At Home Hair Color

These are rough economic times and everyone is looking for ways to cut back and save money. Women everywhere have been taking steps to save money on their beauty regimens. From do-it-yourself manicures to cutting the number of visits to the hair salon, women are finding ways to make their beauty budgets stretch. But that does not mean we are ready to let ourselves go. Instead, we are finding a balance between beauty treatments at home and expert beauty work from professionals. For many of us this means exploring the uncharted territory of at-home hair color.

There is no way your hair color will ever have the shine, dimension and the radiant hair color you get from having a professional hair colorist. There is no way your grey coverage will be as complete or long lasting without the expertise of a great hair colorist. That is the bad news. But the good news is that at-home hair color products are getting better all of the time. They are formulated to be easy. They come in an ever widening range of colors. And with a little homework and a smart strategy, you can almost emulate the results of a professional hair colorist.

If you are a first timer who is intimidated by working with at home hair color products just follow a few simple rules.

Now, this first rule may seem obvious, but it must be stated. Read the directions! You must apply the hair color properly in order to get good results. This means knowing where to apply the hair color (roots or all over) and how long to leave it in (resistant grey takes longer). Different brands can require widely different methods so do not assume you know how to apply the hair color correctly, even if you have colored your own hair before.

Choosing the right shade and tone can be tricky. Some browns are red-toned, some are golden. There are sites on the internet that offer help on picking the right shade – even better, ask your professional hair stylist’s opinion the next time you pop into the salon for a trim. The first time you use at home hair color, choose a demi-permanent hair color for glossy, full-coverage results that you do not need to permanently commit to.

Another way to prevent disaster is to patch test a new hair color before applying it all over your head. This way you can make sure you are not allergic to any of the ingredients in the formula. You don’t want to discover an allergy after the hair color has been sitting on your scalp for twenty minutes! You also don’t want to discover that the color turns green on your grey roots! Again, a patch test of your hair color allows you to test a shade before you commit to a hair color.

If you combine your at-home hair coloring with just a root touch up, then a professional salon visit for a hair colorist to tone the ends or add dimension to your hair color with low lights and highlights, you can save money without sacrificing your beautiful hair color.