Seven Home Hair Color Tips for Great Results
by: Nancy Faizabadi
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own home hair color, saying that drugstore hair color products
are harsh and the results can be uncertain.
But the truth 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 choosing the right color and applying it
correctly.
Here are seven of the most common questions and my advice on hair
coloring at home.
Advice on Hair Color 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 like highlights.
2. Are drugstore hair colors just as good as salon hair color
products?
In general, salon products use higher quality ingredients that do
a better job of cleansing, moisturizing and conditioning than the
drugstore brands. 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 to prevent dry damaged
hair. 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.