Tips for home hair color? - YouLookFab Forum

I'm not sure if this is on or off topic! It isn't fashion but on the other hand, it's seriously impacting my ability to feel even a little bit fab.

For reasons I wrote about in an off topic post so won't go into here, I'm back to not being able to go into the salon for the foreseeable future. The first stretch of time like this was 8 months and I'm not going that long again without some kind of color treatment. Thing is, I'm 62 and I've never colored my hair myself.

I love grey hair but I'm not there yet. I love it when it passes the maybe 40% mark and I love it when it's paired with a fresh and stylish cut. My 20% grey and overgrown, not at all stylish cut (because I can't go in and get it cut either!) are just adding up to sad and tired, not fab. Also, I like having color in my hair for the added thickness and shine.

I'm tempted by Madison Reed because of the ingredient list (I have contact allergies and this doesn't contain my allergens). I'm also leery because I think it is permanent color and my hair stylist told me to only try semi-permanent. Has anyone tried this brand? Any inside info?

Also, any tips for choosing a color? And hints for actually doing it? Thanks for any advice!

3 years ago

Anonymous

I use Naturetint (Whole Foods has) cause it has gentler ingredients.
I actually spread 1 box over 3 uses cause my hair is thin, just mix as I go.
I use a toothbrush to apply the color at the roots.
For color I've done many, but stay near my natural color or go redder. I've also mixed shades too, and tried to hilight. I won't bleach or do anything else drastic!

Aquamarine

Veteran

I’ve read they help you pick a color? No personal experience however. I’d suggest you go a bit lighter than you think you should since you won’t be doing highlights. My neighbor uses Madison Reed and likes it but goes way too dark, which looks fake and harsh IMO.

cat2

Semi-permanent washes out over time and so is good for use between salon visits, as it doesn’t change your hair much. Permanent changes your hair permanently and you are stuck with the results until it grows out, your hairdresser strips it out with harsh chemicals or you can cut it out. I would stick with the recommendation to only use semi-permanent. Get something one step lighter than your natural base color, and assume it will be yellower than you really want, so you might also go one step cooler. Then it will all blend together. I would also temper my expectations on shine, the box color will help with color but not shine. You might try a gloss for shine once you have the color in.

Bijou

Peri, hair colour is something we often talk about on the forum. Choice of hair colour is much like fashion and make up. Personally I have been so used to seeing myself with light blonde hair, to grow it out to a darker shade with grey in the mix, just doesn't feel like me. I envy those who embrace their natural colour, but make no apology for deliberately altering my own. I have been colouring my hair since my teens.

If you have a sensitive scalp you may want to use foils to colour your hair, this is what my hairdresser does for me and it helps keep my sensitive scalp happy and my regrowth less obvious.

If not using foils, before you apply the colour on your hair, do a test on your skin to make sure that you don't have an allergic reaction.

Foils are tricky to do at the back of your head and are likely to require a friend to apply it for you - but it keeps the colour off your scalp and if you only colour 50% of your hair by spacing out the foils and threading sections to be coloured (watch a Youtube video to see how this is done - there are heaps online) the regrowth will be less obvious.

Covering grey is easier and less likely to damage your hair than bleaching, this is something you can do at home.

Peri

Okay, wow...this is sounding intimidating! Maybe I'm going to chicken out. If I don't...

Aquamarine, I definitely will take the advice to not go too dark. And Cat2's advice to go cooler...I know I've not liked anything red tinted in the past. And to try and find semi-permanent (Suntiger, the Naturetint ones are all listed as permanent.) Bijou...foils sound way over my head!!

Thanks all!

I reached the limit of my personal experiment with letting my hair go colour free - as of yesterday . Like you , I wanted to see more grey than I really do have and am finding my natural ( and now even finer and softer with no colour ) hair colour neither here-nor- there . It’s dragging me down psychologically in that I feel as blah as my hair - so …….with the help of my stylist who is current on vacation , I bought a box of Clairol DEMI permanent hair colour . Not the same as semi permanent in that it washes right out over the course of about a month . Does not penetrate and damage the hair shaft . I chose a very “ basic” golden brown which is what my hair used to be before the ravages of age , lol. It will blend away the steel coloured bits and boost the shine . Everything I’ve read suggests purchasing according to your natural skin and hair tones . I went warmer because that’s what I wanted . Others may choose an ashier neutral tone to tone down any brassy greys .
Anyways , it’s going on later tonight and I’m excited ! I could not even conceive of doing foil highlighting myself - getting the sections even and positioned properly is beyond my skill set . Ha .
I didn’t see your post about not being able to visit a salon so I’m off to look for it now .

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Peri, hang in there. Hope you and hubs are doing okay.

The only at home hair colour I have attempted is applying lots of lemon juice and lying in the blazing African sun in 1984 - which made me all of 14 years old. So I’m glad others can steer you in the right direction

madeline

I colored my hair at home for many years and the semi permanent color is the way to go. This book might be helpful as it has “recipes” as well as tips on coloring. It did help me.

https://www.amazon.com/Hair-Co.....B003V1WVFC

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

I’ve been using eSalon since late 2018, when Schwarzkopf discontinued my fave copper color. I don’t know about allergens.

How eSalon works: you talk to an online stylist, send in photos, they send you your first custom color to try. You can tweak as you go, taking photos, explaining what you want. I wound up tweaking my color so there was less brown, and more gold + red, so that as the red fades, my hair still has a brightness (red fades fast, no matter who does your color).

My hair grows out noticeably by day 17 (~2.5 weeks), so I order a kit every five weeks. I measure the toner and developer and mix it myself, so that one order covers two color sessions.

I have some coloring tools - brushes, plastic mixing cup, etc. that they sell at local beauty supply stores. I always start at my hairline around my face, then I brush color onto my main part, and then I work through the rest of my roots, section by section. I pull the color about halfway down into my hair by smoothing my fingers through my hair. I follow the instructions for time and for washout.

Hope this helps! You might check out YouTube as well. And google the reviews on any product you’re considering using!

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