This is an educational guest-post from Patrick Lenhoff, who reached out to me a few months back about contributing to HTHG. I said ” YES! we are about due for another post about safer ways to color your own hair at home!.”
This is a topic that I get asked about a lot, both from the perspective of chemical safety and our health, and for those on the pursuit of great results with home hair color, without spending a fortune or risking hair disaster.
As usual, my go-to recommended at-home color line is Madison Reed I absolutely love their color and their philosophy, as far as traditional hair color is concerned. Their formulations are made in Italy, where safety standards are much higher and they offer a lot of very easy to access support for choosing the right color, as well as a subscription service for people who want their shade sent to them in the mail as needed.
They also offer a great Color Gloss Treatment for reviving color in between dye sessions.
Madison Reed is a Bay Area based women-run company who is committed to safety, and great results for the DIY woman. Check them out through the links above or by clicking the add on my sidebar!
(Photo Hairstory Studio)
The Ultimate DIY Hair Color Guide
Using the right hair color can help transform your looks by adding sparkle to your eyes, cover grays and enliven your skin tone. However, it may be quite expensive to get it done at the salon as this can run upwards. If you are looking to know more about how you can do this beauty routine at home, then you need to follow this Ultimate DIY Hair Coloring Guide. It presents easy and effective ways of performing home hair coloring that will match professional hands.
There is no reason why you can’t touch up your hair right from the comfort of your home unless you plan on taking black hair to platinum blonde. Apart from its relative cost effectiveness, it presents a great means of enhancing beauty and creating a gorgeous look. However, it is important to note that you could end up making a very costly mistake especially if you don’t know what you are doing. So ensure to follow this laid down principles to avoid ruining your hair.
Choose The Right Box Of Hair Dye
Your ability to rightly choose the box of hair dye is obviously the first step. In order to avoid creating excessive breakage and dryness, it is best you pick a hair dye that contains a limited amount of harmful ingredients like alcohol, peroxide, and ammonia. Unlike permanent dyes, most semi and demi-permanent variants can make the hair far less rough due to their inability to lift even after depositing color.
Choose The Right Shade
Your ability to select the right shade will determine how natural you want your hair to look. The picture on the box can be misleading so you can’t just rely on that. The best thing to do is to focus more on the numbers that represent the relative shade and the words used to describe them. If you are looking to combat brassiness, those colors described as “ash” will be suitable for you since they contain more green tones. Remember, there’s only so much you can do about that. Combating brassy hair after being chemically altered is one of the myths of at home hair dyeing.
Please note that “neutral” which often applies a blue base to the shade can also mean several different things. Expect to have purple tones when you use shades with violet in them while you stand to incorporate more yellow tones with “golden” which is a great option for concealing gray hair.
If you want to know how the color will work on your hair, the guide on the side of the box can serve as an estimate. Numbers are used to represent how dark the dye will be on a scale of 1 to 12 – the higher the number, the lighter the shade. While 4 is quite dark, 1 is black, and 12 is platinum blonde. This will help you know how the color will work on your hair.
FYI Madison Reed takes a lot of the guess work out of choosing your shade!
Ensure To Read Instructions On The Box
Take time to carefully read all the instructions on the box before you even start dyeing your hair. Do not skip any step as they are all very important. Especially in dark dyes, there are certain ingredients that can cause peculiar skin reactions.
In order to ensure you will avoid them, it is best you protect your skin and nails by using the recommended gloves. Also, a head full of color can really get anyone woozy. So, ensure to dye your hair in an area that is well-ventilated. These and many more are part of the DIY hair coloring guide you will find on the box.
Make Olive Oil And Vaseline Your Best Companions
When dying your hair, it is good to always have a tub of Vaseline on hand. You really need a generous dab of Vaseline especially if you are going with a dark color. In order to keep the hair dye from staining your skin, you need to apply the petroleum-based moisturizer, gel, Vaseline or any thick solution along your ears, neck, hairline and temples.
This presents a cheap and effective solution to having blotchy dye stains on your skin. After, you can get rid of them by dabbing the affected area with a cotton ball soaked in olive oil.
Dirty Hair Is Best
A recently washed hair does not dye well like an unwashed hair. This is because the hair’s natural oils which help to provide strands with full protection have all been removed. Although this practice is highly recommended, no one would really enjoy showing up at the salon with dirty hair. This explains the advantage of doing your hair at home.
Beware Of Dyeing Pre-Dyed Hair
If you have an already-colored hair, it is recommended you proceed with caution. Getting an even, undamaged result requires a much more complicated process that can better be handled by a professional. There are greater risks of overprocessing-related chemical haircuts, hot roots, and striped or patchy color. Whether you are using the same color of your recently dyed hair or not, it is best you consider your options before making an attempt to dye over it.
Do Your Upkeep
Even after dyeing your hair successfully (i.e. without any major mishaps), it is important not to overlook the need for an upkeep, so as not to ruin your hard work. This process is just as important as the dyeing process itself. As long as you want it to last, it is important to avoid frequent washing. Condition your hair well, limit heat-styling, use spray-on sunscreen and color-protecting products and always use hats to protect it from the sun.
This ultimate DIY hair coloring guide can help build in you the confidence you need to safely dye your hair at home.
About the author:
Patrick Lenhoff is a freelance writer with a great interest in everything related to hair. On his website, ShavingSolution ,He loves writing articles about grooming. “Our look reflects our personality. We should keep that in mind!”, says Patrick.
THANK YOU PATRICK for sharing this post with us!
xo, HTHG
p.s.
As a DIY hair blogger who is committed to quality information and tips for better hair care, I am a proud affiliate of Madison Reed as well as many other companies who’s ethics and goods I personally use and believe in.
for more on DIY Hair Color, check out Do’s and Don’ts of DIY Color.
