Safely Coloring Hair At Home

Deciding to take your hair coloring out of the salon and into your bathroom at home can be a big step. To avoid hair color disasters follow these steps for coloring your hair at home.

 

First you must find out what color your stylist has been using. Chances are she’s not going to want to give up the formula so you may have to be sneaky here. Instead of asking her what she uses, which may raise suspicions, ask something like, “I get a lot of compliments on my hair and they ask what shade it is. What color would you say my hair is?” or something along those lines. Now listen closely for the words that will describe the tone and the base so you'll know what to use when coloring hair at home.

 

For example, if your stylist says it’s a golden brown then you know you’ll be looking for a product that says something light or medium golden brown. Words like ash blonde will mean you’ll be looking for a blonde that has an ash undertone and no red tones in it. If you can’t get the scoop from your stylist try going to a drug store that has small color swatches (pieces of colored hair) with the boxes of color. Match your hair color as closely as possible to the swatch and buy the corresponding color.

 

When coloring hair at home always use a good quality, reputable product. Henna is not a good option. Though many people like the idea of henna because of its natural properties, it is an unstable product and the results cannot be guaranteed. Worse yet, hair that has henna in it cannot be colored over if the results are not pretty. Instead the hair must grow out or be chemically stripped, which can be very damaging.

Keeping Gray Hair from Yellowing

KMS and Nexxus make wonderful shampoos for gray hair to keep it from looking yellow and brassy. The trick is to lather up twice; once to clean your hair, and the second time, leave the shampoo in your hair for about five minutes. This allows the product to remove yellow tones. Next, before you style and dry your hair, apply about three cap fulls of Fanciful temporary color in White Minx. It has been a favorite for years due to its ability to bring out the brightness of gray hair. Remember, all these products will look PURPLE. They're supposed to; it's the chemical that brightens gray hair. Another great product is VO-5 smoother/conditioner for gray hair. Use only a dime-sized amount on dry hair to make your gray hair bright and manageable. If you smoke or swim in chlorinated pools, your gray hair will really be a challenge to keep bright.

Bleaching or Highlighting Without Being Brassy

Want to know about bleaching or highlighting without being brassy? One of the greatest developments in highlighting products lately is Clairol´s BW Creme Ultra Drabbing Lightener. It has a violet base that will neutralize or "drab" (if you will) any unwanted brassy tones.

This creme bleach is excellent for on the scalp bleaching as well as being able to be used for frostings and highlighting. It is available in supply stores that sell to the public or you can ask your hairstylist to use it.

Reverse Frosting

Sometimes, after having highlighted hair touched up several times, it begins to look too light. This can be a problem. Have no fear, however, there's a solution: Reverse frosting.

In order to reverse frost your hair you pull the hair through a frosting cap and apply a semi or permanent color that is close to your natural color. This will break up the too-light hair and still allow it to be a highlighting for the darker hair and will keep you from having to have it completely tinted back before re-doing your highlighting.

A Quick Color Touch-Up Trick

*Here's a quick color touch-up trick for those who might be ready for a color touch-up and have an important event coming up before being able to get one.

If you have light hair, take a dry facial powder that is close to the color of your hair and, with a make up brush, apply this right on the root area in the part. For those of you who have dark hair, use some mascara or eyebrow pencil and apply it right at the part (this will temporarily cover up the new growth and camouflage it so your hair color will not appear in need of tint).

Hair Color and Pigment

You may not believe this, but your hair is a mix of 3 colors: the primary colors red, yellow, and blue. Orange, green and violet are secondary colors and, these colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel negate each other.

If your hair is an orange color, blue will make it black/brown. If you hair has a yellow tone, violet will cancel it out. The best advice on hair color is to determine your hair's underlying pigment (the hair's natural color).

*Keep in mind that you may pick what you consider your perfect color from a swatch book, but it may not turn out that color because of your hair's underlying pigment.

Hair Color and Perm

Of course you can get a perm after you color your hair. A perm formulated especially for color treated hair can complement your color with magnificent body, texture, and fullness.

As your new hair color grows out, use color enhancing conditioners to help blend root areas. Take care of your hair color and your perm by using a gentle shampoo created specifically for color-treated hair. Shampoo gently: Rough shampooing can dry out your hair or strip color. Pick an intensive conditioner and use it regularly to restore vital moisture and luster to your new hair color.

*If you're hitting the beach, treat your hair to a leave-in conditioner that contains sunscreen to protect against color fade.

Fight Fading Hair Color

Many people who have hair coloring say that the color often fades out before it is time to have it touched up. Don't let this happen to you—fight fading hair color!

A very good solution is to use a color shampoo. Reds fade especially quickly, so use a shampoo for red hair. Browns tend to lose vibrancy before a touch up, so you can use a shampoo for brown hair.

A very good color shampoo that is reasonable and can be found in most supply stores that sell to the public is Aura. They have color shampoo for blondes, brunettes, and red hair. It is only about $4 per 16 ounce bottle and is very good at keeping colored hair vibrant and fresh looking between colors.

Hair Color for the Conservative Man

Especially in high-powered business situations, it is true that first impressions last. For any man who wants to look just a bit younger without changing his overall hair color, a semi-permanent color that closely matches his natural hair color can give depth and definition to a style without changing his looks drastically.

Good hair color for the conservative man can be found at most drug stores. Just for Men and Clairol for Men are two over-the-counter colors I'd recommend.

*The trick is to choose a men's hair color that is very close to the natural color.

Red Hair Color

Red is a fabulous hair color and also the one that fades the fastest. Red is a fun shade but requires a fair amount of upkeep. How can you avoid the frenzy over fading? Choose a hue with a touch of brown, which penetrates hair better.

Try using a color-extending shampoo. Before you take the plunge to red, however, let your colorist assess your skin tone, eye color, and natural hair color to mix up the best hair color shade for you.

Coloring Shampoos

When light hair or hair that has been highlighted begins to grow out, it often becomes brassy and dull. Many times you don't want to re-color it or, in the case of naturally blonde hair, maybe just don't want the chemicals on your head.

Try coloring shampoos with violet or purple bases. A very good one is Clairol´s Shimmering Lights and another one is Simply Silver from Nexxus. Aura makes one called "Blue Malva" which is also good. These shampoos work on the principle that blue neutralizes yellow, and purple neutralizes gold. In other words, if your hair is yellowish or brassy these will neutralize that.

Be careful, if your hair is dry and porous, to dilute it a bit first and do not use it more than twice a week as it can give some blue casts. These shampoos are a good way to keep light hair looking nice without a color touch up.

Keeping Red Hair Red

It is common for tinted red hair to fade fairly easily (usually because permanent hair tints do not have a great deal of color pigment in them). Want to know a secret about keeping red hair red? If you want to maintain a nice color in between tints, use a red colored shampoo.

Aura makes red colored shampoo called Madder Root Shampoo (companies like Wella, Loreal, Clairol and others also make shampoos that are made expressly for use on color treated hair).

*These shampoos are mild and will not strip out color.

High Impact Color

The latest color term will be "high impact" and it will be creeping into the terminology in salons and magazines. What this means is that hair color for the current season will be bright and bold and have more obvious differences of color on one head.

Currently coppers are the "in" color and they are often highlighted with bold light copper blondes and golden colors. These colors are easier to achieve than you may think:

1. Use the darker color of red or brown for your all-over color using a semi-permanent color that will gradually fade out.

2. After the color is done, shampoo, dry, and pull the hair through a frosting cap, applying your lighter color after.

*You may not even have to bleach first if your hair is light brown or lighter. However, remember to be brave and use colors that are vibrant and obviously contrasting for a new look.

Highlighting

When wanting a nice color change, highlighting or "frosting" can give nice results. Whether pulled through a cap, done with foil, or painted on, the effects can range from subtle to as dramatic as you wish and you are not changing your overall color.

*This technique is excellent for blending gray.

Corrective Color

Correcting undesired tones or colors in the hair is a basic as the color wheel itself. Red neutralizes green or ashiness (and vice-versa), blue neutralizes yellow (and vice-versa), purple or violet neutralizes orange (and vice-versa). Some corrective color solutions are as follows:

• If your hair is too red, use an ash color that has a green base.
• Too orange or brassy? Use a violet or purple based color.

Each company's color tells what its base color is to make it easier for you. If you are not sure and are doing your own hair color, most beauty supply stores have trained sales people who can help to guide you through the process of choosing the correct color.

Tints, Dyes, Semi-Permanent, Rinses

Many people are confused by the terms hairstylists use for color products so here's a tip: "dye" is no longer used. One dyes clothes, but tints and dyes are the same thing. They are permanent colors mixed with a developer to penetrate the hair and stay.

Usually, when the new growth reappears, one tints the hair again. Semi-permanent or the new demi-permanent colors are those that either have no developer or a developer that is very low in strength and does not penetrate the hair shaft as deeply. These colors fade out gradually and are retouched once the color has faded enough for the desired effect to be lost.

Rinses are only temporary and are water soluble. They are used to tone down unwanted shades in one's natural hair color and often rub off with brushing or rubbing one's head on the pillow at night while sleeping. They only coat the hair slightly.

Home Hair Color

Most American women who want to cover gray, sport a new look or simply brighten up their appearance and color their hair at home. You can get the same good results as going to a salon by using home hair color if you follow a few simple rules:

1. Stick close to your natural shade. Color only one to two shades lighter or darker than your natural hair color. Staying within your natural shade range minimizes the chance of mistakes.

2. If you have your heart set on being blonde, head to the salon. Lightening dark hair is tricky. It takes expert technique to get good results.

3. Do the patch test, even if you've been coloring for years. Allergies to hair color chemicals can develop at any time. Follow the patch test instructions for your hair color product every time you color your hair. It'll take a bit longer, but will save you from ending up with an itchy rash or burned scalp.

Types of Hair Color

Before you take the plunge and dye your hair Outrageous Cherry, you might want to experiment a bit with a form of hair color that's not permanent. Hair colors come in five types:

• Temporary hair color lasts from one shampoo to the next and is deposited on the outside of the hair shaft

• Semi-temporary hair color lasts from 4-6 shampoos. It usually does not contain ammonia and doesn't have a developer

• Demi-permanent hair color usually contains little or no ammonia and uses a low peroxide developer—the color lasts about 6 weeks and gradually fades back to the natural shade

• Semi-Permanent hair color usually contains some ammonia and uses a developer of 10 to 20 vol.

• Permanent hair color formulas change the natural hair color and require maintenance to new hair growth after 4 to 6 weeks—that means touching up those roots!