Color with Caution
Posted in Hair and tagged with at-home-hair-color, color-hair-yourself, Eva-Longoria, flat-hair-color, hair-color, hair-coloring, high-lights, lightening-hair, metallic-dyes, muddy-hair, red-hair on 01/10/2009 09:22 am by Brooke
Is coloring your hair at home a good idea? Sure it’s cheap, the economy is going bust, and finding a good time to get into your stylist can be impossible. But, before you say screw it and head to the supermarket for that box color with Eva Longoria on the cover, let me give you some advice.
- If you want to go lighter, know that “color” does NOT lift color. So if your hair has been previously dyed don’t even attempt this application. If your hair is natural, at home color usually only lifts about two levels or shades.
- By all means please lease do not try to highlight your own hair, believe me it will look hideous. There is a reason stylist go to beauty school and continue their education throughout the years, it’s all about technique.
- If wanting go red, please know that RED is the hardest to remove from the hair…
- Know your tones. All hair color comes in a level or shade plus the tone of the shade. Meaning brown/gold, brown/violet, brown/ash. etc. So, learn your tones and remember which one you use on your hair in-case of a mishap and you need your stylist to correct it.
- at home hair color is notorious for containing metallic dyes. Metallic dyes make it very difficult to change or correct a color. And layering these dyes create build up and usually end up looking “muddy” or “flat” over time.
Hopefully this helps you in your decision over whether or not to color your hair yourself.
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I recently went from black to red about 5 months ago, but about 8 weeks ago went back to black. It’s looking faded and really awful. I can’t really afford to go to a salon so I am wondering what the best over the counter hair color would be best? I am staying my natural color black…not blue black. What do you think?
February 24th, 2009 at 9:29 am
First of all you really want to be careful when playing with Black color. It’s very very hard to correct black color because it’s the darkest pigment, and can become flat, and dull. Now because black is your true natural hair color you should be safe to use over the counter hair color. Stick to a higher quality color, like L’Oreal…
For anyone who does not have naturally black hair (asians have naturally black hair, that’s about it), stick to a brown/black, very dark brown. Black can become very flat, and dull and make your facial features look harsh if you are not natually black haired. The couple of levels lighter than Black are much more flattering, and easier to change if you so decide one day.
February 28th, 2009 at 2:22 am
I wanted to give you such a HUGE thank you for your advice to me here. I went to Sally Beauty Supply and looked over their L’Oreal selection. I ended up choosing L’Oreal Preference Mega Browns Professional in Coffee. The base was red and since my underlying pigment is red that’s what I went with. The color is absolutely what I wanted, it’s gorgeous. It’s not even a little bit flat, it’s rich, and made such a huge difference. I am so thankful Brooke! It’s hard when trying to keep up with beauty on a small budget like mine, so thank you for offering your advice and expertise to all your readers!
February 28th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I am so happy to have helped!
Thank you so much for reading!