At-home hair coloring virgin here

[Anonymous]

I have been coloring my hair for at least 10 years but I have never colored it at home before. I bought Loreal Natural Match yesterday but I am absolutely terrified to use it.

I am afraid it will look like I did it at home.

I am worried it will change the feel of my hair- can I overprocess it?

Most importantly, I am concerned about having an allergic reaction to a product I've never tried before. The warning on the box has me concerned- do not use if you've had reactions to hair color in the past. I had a horrible reaction to Redken 8 years ago. I am currently pregnant and can't have another allergic reaction like that one right now.

Am I overreacting? Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Given your history, I'd wait until after the baby is born. I color my brown hair at home and it works great. I get compliments all the time. I have long hair so the key with that is using 2 boxes so you really get it covered. I think it would be a lot harder to color blond hair at home but my mom has done it for years and her's always looks nice. Her trick is to vary the brands - so the colors blend. I've never had an allergic reaction so you may be right in being a little worried if that was your experience.

[Anonymous]

I agree you might just want to wait.
I never do the patch test recommended by the products, but with your history you should test out a little bit on the back or your neck or something.

If you just have roots you might try the root touch up kit (Clairol I think?) -- it comes in a white box with a little brush to put it on your roots, and it's only semi-permanent color. That was the first at-home product I used (between professional treatments) and it was great.