Totally off-topic!! At home hair color :)

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I dye my hair at home all the time. I very rarely go to a salon and that's usually only when I want it styled. Color can be done at home, but I'm big on non-traditional colors, which would be expensive as all get out if I went to a regular salon to have it done.

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allamuchyprof wrote: »

Hi everyone
I go to a hair stylist and spend too much to color and highlight my hair.
Anyone here say goodbye to the stylist and color their own hair at home?
Favorite brand? Happy with the result?

Thank you in advance

I color my own. I buy Joico Vero Color developer and Joico KPaks color from sleekhair.com

Mine is not highlighted and is a simple all over color that is very close to my natural color. I would not advise attempting anything more advanced, unless you have lots of practice or can live with your mistakes.

ETA: I use 20 volume developer

TeacupsAndToning wrote: »

MeeseeksAndDestroy wrote: »

I think it's easier to go dark at home than to go lighter. Like @TeacupsAndToning said for going lighter you need toner and extra stuff. For going darker I just use Nice 'n Easy or whatever only takes ten minutes but I'm cheap soooo

True. I did a TON of research and was very careful. I only bought a 20 vol developer because I didn't want to kill my hair knowing it would take multiple bleaching sessions. I spent about a month as a strawberry blond (I had done one bleaching session and then put a demi permanent over top) before bleaching it again and toning it. Then I left it that colour for over a month, not wanting to damage my hair, before putting a permanent, darker blonde over top. It was definitely a process, but I saved a lot of money.

I think the mistake that people make when they bleach their hair at home is they try to do it in one go and then a disaster occurs.

So how do you touch up your roots? Do you follow a similar process?

Asking for a friend.

I colour my own hair all the time; never had it done professionally. I would not bleach it at home, though. That said, my hair is very dark, and it can be lighter without bleaching. The colours will usually be dark but they do show up, and my hair is lighter. If your hair is medium, it shouldn't be difficult to go lighter or darker.

For brands, I like L'Oreal, Feria, Garnier.

The top is closer to my natural hair colour. No bleaching involved. The picture isn't the greatest, but the lightest parts were red/red-brown. It's also a bit patchy because I dyed my hair fairly often, and it wasn't always the same colour.

I did it once, huge mess, and it was gone in not even 3 weeks (to be fair, the color changed within 3 months from my hairdresser visit too).

Not even bothering anymore.

HardcoreP0rk wrote: »

tgcakef wrote: »

I colour my own hair all the time; never had it done professionally. I would not bleach it at home, though. That said, my hair is very dark, and it can be lighter without bleaching. The colours will usually be dark but they do show up, and my hair is lighter. If your hair is medium, it shouldn't be difficult to go lighter or darker.

For brands, I like L'Oreal, Feria, Garnier.

The top is closer to my natural hair colour. No bleaching involved. The picture isn't the greatest, but the lightest parts were red/red-brown. It's also a bit patchy because I dyed my hair fairly often, and it wasn't always the same colour.

I'd switch to a safer developer because it looks like those boxed brands are damaging your hair

Nah, it was that winter. Winter where I live is harsh, and dry. Then I visited a humid place, so my hair, and skin wasn't very happy. My hair dresser tells me I have the best hair she's seen.

RoxieDawn wrote: »

I colored for years and years.. Colored and highlighted my own. Different shades.

Stripping away any color you have remaining to go lighter is key and you need toners. Like gold, pale blonde, ash blondes, etc..

To go darker, should be no problem with permanent colors. I bought all my hair color and developer from from Sally's. Wella Charm has great toners when going lighter, perm colors I have used Ion, Wella, Age Beautiful. Drug Store bought, Loreal is your best bet IMO, you can try those gel colors, they washed out fast, but you can see what I was trying to cover below for years.

Now I am this... no more color.

It's stunning.

caco_ethes wrote: »

RoxieDawn wrote: »

I colored for years and years.. Colored and highlighted my own. Different shades.

Stripping away any color you have remaining to go lighter is key and you need toners. Like gold, pale blonde, ash blondes, etc..

To go darker, should be no problem with permanent colors. I bought all my hair color and developer from from Sally's. Wella Charm has great toners when going lighter, perm colors I have used Ion, Wella, Age Beautiful. Drug Store bought, Loreal is your best bet IMO, you can try those gel colors, they washed out fast, but you can see what I was trying to cover below for years.

Now I am this... no more color.

It's stunning.

tgcakef wrote: »

RoxieDawn wrote: »

I colored for years and years.. Colored and highlighted my own. Different shades.

Stripping away any color you have remaining to go lighter is key and you need toners. Like gold, pale blonde, ash blondes, etc..

To go darker, should be no problem with permanent colors. I bought all my hair color and developer from from Sally's. Wella Charm has great toners when going lighter, perm colors I have used Ion, Wella, Age Beautiful. Drug Store bought, Loreal is your best bet IMO, you can try those gel colors, they washed out fast, but you can see what I was trying to cover below for years.

Now I am this... no more color.

I love your hair!

Thank you ladies!!!

Lol, I use Just For Men every 4-6 weeks. Hardly any grays.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I stopped visiting salons and have been doing all my own hair changes for the past 2 years.

For dying or highlighting (I don't do a full head of bleach, although sometimes I'll run some left over bleach through my hair while doing highlights and leave on a few minutes to add some "brightness"), I use drugstore kits made for this purpose (the formula is thicker so doesn't drip all over)

It's important to use good hair treatments to keep hair in good condition. I recommend Sexy Hair brand. It's really great and goes on sale sometimes at Ulta.

I'm kind of a weirdo in that I have naturally mousy/ashy darker brown hair but I like that color and don't want it highlighted or lighter/darker, really. Garnier Fructis in "cool tea" is my favorite at-home haircolor for this result that practically no one else even wants I find that 99% of at-home color makes my hair look jet black or fills it with super reddish tones.

Years ago I used those highlighting kits that had the plastic cap you pulled little hairs through to go lighter...it worked way better than I would have expected. I think it was called La Petite Frost. They probably quit making it like 15+ yrs ago.

I really think if I wanted to change my color now rather than just cover grey, I would go to a professional.

Sivadee00 wrote: »

A few days ago, I walked into a salon to get an up-front estimate for a single colour hair dye (with pre-bleach) and no highlights.

They quoted me $45.00 and up. $90 is the average and with only a few highlights.
They said they knew people, with long hair, who pay $200 for a (single visit) hair dye.

I thanked them for the info and left. It has been years since I've seen a salon and thank goodness. I think salons have seriously over-priced themselves. Many hair/nail salons in my area have closed. The salon I walked into recently had zero customers in chairs or in waiting.

I cut/trim my own hair and dye it for $10. It looks and feels fine to me and that's what matters most imho.

I understand the sticker shock, for sure. I usually do my own too. In my pic my hair's all slicked back from hiking, but in actuality it's a bob right now with some layering, and I did my own various short or pixie cuts for years with many compliments.

Another odd thing seems to be how crazily the prices vary from salon to salon. I have two friends who both go to very middle of the road type salons. Same type of décor, location, and in the same city. Friend A has shoulder length hair and gets various blonde tones and highlights and her hair just LOOKS expensive and perfect...she says she pays about $65 for her cut/color. Friend B has longer (slightly past shoulder length) auburn hair and it just looks "normal" to me and the color seriously looks like box color to me (not bad, just that medium-dark reddish brown all companies offer) but she pays well over $100 for each salon visit.