain higher-quality
ingredients than the drugstore brands. Salons also offer a
wider variety of colors and tones. But home coloring kits
are getting better all the time and can deliver good results
if used properly.
3. How do I pick a color that will look natural on me?
When choosing a hair color, your skin tone and natural hair
color are the two most important factors. Whether you're
going lighter or darker, stay within two or three shades of
your natural hair color. Here is a guideline for selecting a
compatible hair color for your skin tone:
Dark/olive skin:
Stay with darker hair colors.
Yellow skin: Dark, rich
colors like deep auburn.
Pale skin: Almost any
color.
Pink skin: Neutral
tones like sandy or beige blonde or chocolate brown are
best. Avoid reds or golden tones.
If you know what clothing
colors suit you, you can also use that to help in choosing
hair color:
If you look good in warm shades
like red, orange, golden yellow, cinnamon brown, olive
green, and rust, then warm hair tones like golden blonde,
golden brown, strawberry blonde, and auburn will suit you
best.
Cool color favorites like
bluish red, fuschia, black, royal blue, and pine green
indicate that cool hair tones are best for you: platinum,
ash blonde, ash brown, burgundy, and jet black.
If you look good in true red,
purple, charcoal grey, periwinkle, and teal, then neutral
tones like sandy or beige blonde, chocolate brown or
mahogany will suit you.
4. How do I get ready to
color my hair the first time?
It's a good idea to gather a few materials together before
starting: an old T-shirt, a few old towels and a washcloth
that you don't mind getting stained, some hair clips for
sectioning your hair, a timer, and a hand mirror to see the
back of your head.
5. If I color my hair at home and hate it, what can I do?
There are some home hair color products you can use to
repair the damage, but it isn't easy. The problem is that if
you used a home hair color kit to obtain a lighter color,
your hair has been bleached and colored in a single process.
So the color needs to be added back in a process called
"filling" before using the final color formula.
Whatever you do, don't simply buy a box of your original
color and try to cover over a bad dye job... it won't work.
Fixing hair color gone wrong is a multi-stage process so a
trip to the salon may be in order.
6. I already have permed hair. Can I color it without
damaging it?
If your hair has been permed or relaxed, color has to be
applied carefully or it can weaken the structure of your
hair. Salons have colors specially formulated for treated
hair. But if you insist on home hair coloring, choose a
shade darker than you want since processed hair may come out
lighter than expected. Then do a strand test to make sure
your hair can handle the chemical stress.
7. I love my new color... now how do I keep it looking
good?
You'll probably want to recolor every four to six weeks.
Make a record of the hair color product and shade you used,
and how long you left it on the ends and the regrowth. Use
shampoos and conditioners formulated for color-treated hair
to prevent fading. Stay out of the sun and chlorinated
pools. Hair that has been previously been bleached is prone
to such effects and should be rinsed as soon as possible.
Don't use heavy conditioners and oil treatments after
coloring... they can lift the color.
Now go out and enjoy your new look and all the money you
saved by doing it yourself!
Nancy Faizabadi is a
professional hair stylist and the founder of http://www.short-hair-style.com
where you can find free tips on short hair style and color
ideas, hair color trends, hair products and much more.
Whether your hair is fine, thick, curly, straight,
processed, colored or in need of a new style, short-hair-style.com
has a section for you.
