Dos and Don’ts of DIY Hair Coloring

Thinking that blondes have way more fun than brunettes like you? Or do you merely want to enhance your God-given hair color with a few well-placed highlights? There are ways to avoid botched hair dye jobs and come out with glowing head of hair like Venus in Botticelli’s painting (though not necessarily in that shade of red, of course).

First, consider the type hair you have: coarse, fine, curly, wavy, or as straight as a nail? You have to determine this especially if you’re coloring in the comfort of your own home. Thicker and wavier hair might need more than one box, for instance, while those with fine and fragile hair might not need to use up all the color in the package. Likewise, if you’re getting it done in a salon, it’s imperative to tell the colorist of existing scalp sensitivity or hair brittleness to avoid a fiasco that might result in an irritated scalp or falling hair. Doing a pre-test on a patch of hair at least half a day in advance will determine if you’ve picked out the safest hair dye to use.

And if you’re new to the whole hair dyeing thing, you might want to consider a “rinse”, or a semi-permanent color that will make you revert back to your old hair color after around a dozen washes. These are also good for just darkening your hair, not for drastically changing its color. They also cannot lighten hair because they’re expressly made for graying hair, or to add layers to enhance an existing hair color. The best thing about semi-permanent dyes is you can be sure they don’t contain either ammonia or peroxide.

Next, take a good long look at your skin type. If you’re thinking of going all-out blonde but have a very warm skin tone that tans at the merest hint of sun, reconsider it. If there wasn’t a point in your life that you were remotely flaxen-haired, it’s probably not a good idea. You’ll just end up looking fake and baked. What you can do instead is to get a few blonde highlights in strategic places, and make sure the type of blonde color you choose is warmer rather than, say, platinum or buttercup yellow, to enhance your darker hair. Anything too light will make you look like a hippie with graying streaks.

If you’re already a veteran of DIY (do-it-yourself) hair coloring, however, I’m sure you’re dying to try out all the colors in your favorite hair dye’s color wheel (in manner of Linda Evangelista). Don’t be led astray by the model’s hair color on the packaging, though. Lighting and reflectors already affect the photography of the photo in the box, and what you’ll need is the most honest approximation of how your hair will end up looking. Some stores carry swatches of fake hair that show how a particular color will affect grey, lighter, or darker hair. Choose the one that best represents your natural hair color then go for it. Extreme hair color changes, like brunettes to blondes and vice versa, are best left to the hands of professionals.

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