Advice needed on hair colouring (merged)

Steph998

Can I just say, from personal experience, be very careful, before changing from highlights to full head colour done at home. It can be physically very difficult to do (I use mirrors!) without getting blotches and missed bits, and block colour (especially home dye) looks very un-natural after a few applications, unlike professionally applied highlights.

If I had known the brassy mess, and the roots I would have to cope with every three weeks, I would never have done it

No matter the cost!

blackbelle_2

Steph998 wrote: »

Can I just say, from personal experience, be very careful, before changing from highlights to full head colour done at home. It can be physically very difficult to do (I use mirrors!) without getting blotches and missed bits, and block colour (especially home dye) looks very un-natural after a few applications, unlike professionally applied highlights.

If I had known the brassy mess, and the roots I would have to cope with every three weeks, I would never have done it

Hi Steph

You're right - had my own bitter experiences of home colour kits going badly wrong as a teenager :rolleyes: - so what I plan to do this time is buy the nice and easy colour i want, so that my hairdresser has an idea as to the colour result I need, and have the first all-over dye done professionally using the hairdresser's salon dye.

What do you reckon - think that approach would work? I don't know how else to make the transition?

Thanks

Blackbelle

Steph998

Yes, if you take the box in that will show the colour result you want, and she could match it to the closest shade - probably be an 8 or 9 (where 1 is black, and 10 is very light blonde.) Medium blonde usually has warm/gold tones in it, so depending on your natural colour and the colour you want to end up with, she might suggest you go for a cool/ash tone instead. (Your natural colour really effects the end result.) Then you can continue yourself with Nice N Easy (if you ever find it! Have you tried eBay? They have quite a lot http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/__medium-nice-n-easy_W0QQ_kwZmediumQQ_kwZniceQQ_kwZnQQ_kwZeasyQQ_ckwZ127?_trksid=p3286.m104.l1198)

On the other hand....you can buy the professional product she will be using as well Blackbelle.. do you have a Sally Hair and Beauty near you? She probably uses something like Koleston, or Igora. So, you you could go in first and look at the shade chart with your hairdresser, you are bound to find one just like the Nice N Easy colour you want - then she does the first full head application and you take it from there yourself. They are usually of a better quality than off the shelf colour, and works out cheaper in the long run. You just have to buy both the tube of colour and the bottle of 9vol developer (both of which you would get in the Nice n Easy box to mix, it's just the same; you use equal amounts of both.) Get your hairdresser to show you how to do it.


However...you still have to apply it to your roots only yourself from then on and that aint easy.....:)

blackbelle_2

Steph998 wrote: »

you still have to apply it to your roots only yourself from then on and that aint easy.....:)

Thanks , there is a Sally shop in a nearby town so I will look into this. I have given up on finding the nice 'n' easy colour I wanted....

Bit worried about the roots-only thing which you have pointed out, it does sound very awkward.

I am confused though because my mum buys off-the-shelf hairdyes but she never does roots only - she slathers the pack all over her hair, and the end result is good. Mind you, her hair is naturally dark brown with about 50% grey, and she is using a dark brown dye.

I hope to dye light mousey brown/dark blonde hair (effect of the sun as it grows out) to a slightly lighter blonde colour.

Hope I'm not being dim in asking this, but is it the case that you do roots only with only certain types of hair dye?

Steph998

Blackbelle

I did my hairdressing training in nineteen oatcake....lol....but I never actually worked as a hairdresser.

With colour, you really never really know the exact shade it will turn out until you try it - the sensible people do a strand test. I didn't realise just how much natural red was in my hair, with the result that although professional bleach takes it to a lovely cream colour (highlights) a home colour (tint) gives it a definite brassy tinge, unless I add a stronger volume peroxide, which is damaging for my hair. Bleach is great for highlights, but you would never use it all over.

I think you are thinking of the newer kits on the market that are just for roots. This is exactly the same dye, just a smaller amount, and it comes with a snazzy little angled brush (which can actually be quite helpful if you decide to do your hair yourself.) However, don't start with this kind of kit, it isn't enough for a whole head, and is aimed at people who just want to cover their gray between visits to the hairdresser. I have never understood that one actually....why don't they just GO to the hairdresser? I suppose there is a market for everything though...

Anyway. The same dye, whether shop of professionally bought is used for both roots and lengths of hair. To avoid a build up of colour, and uneccessary repeated chemicals which dry the lengths out - what you are supposed to do to maintain your colour, is put the dye on the roots only for most of the developing time, then comb it through for the last five mins just to even it all out.

For a first time application, you should put the dye on the roots for ten to fifteen mins, then apply fully to the lengths and ends and leave on for the remainder of the development time. Usually another 20 mins. Always follow the instructions on the pack. Remember, shop bought gives you 'baby' instructions which are easy to follow - professional packs tend to be written for hairdressers and are full of technical jargon.

Your mum is lucky with darker hair - you do not get such a patchy result. Imagine if you miss a few bits when you are going from dark to lighter blonde? By always applying to hair that does not need it - already dyed hair - she is also probably getting a build up of colour which can really dull the hair and damage it. Sounds like she hasn't from your description!

For maintaining my colour, I only need to do the roots, and never take the dye through to the lengths. As soon as the roots show. I position another mirror behind me as I look into my bath room mirror, so I can see all sides of my head. (Lol! What a vision.) Then I section off the hair, and (if using shop bought gel type) apply a line of dye to the roots only, starting in the centre parting, working over the top of the head both sides to each ear, then doing the back section. I run my finger down the parting to distribute the dye a bit more, so it is not just sitting there in a line like you just piped it on like icing ..lol....but I don't use a brush with shop bought.

So, from centre parting down to the ear would be about six lines (use the end of the bottle nozzle or a tail comb to part the hair into lines ) then six lines from the centre to the other ear and so on down the back of your head. Use a croc clip to hold up the hair you have done. Professional dye is much thicker (creme) and needs to be applied with a flat brush. This is quite difficult to do yourself, but not so hard for someone like, say .... your Mum! Could she help? Or a friend?

Sorry this turned into such a long post!

Steph998

Actually....just found this on youtube, quite helpful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3nULWkxCQE&feature=related

blackbelle_2

Steph998 wrote: »

Sorry this turned into such a long post!

Hi Steph, on the contrary, thank you very much for kindly taking the time to give me that advice and the link to the video :T I understand now exactly what is entailed, and I do think I'd probably need a friend/my mum to help me out with the application.... although trust may be an issue given that my mother inadvertently dyed my hair bright orange as a teenager :eek:

Before I commit myself to it, I'm going to have a darn good think about it

Thanks again.

Mrsmoneypenny

After quite a lot of thought and then even more thought, i have decided to colour my hair at home. I have done it before but always used a box that came complete with gloves, colour, etc.

This time i have bought everything to do it with Koleston 2000 colour cream, so i have the colour, the welloxon herbal, the bowls, the brushes, the cape, the neck collar, gloves. In fact I think i have everything.

Now the day has come to get on and do it, i am losing my nerve a little bit and need some advice.

Over a month ago i used a Wella home dye kit in Mahogany copper.
My roots need to be done, they are very blonde

My question is how do i make sure that my roots dont come out glowing more of a pinkish shade than the Koleston 306/4 shade the rest of my hair is?

I have two strengths of Welloxon herbal to chose from 20 vol and 30 vol.

I suppose my other question is, how on earth can i get back to my own colour? I am not planning on it but it has crossed my mind a few times in the last month.:eek:

Thanks to anyone in advance for answering.

i_wanna_save_money!

My Mum has recently split from her boyfriend of thirteen years, so in a bid to make her feel better about herself, I am taking her to the hairdressers next week. She has been dyeing her own hair for years using a very dark permanent dye to cover her grey hairs. I am trying to convince her to go a couple of shades lighter to a medium brown colour to look at bit more natural. I also think that the colour she uses looks very harsh towards her skin tone ( I have not said this too her ). She says she is used to this colour, but I am hoping to change her mind lol

Which dye should I buy her as I can't afford to get her hair coloured at the salon. Will a lighter colour even 'take' on top of a dark permanent dye? I am not really clued up on hair dyes so any help would be great X

Mum-2-4

Sorry to hear about your Mum, I am not a hairdresser, but I have dyed my own hair for over 20yrs.
From my own experience, my mil had her hair dyed really dark almost black, it was really ageing. Thankfully she changed her hairdresser, who advised her as you get older, darker colours are not always flattering, the white hairs were really noticeable when regrowth was showing thru.
She had to grow the dark hair dye out, as the only other answer was too strip all the hair colour from the hair and start again.
The roots were coloured a nice rich brown, and she now has a lovely flattering colour.
If you have not dyed hair before, it really is hit & miss, I would advise to go to your local hairdressing college to sort her hair colour out, it will be alot cheaper.