Going blonde with a home hair colour

aggypanthus

I am used to salon colour, but last time tried nice n easy pale blonde, it s fine but very very quickly faded, leaving me looking greyish white! I have a shade up to try ..

barbiedoll

I've used box colours for years and it's surprising how many people think it is my natural colour, despite my dark brown eyebrows and lashes!

If you're really blonde, you may struggle to find a box colour to match up but mousey hair usually takes blonde colours very well. If you're toning down a little, you should be fine but do make sure that you do a strand test and a patch test first.

When I colour mine, I only put the dye on the top layers of my hair and around the sides. That way, the underneath stays quite dark, as it would if I were a natural blonde, this is probably why everyone thinks it is just sun-lightened rather than bottle blonde.

To be honest, I'm quite slapdash with it and many people have commented on my "highlights" and my "blended colours" etc etc. A lot of people moan about box colours, saying that they look "flat" but the colours now are much more flattering and natural-looking than they used to be.

If you do find a colour that you like, do keep the box lid, or make a note of the colour name or number. I can never remember which one I used previously, that's probably why I have so many different "tones" in my hair!

j.e.j.

I'd strongly recommend doing a strand test first. This has saved me from many hair-disasters in the past!

YORKSHIRELASS

Thanks all, mmm, mixed views then. Still havent done anything about it, still dithering.

The thing is although my roots are growing out the rest is still a lovely colour, even 8 weeks after having it done. Maybe thats what you pay for getting it done at the hairdressers.

Mind you I did pay £12 for a bottle of purple shampoo that the hairdresser recommended for platinum blonde hair and this definitely helps to keep the colour looking good.

I dont have a hairdressing college nearby but could just ring around and find a cheaper hairdresser. My sister has offered to help me if I want to do it at home, just still worried about it going wrong!

mcculloch29

It's clear we have very mixed experiences of d-i-y colour! I've never had any problems but my hair is fine textured and has never been longer than shoulder length.
I avoid foam colours as they tend to give very dark results with me - not sure how many are still available, many people seem to have had poor results with these.
A friend of mine always gets a friend to help with her hair colour as she just hasn't the confidence to do it herself. Another friend who has cerebral palsy gets her husband to do it and he always does a decent job.

mcculloch29

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Thanks all, mmm, mixed views then. Still havent done anything about it, still dithering.

The thing is although my roots are growing out the rest is still a lovely colour, even 8 weeks after having it done. Maybe thats what you pay for getting it done at the hairdressers.

Mind you I did pay £12 for a bottle of purple shampoo that the hairdresser recommended for platinum blonde hair and this definitely helps to keep the colour looking good.

I dont have a hairdressing college nearby but could just ring around and find a cheaper hairdresser. My sister has offered to help me if I want to do it at home, just still worried about it going wrong!

Two out of my three local colleges train hairdressing students, there may be one locally that you don't know about. I did my degree with some of the teaching staff at one of the colleges and the standard of work from the Level 3 students was incredibly high (and the Level 2 come to that).

purpleshoes_2

Its not a hairdressing college I get mine done at, its just a local college that has hairdressing students. There are also some places that are specifically hairdressing trainee salons, qualitas springs to mind, but most of the local colleges in this area, where they have people training to be hairdressers, they have a salon that offers cheap haircuts and colours.

Ive got dark blonde hair and even so anytime I tried to lighten it myself, it turned into a horrible yellow/orange disaster which is why Id always pay the money to get it done professionally, but I do try and get it done as cheaply as I can.

YORKSHIRELASS

mcculloch29 wrote: »

Another friend who has cerebral palsy gets her husband to do it and he always does a decent job.

My hubby would do mine too. He cuts his own hair (simple clippers job but it always looks good). I have used home colours in the past but that was when I went darker not lighter.

Thanks for all the replies!

lolls89

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Thanks all, mmm, mixed views then. Still havent done anything about it, still dithering.

The thing is although my roots are growing out the rest is still a lovely colour, even 8 weeks after having it done. Maybe thats what you pay for getting it done at the hairdressers.

Mind you I did pay £12 for a bottle of purple shampoo that the hairdresser recommended for platinum blonde hair and this definitely helps to keep the colour looking good.

I dont have a hairdressing college nearby but could just ring around and find a cheaper hairdresser. My sister has offered to help me if I want to do it at home, just still worried about it going wrong!

As said above most FE colleges will have a hairdressing department and working salon.

Also if you are thinking about going darker (even a darker blonde) you will need to be careful, as you are using a purple shampoo you will have ashy tones to your hair and run the risk of having a green tinge to your hair, and using one box to colour your whole head you could end up with darker roots and lighter ends.

One of the problems with box colours is they are a 'one size fits all product'. In a salon the stylist has to take into consideration the tones of your natural hair colour, the tint that you already have and then decide on a tint and peroxide based on how much lift/ depth grey you want/have.

A box colour has one tint and one peroxide, sometimes this works out to be the right strength and enough lift for some peoples hair but not always.

so_very_confused

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Thanks all, mmm, mixed views then. Still havent done anything about it, still dithering.

The thing is although my roots are growing out the rest is still a lovely colour, even 8 weeks after having it done. Maybe thats what you pay for getting it done at the hairdressers.

Mind you I did pay £12 for a bottle of purple shampoo that the hairdresser recommended for platinum blonde hair and this definitely helps to keep the colour looking good.

I dont have a hairdressing college nearby but could just ring around and find a cheaper hairdresser. My sister has offered to help me if I want to do it at home, just still worried about it going wrong!

Definatly ring around. I found a super local salon that does cut and blow for the princely sum of £18 that is as good as the very expensive salon I was previously using. I used to be a bit of ahair salon snob I have had to reevaluate my opinions!