You can save a great deal of money if you dye your hair at home. For many women, a home dye job is something you can accomplish by yourself. The key to successful home hair color is not to try anything drastic. Just make a few changes to give yourself a new look or cover up your gray hairs.
Plus or Minus Two
When dyeing your hair, you can go lighter or darker than your natural shade, but when attempting to dye hair at home, you shouldn’t go more than two shades lighter or darker. Trying to do more could leave you with unexpected results and force you to suffer the “tsk-tsk” of the stylist when you have to go to a salon to fix it.
Divide and Conquer
Whether your hair is long or short, it’s smart to work on sections of your hair at a time to avoid missing any pieces. Divide your hair into at least six sections. Use clips to hold the hair out of place. Once the dye is in one section of the hair, you can twist it up and clip it while you work on a new section.
Permanent or Semi-Permanent
You have two primary types of home hair dye–permanent and semi-permanent. If you choose the permanent color, you are altering your hair for good, whether you are making it lighter or darker. A stylist will be able to take the color out later, but she would have to reapply dye to turn it into your natural color again. A semi-permanent dye just coats the hair for a short period of time. This is great for those who are commitment-phobic, but you can only darken your color when you use semi-permanent color.
Salon at Home
Set up a small area of your home to re-enact the spa scene as you dye your hair. You should wear a smock or at least a T-shirt you don’t mind getting dirty. You should also have a clean area and lay out everything that you need for the dye job before you begin it. Once your hands are messy, it will be troublesome to get additional materials. In the salon, the stylist will use a bowl and brush to put the dye on your hair. This ensures more even coverage when compared to the squirt bottle that typically comes with a home hair dye kit. You can purchase your own bowl and dye brush from a beauty supply store.
Damage Prevention and Control
Hair dye can stain your skin, so you want to take care that it doesn’t get on it. Place a bit of petroleum jelly around your hair line, taking care not to touch the hair. This will prevent the dye from dripping onto your face. Wear the gloves provided with your kit. If you find that your color is much darker than you expected, you may be able to lighten it by washing with dish washing detergent immediately after.
Photo Credit
- hair image by Dubravko Grakalic from Fotolia.com
