Need advice on coloring hair at home, first time

[Anonymous]

So I have seriously ignored mom hair. Aside from its complete lack of style, the current "color" (if I dare call it that) is something of a dull, dirty blond with some 4 month old highlights mixed in.

I would like to update the overall color and am thinking about some shade of brown, similar to Cameron Diaz when she was brunette. I have never colored my hair but am assuming it can be done at home successfully, especially since it's not highlights.

So for those of you who color at home, is it easy and would you recommend trying it? Is the upkeep manageable and are you as satisfied had you had it done professionally? Other thoughts or advice?

[Anonymous]

We had a young relative with a thing for hair dye. It seemed easy enough, at least in the application, but the color very often didn't have the desired effect. Having it professionally done seems so much wiser...

[Anonymous]

I've done home coloring a lot. The hardest part is making sure you get the right color. Since it sounds like you're going a bit darker, you should be ok.

I'm going to sound like a grandma here, but I've used Nice and Easy, and the color I used was 106 (I think they call it dark blonde, but I'd call it light brown). It's pretty much the same as my natural color, but better.

Just follow the directions in the package. It's super-easy to do. But be prepared that if the color isn't what you want, you may need to pay extra to fix it.

[Anonymous]

I've used Nice and Easy, with a dark auburn (112?) which was pretty close to my natural color, but yeah, better. It was simple and turned out great.

Try not to have any reason to run out of the house in an emergency while you have goop on your head.

[Anonymous]

you might be best suited going with one of those semipermanent colors that will fade over time. i just get nervous about going from light to dark... you would literally have to stay very on top of touching up every few weeks.

[Anonymous]

I think if you are going to change your hair color dramatically, you should probably go to a professional. There's more than just shade, there's tone, and it could look really weird if it's not right.

If you want to try it at home, do as the box says and stay within one or two shades of your natural hair color. I have a lot of luck with the semipermanent colors (Clairol Natural Instinct). It doesn't change my hair color much, but makes it look much richer and gives it more depth (I use Medium Cool Blonde).

[Anonymous]

I do mine at home. I used a salon a few times, and honestly, I think the at home stuff looks more natural. The professional color was so flat - and so of course I had to go to highlights, which look great, but I just can't afford $200 a coloring.

I would go with a gradual change as I find the color to often be darker than expected. So you may want to aim for light brown and see how it goes.

Follow the directions (some hair needs to be dry, some wet - do make sure not to shampoo hair right before coloring).

Oh, and cover the bathroom with old towels, and check for drips after you applied the color, five minutes later, and then five minutes later. I often don't see the drips until they start to darken (and they darken with time). Same goes with checks to your skin. If you wipe the drips quickly, they don't stain. If you leave them, you have have a day or two with splotches. And do, do, do wear clothes you don't mind stained. I just have the hair-dye shirt now.

Every once in awhile the color can get organgish, especially with the "golden" colors. I don't know why, but I swear if I go swimming in a pool, it fixes it. I can't explain it.

[Anonymous]

I usually plan to get in the shower to rinse the color out. It doesn't stain the skin on your back or anything b/c you're rinsing it off, not letting it sit. It's much easier than hanging my head over the bathtub to rinse. Like the PP's hair dye shirt, I have a hair-dye robe. Maybe I'm crazy, but I get undressed and put my lovely stained robe on, then put the hair color in, and when it's time to rinse, I just get in the shower (don't have to pull a t-shirt over my head or worry about getting hair dye on my pants, etc. If someone ever came to the door while I was in the middle of this process, I would have to pretend I wasn't home.

Also agree with checking the bathroom for drips after a few minutes - it does wipe right up but better to do it sooner. I have 2 black hand towels that I use for when I color my hair at home so they can't get stained. I usually dampen part of one of them to wipe off any dye that gets on my skin around the hairline b/c it does stain if you leave it on too long.

[Anonymous]

Is anyone going lighter at home, instead of darker? My natural hair color (thinking back to the last time I saw it at age 15...) was/is about the lovely color of mouse fur. Dingy light brown/ dark blonde. My eyebrows are pale blonde so I have to dye them just to get them to show up on my face. Ugh.

I think at some point on the spectrum of blonde/ lt brown, these dyes become bleaches. I had a wonderful colorist in Texas who went through about 4 colors with me in her salon to try to find the palest dye that would still keep me blonde without bleach. All of them left my hair too brassy - could not stand that look! I'd sure love to try lightening at home but also worry that if I chose a bleach it would be flat and one dimensional coloring.