20 Tips for Coloring Your Hair at Home
Going to the salon to dye your hair is definitely the smart thing to do, and oh-so-relaxing, but not everyone has the money or time to see a professional on a regular basis. If this sounds like you, yet you want to dye or highlight your hair, you can. Check out these 20 tips for coloring your hair at home, as well as some truly useful and informative tutorials.
1. Always wear gloves and an old shirt. Protect your hands and your clothes!
2. Put moisturizer on your face and petroleum jelly around your hairline before dyeing your hair. This protects your face from dye marks.
3. Don’t wash your hair before dyeing your hair. Unwashed hair will be better able to hold on the color and the natural oils will help protect the scalp.
4. Try buying products at a beauty supply store. Talk with the employees there; they really do know their stuff and can give you advice for your hair and help you achieve the exact results you want.
5. Choose a color that compliments your skin. Warmer tones work well for those with paler skin, while ashy or cooler tones are better for those with olive to darker skin tones.
6. A mousse formula will give you a translucent, shimmery hair color dye job, while a liquid color formula will give you a more opaque result.
7. Always do the strand test. The strand test will help you figure out how long you need to leave the dye on your hair to get the results you want and to ensure that you don’t get an allergic reaction. If you don’t, you might end up with a whole head of hair that isn’t good enough and might have been so much better with just five extra minutes… or worse, a really bad allergic reaction!
8. Use an application brush, like the professionals do. Using your fingers can result in a splotchy, uneven hair color.
9. Going blonde with box dye kits? Try mixing two different box dye kits with the same levels and different tones to get a natural-looking shade of blonde. Here’s more details on how to do that.
10. Choose a highlighting kit that’s labeled for your hair color instead of picking one with the color you want. For example, if you have brown hair, you’ll want a kit that says “for brown hair” to get good results.
11. Don’t use the plastic cap in highlighting kits. Use an adult toothbrush for the front of your hair and a baby toothbrush for the back for a more natural look. Small paintbrushes in varying sizes would work, too.
12. Don’t highlight to the roots right next to your face. Take a thin section of your hairline and pull it out. This helps your dye or highlight job look more natural.
13. When highlighting, don’t put the dye all the way onto the scalp. The color can spread and highlight areas you don’t want lightened.
14. Do your roots last when lightening your hair, since the heat on your scalp will speed up the bleaching process.
15. If you lighten your hair at home and end up with a too-yellow or too-orange blond hair, use a toner to correct the color. A violet toner will help remove yellow tones and a blue toner is great for removing orange tones.
16. When going from light blonde hair to darker hair, you need to prepare your hair with a filler color first. Trying to go from blonde to brown can give you a weird color. Read this article to learn how to do that… and you’ll also find loads of other great advice for dyeing your hair at home in that article.
17. Coat your hair in coconut oil before bleaching your hair for best results. Here’s how.
18. Always deep-condition after dyeing your hair.
19. Fix botched hair dye jobs with a hair color remover product, such as Color Oops.
20. Try these three great tutorials on doing your hair at home:
- Give your hair an ombre treatment! Try this easy and simple tutorial, or this more exhaustive one. An ombre hair dye job could be a great way to test out a home dyeing kit to see if it works for your hair and to play with the waiting times, especially if you’re going to get a trim soon.
- Highlight your hair at home with foils and the help of a friend with this excellent highlighting tutorial.
Good luck and may you end up with a perfect DIY hair dye job!
“I’m Elisa and I live in Austin, Texas with my husband and our two little girls. I used to teach reading and writing, but now I stay at home with my two kiddos and read and write in my spare time. I also love to undertake DIY projects, find new recipes on Pinterest, and dream about someday finally completing our home. Above all, I love to learn about new things and sharing my new-found knowledge with others.”
References:
https://www.howtohairgirl.com/2013/12/dos-dont-diy-hair-coloring/
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/how-to-highlight-your-own-hair
https://whilecamdensleeps.com/2013/03/refashioninghair.html
https://getyourprettyon.com/beauty-buzz-professional-at-home-hair-color/
https://www.byrdie.com/how-to-dye-hair-at-home-tips-tricks-2014/
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I’m Elisa and I live in Austin, Texas with my husband and our two little girls. I used to teach reading and writing, but now I stay at home with my two kiddos and read and write in my spare time. I also love to undertake DIY projects, find new recipes on Pinterest, and dream about someday finally completing our home. Above all, I love to learn about new things and sharing my new-found knowledge with others.
