Can You Dye Your Hair At Home?
Coloring your hair at the salon can be expensive, so saving your hard-earned money and doing it yourself is totally understandable. Fortunately, there are many box hair dyes available in the market where you can just grab one and dye your hair in the comforts of your own home. However, there are many factors to consider when dyeing your own hair, such as the right hue, placing the color in the right spots, and using the right tools for the job.
Here are a few key things to keep in mind when dyeing your hair at home:
#1 Don’t trust the model on the box
The color of your hair will almost always end than the model’s hair on the packaging. At-home permanent dyes are stronger than the ones in the salon, so it lifts the color and makes it lighter than what you see on the box. To get a better representation of how the hue will look, take a look at the little swatch at the top of the box instead.
#2 Know when to go lighter or darker
For permanent dye, it’s recommended to choose a color that is slightly darker than what you had in mind. This is the opposite with semipermanent dye where you can err on the lighter side of the color you want to achieve.
#3 Get two boxes of hair dye
If your hair is extremely coarse and is past your shoulders, you should just get two boxes of hair dyes in the same shade to ensure full coverage. And make sure to mix the dyes in glass or plastic bowl (not a metal bowl as it may cause the dye to change color).
#4 Hair texture
Hair texture is a very important consideration when it comes to dyeing your hair. Coarse, curly or frizzy hair absorbs color faster and will look ashier. This means that you should pick a warm color that’s a little lighter than your natural color if your hair is frizzy or curly. If you have fine and straight hair, choose cooler shades that are slightly darker.
#5 Spot-treatment for gray hair
If you just want to dye your gray hair and not the whole head, you can consider spot treating gray hair with a semi-permanent dye. You can even use an eye shadow brush for extra precision.
#6 Section your hair
Create a middle part that runs to the back of your head and split your hair into four sections to avoid patchiness. You need to be organized when applying the dye. To prevent missed spots, use clips to create four sections and work through them front to back.
#7 Add shampoo to your hair dye
If you have very dry ends, make sure you don’t put dye on your ends. What you can do instead is to add shampoo into the dye leftover in the bottle and apply the mixture to your hands three minutes before you’re supposed to rinse. This step dilutes the dye while still giving your hair the color and shine you want to achieve.
#8 Let Your Hair Down
Although the commercial always have their dye-coated hair twisted in a bun, you should avoid doing that or the color might not be even when you rinse it out. Get yourself a coloring gown and put your hair down until the timer rings.
#9 Add Water
Sprinkle some water on your head and mush your hair around for a few seconds. The water will emulsify the dye, so you don’t end up with any obvious lines or streaks.
#10 Condition your hair
Make sure to always add hair conditioner once you’re done to close the cuticles. If you skip this step, you might end up with a much darker hair than you wanted. Make sure to always use a deep conditioner in the shower after you rinse out the dye.
Pros & Cons of DIY Box Hair Dyes
Pros
Super Affordable –The biggest advantage to dyeing your hair at home is that it’s much cheaper than going to a salon. Buying your own DIY hair dye costs a fraction of the price of hiring a stylist to do it for you.
Convenient – You can dye your hair at the comforts of your own home where you can watch Netflix, play games or do whatever you want while waiting for the dye to set.
Easy – Regardless of where you purchase your DIY hair dye, the manufacturers have made it incredibly easy for you to mix the chemicals and do it at home yourself.
Cons
Limiting – You only get one formula for a single color. It’s also extremely difficult for you to add highlights, lowlights, or achieve ombre styles at home. Dyeing your hair at home can feel limiting as you can only purchase what’s on the market.
Messy – DIY hair dye can get messy, and you risk ruining your clothes and your flooring if you’re not careful. To prevent this, you can put newspaper under your workspace and wear a dyeing gown.
Can go wrong – Although the steps for DIY hair dye are easy, things can easily go wrong. You might have mixed something wrong or when a color doesn’t develop the way you thought it would.
Unreliable – Boxed hair dyes are unreliable as you never know exactly what you’re getting inside. The dye in supermarkets and beauty stores may sit on the shelves for months or years. So, if you’re getting a hair dye, make sure to pick from a reliable distributor so that you can count on their quality.
Getting Hair Dyed Professionally
DIY methods are definitely cheaper to get the look you desire but dying your hair on your own doesn’t always give you the best results. A professional stylist specializes in color artistry to provide high-quality color to achieve the look you’ve always wanted. Not only that but professionals have hundreds of different colors at their disposal to help you create your ideal shade that’s done correctly. Having your hair dyed professionally is also safer for your hair as the color artist is trained to not just produce high quality result, but to also protect your hair in the process. Finally, professional hair dyeing at salon will last much longer than a kit you bought at the store so you won’t have to keep going back to the salon as frequently to keep it looking its best.