Coloring Your Own Hair

A reader (Sunny) asked how to color your hair at home. It was costing her about $100 every four months to color her hair and she wanted to save money. I am not a professional but this is what I and others I have known have found to be true.

The reason a lot of us don’t do things like color our own hair is because we don’t really have a clue what is involved and we fear what horrible things we might do to our hair.

I know what it is like to have hair disasters. I have gone to some expensive places and had just as much, if not more, trouble with awful looking hair than when I did it myself so, either way, there is no real guarantee.

It really is very easy to color your own hair. If you can shampoo it, you can pretty much color it.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

I would start with a semi permanent hair color the first couple of times you try it. It says semi permanent on the package. These last for about six shampoos so if it isn’t the color you like or something is wrong, just shampoo your hair six times. This takes away some of the fear of being seen looking awful for six weeks.

This also helps you to find the color that will work best for you without being stuck with a particular color for weeks on end. Semi permanent color is also milder on your hair. My hair color is a light blonde with gray. When I first used hair color, I tried the ash blonde colors which looked awful because they were a brassy yellow, which doesn’t suit me at all. I have now found that I do best with Champagne blond colors.

Usually, there are pictures on the boxes that show what you hair looks like before you color and what it should look like when you are done so get as close to that as you can. Have someone go with you to help you pick your color if you can. Picking out the color you want will be the hardest part.

The most expensive color is not necessarily the best. I pick the brand that has the best color for me.

The actual coloring itself is easy. Don’t let the instructions scare you. They have to go into great detail and are extra cautious to protect themselves. Just read all the directions and follow them step by step.

Here’s what most of them instruct you to do:

Drape you shoulders with a towel (To me, the hardest part is keeping the towel on. I have found pinning or clipping it helps.)
Mix the two bottles of stuff. Squirt it on your head starting at the front.
Leave it in for the number of minutes the directions say.
Rinse and condition.

I don’t even use the gloves they give you anymore because I just wash my hands when I’m done and it never stains. Note from Tawra: I do use the gloves because my color is brown and it will stain me.

To be honest, I have had more hair disasters when I went to a salon then when I colored my own hair. Years ago, I decided to go have a perm done instead of doing it myself. By the time the woman was done, I was getting a bad headache so she said, “Let me massage your head with this electric thing.” The next thing I knew I was looking at the bride of Frankenstein in the mirror. Even the word fuzz head didn’t describe me. Note from Tawra: Yes, it was BAD!

The lady couldn’t fix it and said to come back tomorrow when someone else might be able to do something to correct it but first she would wax my eyebrows for free. Lying with my eyes closed, I heard her say “Oh! NO! I can’t believe this!” I gingerly opened my eyes and there were 7 women hanging over me staring in horror. She had ripped the whole center of my eyebrow out. 🙂 (Note from Mike: This could only happen to MY mother in law… Don’t let her story scare you…)

I ended up having to have my hair, which was down to the middle of my back, cut very short (to only two inches long) and I had to use an eyebrow pencil for quite a while. : )

-Jill

Note from Tawra: Don’t go swimming the day you color your hair. I did that once and my hair turned orange.

Another note from Tawra: if you’re afraid to try it on yourself, try it on the dog first, hee hee hee.