At home hair color?

[7costanza]

I've never colored my own hair before, or done an all over color. My hair is naturally medium to dark blonde, but I usually go a few shades lighter with a partial foil. I'm considering doing it at home but am a little nervous, especially to go lighter. Does anybody have any tips or recommendations for what to get?

[wannabe]

i'm perfectly comfortable with DIY hair dye in a box. but i'm just using it to cover grays. and my hair is super dark. i wouldn't be too confident about going lighter on my own. too much room for error.

honestly, unless you're going darker, leave it to the pros - especially if you've never done any DIY color before. it's easy, but i'd be super nervous about doing some major damage going lighter.

[Deleted]

well, I use at home color-- but my mom does it for me. I don't think I could do it on my own. I do, however, often go lighter, AND my hair is very thick, so I'd be worried about screwing it up.

[fortmyersbride]

I've used at home hair color for years (I started going gray at 25 ). I usually stick to my natural color (light brown) or a reddish color close to it. The one time I tried to go darker it turned out okay but looked weird with my skin tone, perhaps a professional stylist would've advised me against it.

[hannamarin]

I think one to two shades in any direction for all over colour is safe. But no highlights (you mentioned foil), dont try to go brown to blonde or the reverse, etc.
Covering grey at home is safe. You will ruin a towel and/or tshirt.

[mae141]

My aunt is a hair stylist, and she says that you really can't go lighter unless you bleach/damage the hair, and box color is not good for that. Any time that I've tried to use a box of color to go lighter it doesn't really do anything. I had a friend do highlights on me once from a kit- it did not turn out well. Auntie says to stay close to natural color when doing it myself, and if I want it lighter then I need to go to a salon. And she says to find a formula that's no ammonia, because that's what damages the hair and makes my brown hair turn brassy. When I was a teenager I colored my hair all the time, but once I started listening to what my aunt was saying my hair looked much, much better.

[loveday]

Read this blog. I have been lightening my own hair for ages and learned how the chemistry of hair color works

killerstrands.blogspot.com/

You can safely lighten with bleach, if you know how it works (blonde is an absence of color on the strand). You also need to take into consideration the natural pigments in your hair and figure out what you need to counteract it so you don't end up clown yellow or orange.

Don't touch the box stuff if you want to lighten, but take the time to educate yourself. I save at least $80 on coloring when I do it at home.

[stumpy]

Just my opinion . . . I don't care for overall hair color. It lacks dimension for me. When somebody goes from salon highlights to all over do it yourself, it looks flat to me.
I am assuming some people really know what they are doing and/or have great hair to begin with, but the people that I know color their own hair look like they color their own hair. The color isn't good for them and it looks bad.
Again, this si JMHO.

[stumpy]

Oh, and the people that I know that color their hair all go lighter . . . maybe going darker is easier or looks better.

[7costanza]

Thanks ladies! Sounds like I should stick to the salon for going lighter (I definitely don't want to go darker)

[Deleted]

S

[Deleted]

I'm a medium to light blonde. I've colored my hair at home for a long time and never had issues. The key is to only go about 2 shades different. I've gone lighter to a platinum and just recently I tried darker, which I was scared to do. I was afraid it would end up redish, and it did, but not bad.

[justjen]

I did at home for years. Now, I do salon every other month, with a root touch-up at home in between. My color looks *much* better since I've started going pro. The difference is really noticeable, in my opinion. I don't think I could go back.

[Deleted]

I color at home and have medium/dark blonde hair naturally. I use Garnier Nutrisse. When choosing your color, I would make sure to go with the "Natural" blonde line, not Ash or Golden.

To avoid the "all over color look" I generally get highlights at a salon 1-2 times a year. Then when I color my roots, the highlights still show through. I think it looks pretty good.

[jenni232323]

My mom does my foils. We get the powder bleach and creme developer at Sally's along with the foils that have a clear area so you can watch it develop and make sure the timing's right. It saves me hundreds and the results are great - I get compliments all the time. My hair is med brown and I put in partial foils that lighten it up to blonde for the sunkissed look.

[stumpy]

Jul 4, 2012 22:42:47 GMT -5 @sbonkers said:

Stumpy - I think you're right that its a 'going light' problem.

I've dyed at home since I was 16 (to red from light brown) and I like full head WAY more than highlighted. I think highlighted can look crappy (I know not all, but in my opinion, most of the time) but when I dye full head, it picks up my natural highlights and adjusts appropriately and ends up looking great.

However when you lighten hair, you remove those natural highlights with bleach, so for lightening your point could still be true

I think we are right. As an actor, I have had EVERY hair color and some not so natural. One time I had Kelly Bundy white hair. (Did I just date myself?) It was hideous but that's what the character called for. After that show, the company would only pay for all over color -- not more normal highlights and lowlights. Clearly I didn't need highlights since it was white and blonde. The all over color took well and the dye gave my dimension b/c I had various shades.

[simpsongal]

You will all cringe, but I just periodically paint a bleach/developer mixture in my hair. I know it's probably not healthy for my hair, but it works and it's cheap ($30 for supplies that last for 2+ years, versus $150-180 every 3 months).