Roughly 43 million women in the U.S. have dyed their hair in the past six months, according to research from Nexxus. But with the huge array of hair color products, shade options, and techniques available, it’s hard to know how to get it right when it comes to dyeing your hair at home.
Leep in mind: You’ll want to save major hair color changes for the salon. The biggest DIY dyeing snafu is thinking you can transition from, say, black to platinum hair at home (or even from brown to blonde).
“When dyeing your hair yourself, stay within two shades, lighter or darker, of your current color,” says Kari Hill, a celebrity colorist at Mèche Salon in Los Angeles. Remember that your result will be somewhere between your natural color and the photo on the box.
Tips for Dyeing Your Hair at Home
1. Don’t Make Drastic Changes
The number one rule of thumb of DIY hair dyeing is to avoid drastic changes. Anytime you want to alter your hair color more than three shades, it’s best to see a pro. Lightening hair sometimes requires a light base, and going extremely dark can result in higher chances of patchy color.
2. Choose the Right Shade
Don’t make the mistake of heading to the store and just grabbing a box of hair color. Instead, take your time. I tend to buy dye at big box stores because they have the largest range of shades and brands.
Even if you love the model’s hair on the box, there’s little chance your hair is going to look the same as hers. Individual hair thickness, skin tone, and current color can all affect your results for an unpredictable result. Your best bet is to choose a hue based on your skin tone.
Here’s a quick primer on matching skin tone to color:
- If your eyes are brown, with blue or green flecks, you have a cool skin tone and should choose shades that are cool-toned as well – such as burgundy red, and blue-hued blacks. Cool skin tones usually look best in silver jewelry, so if you naturally gravitate to silver, this is you.
Many hair color brands offer several shades within the tone. The color guide on top of the box usually lets you know if the tone is warm or cool, and shows a realistic picture of how it should turn out on your hair shade. If you’re still wary, try a temporary color, rather than permanent – it should wash out after approximately 28 shampoos.
3. Prep Your Hair
Color works best with dirty hair, since it lacks the slippery conditioner that freshly washed locks have. Coloring 24 to 48 hours after your last wash is usually fine. That way, color stays on the strands and penetrates better for more predictable results.
Always start with your hair combed into your usual style. That way, you can perfect the color on top before moving to the hair underneath the first layer. This is also the perfect time to change into an old shirt. I prefer a button-up, since it doesn’t need to be pulled over the head (and through a bunch of dye) when it’s time to rinse.
4. Gather Tools
Keep your necessary tools at the ready so you don’t have to waste time searching while your color is processing. Here are some of the things you need:
- Box of Hair Color. If you’re short on time, options such as Clairol’s Perfect 10 have more potent formulas and can process faster, but can also be more damaging to dry hair.
- Plastic Gloves. These should come in the hair color box, attached to the instructions.
- Petroleum Jelly. Rub it along your hairline to prevent staining your skin. If you’re out of petroleum jelly, any thick lotion works.
- Comb. Get any kind from your local store.
- Hairdresser Clip. These are the long clips your hairdresser uses to hold your hair up when styling. You can get a pack of six for around $2 in the hair aisle of a drugstore, big box store, or beauty supply store. It allows you to focus on saturating sections with color before moving onto the next area.
- Dye Brush. This is like a short paintbrush, which you can buy at beauty supply stores for about $2 to $3. It’s much easier to control the dye with one than applying it with your hands.
- Timer. Any kind can get the job done.
- Conditioner. If dying your hair black, brown, or red, choose a conditioner that’s gentle on colors – those are the first shades to fade and a color-safe conditioner can help preserve them.
You may also need to protect any light-colored counters in your bathroom, since even light hair color formulas can stain. Once you have your tools at the ready, it’s time to do the strand test.
5. Do a Strand Test
While it may seem like one of the less important steps, don’t make the mistake of ignoring the strand test. It tells you exactly how the hair dye looks on your hair and allows you to adjust processing times accordingly. Just grab a half-inch section of hair that’s not typically visible – I usually take some from behind my ear – apply the dye and wait the amount of time prescribed on the box. Then rinse it off in cool water.
6. Apply the Color
If you’re just touching up your roots, load up your dye brush and start there. If you’re coloring all over, apply it first to the hair that’s visible when it’s combed into your usual style and then move onto the bottom layers.
This is where your dye brush comes in handy. Brush the dye as close to the roots as possible, and then drag the color down the length of your hair while it’s flat on your head. Continue the process until the entire first layer is saturated. Then, use your hairdresser clip to separate the first inch of the top section and continue the process on the next layer.
Starting it when you first begin coloring your hair could mean that your bottom layers don’t get enough processing time.
My best piece of advice for applying the color is to take your time. Hair dye is potent for about 90 minutes after it’s mixed, so you don’t need to hurry the process. Being patient results in even, saturated color instead of splotches and an uneven hue.
7. Add Heat
Some hair is more resistant to color than others. If you have thick hair or you’re going lighter than your natural hair color, adding heat can help improve dye penetration for better results. You probably don’t have a salon-quality dryer in your bathroom, but any hairdryer should do.
I pop a diffuser (a round attachment with prongs) on my dryer and then focus the heat on my roots. The diffuser is so large that directing the nozzle at your roots means even heat distribution across your head. I usually do this during the last 5 or 10 minutes of processing, and it always gives me better results.
8. Rinse and Condition
Once your timer goes off, rinse out the color without using shampoo. It may be tempting to just wash it out over the sink, but you could end up leaving color in your hair, which is highly damaging.
Instead, do yourself a favor and hop in the shower so you can wash thoroughly. Add water and scrub your hair with your fingertips as if you’re shampooing. Then, rinse it out and watch the water until it runs clear. Finally, finish up with a good-quality conditioner – there’s usually one in the hair color box. You can also check for dye drips on your skin. If you notice some, use an exfoliating cream and they should come right off.
9. Style and Assess
Lastly, style your hair as usual and assess the results. Don’t make any snap judgements when your hair is still wet, since water makes your hair look darker than it really is. Instead, use a warm – not hot – hairdryer to style your hair with minimum heat. Then, check out the color in natural light – by a window, for example.
Hopefully you love the result. But if you don’t, there are some ways to fix it:
- Use a Color Remover. Products such as Color Oops can strip dye from hair, but it only works if you dyed it a darker color. If you’ve lightened your hair, it’s likely that hydrogen peroxide was used and your hair has actually been bleached to achieve the result.
- Use a Clarifying Shampoo. If the color is just a little too dark, you can tone it down by using a clarifying shampoo. Designed to remove products from hair, it uses strong detergents and can actually fade your color to a more acceptable shade. Follow up with a good-quality conditioner and only use clarifying shampoo once a week.
- Use Toning Shampoo. If your gripe is that your lightened hair looks too brassy, use a toning shampoo. Because it’s blue, it counteracts the yellow in your hair to cut the brass and create a brighter, more accurate result. Clairol Shimmering Lights is a must-have to achieve truer color and get rid of the reddish or yellowish tinge that can sometimes accompany a blonde dye job.
- Head to the Salon. If you’ve totally botched the color (and we’ve all been there) it’s time to go to the salon and have it professionally fixed. While it may be tempting to try and color it again at home, hair dye can be damaging, and redyeing doesn’t guarantee better results the next time around. Instead, see a pro and get a color you know you’re going to love.
What Should You Do After Dyeing Hair?
Most women are crazing about different dressing styles, of course, they are fond of changing hair style, too. Dye is really popular all over the world. Grey, red, pink, blond,omber color hair are well-liked by ladies in these two years. Yes, dye is gonna to be fashionable. But, if you want to try different styles and colors of hair that are fun, fancy, crazy, and cute, your hair can get easily damaged. How to keep dyed hair healthy? Let us find out some ways.
Brush Hair In A Right Way
Please choose wooden comb to brush your hair,wooden comb can reduce damager from static electricity. Brush your hair from hair ends to tops a little by a little,don’t force the drag your hair, it is easy to lead hair to break,especially when your hair is tangling. Don’t brush your hair much.Brushes are great to get out tangles and knots, but do not over brush, it will strip hair of natural oils and cause split ends.
Get A Wash Every Two Days.
It’s not good to clean hair in high frequency. Excessive washing of your hair can strip it of natural oils which are needed to keep you hair in best condition. After hair natural oils was striped, nutrition,moisture are easy lost from hair,the harmful substances in the air is easy to be caught in the hair. This applies to all hair types.
Protect Your Hair With DIY Remedies
Something by your side will be good material to protect the dye hair, for example, eggs. Get things like half an avocado, an egg, and 3 tbsp of olive oil to mix together. Then it’s time to give your hair do a mask which add nutrients, shine and softness to your hair. Brush the mixture from hair root to end and leave in for two hours, then rinse out in cold water using shampoo and conditioner. Just a easy process with cheap cost, you can keep dyed hair healthy.
Hair Treatment Is Necessary.
An important factor to look for in a protecting color shampoo is pH. The lower the pH of a shampoo the better it will be at retaining color. A pH of over 5.5 will lift the cuticle of the hair allowing color molecules to escape.
Acquire a shampoo with a pH of 5.5 or under as this will help maintain. It is also a good idea to do a deep conditioning or a hot oil treatment on your hair once a week. Hair becomes exceptionally soft, smooth and shiny when you use special hair treatments. It can be a leave in treatment or a wash out treatment.
Is it safe to color your hair at home?
Yes, it is generally safe to color your hair at home as long as you follow the directions on the product’s packaging. A few exceptions: You should skip a DIY dye job if you’ve recently relaxed or permed your hair, since both processes can cause damage.
If you can’t get to a salon, “wait at least seven days after a perm or other process to apply color,” says Sarah Schlosser, manager of Clairol Consumer Relations. “And remember that treated hair will process color more quickly, so you don’t want to leave it on as long.”
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