After 13 years of dying my hair at home I’ve gathered a few tips that will make your at home hair dying easier. Dying your hair at home can be easier than you think, but all you need is to prepare before beginning the process.
I stopped going to my hair dresser for hair dying because I was cutting expenses. At that time I stumbled upon this magnificent color at the drugstore, and never turned back. Not that I’ve ever really ever been able to afford salon hair dying, but I love my color too much to ever really go back.
Pre-Dye Preparation
Prepare everything before you squirt one drop of hair dye on your head. 65% of hair dye success comes from the preparation for the actual dying. If you take care of all of the things that need to be handled before you dye your hair, then you won’t have to be upset later that you forgot to do this or that. Make the pre-dye preparation part of the hair dying routine. Here are things to do during your pre-dye preparation:
- Get a towel that is old and grungy out for when you get out of the shower. Most likely you’re dye will bleed so you don’t want to get it on your good towels when you towel dry your hair.
- Take out all of the good towels and bath mats/rugs from your bathroom. When you’re applying the dye you won’t see that you got it on anything until it’s too late. The color doesn’t show through for 5-10 minutes. You don’t want to get a spot of hair color on your good towels. It won’t come out.
this is a towel with a hair dye stain
- Get your shower curtain, if you have one, out of the way. When I had one I would throw it up over the curtain bar. You do this for the same reasons you take the good towels out of your bathroom. You won’t know you got the curtain until it’s too late.
- Get a washcloth you don’t care about — more on this later…
- OPEN THE WINDOWS!!!! I cannot stress this enough. Hair dye is a chemical, and it is very strong. You need to have proper ventilation to dye your hair. If you don’t have the proper ventilation then do not dye your hair in that bathroom.
Avoid Skin Staining
Firstly, I want to start at protecting your skin around your hair line. I am without a doubt the whitest of white. Many would call it porcelain skin, but I refer to it as butt white. I dye my hair with L’Oreal Superior Preference Intense Red Copper #007, and as you can imagine white skin + red hair dye = major skin stains.
- Use the gloves that come with the product. When I do the 2 step process (roots first then the rest) I actually rinse the gloves off, and put them aside to put back on during step 2.
- To combat the skin staining problem take Petroleum Jelly in a tube like Vaseline
and put it on your skin right under the hair line all the way to your ears, and then behind your ears. The reason I specified tube is because squeezing it out makes it much easier to apply. One thing though stay away from your eyebrows, if you have to dye them to match your color. The dye will not penetrate, and you eyebrows will not take the color.
- Avoid getting hair dye on your clothes by wearing an old shirt while dying your hair. I actually wear the same exact shirt for dying my hair.
Quick Tips:
- As you are going to get into the shower instead of taking the shirt off ,and possibly getting dye on something, get into the shower with the shirt on. Ttake it off right when you get in. You have to rinse the shirt anyway, so you can do the rinsing in the shower.
- Don’t wear a bra under your shirt. If you get dye on your shirt it can and will seep through and stain your bra. Don’t ask me how I know this.
- Once you’re done putting the dye in your hair take the washcloth you brought in, and soak it in warm water. Use that to clean all of the skin areas that have dye on them. Believe me you’ll have a lot of places to clean up. Once that’s complete do a thorough inspection of your bathroom for spots on the floor, walls and counters. Use the washcloth for clean up too.
Hair Dying Must Haves
It’s funny because every at home hair coloring kit says it has everything, but it really is missing a huge essential; a wide tooth comb. I like the ones with a handle better than without like the Goody Ouchless Detangling Comb
Four hair clips are all you need to help keep everything easier to manage. I have very thick hair, and trust me you do not need more than 4. Just before you dying brush your hair thoroughly, and separate down the middle . Pretend you’re dying in 4 quadrants. After you complete one quadrant use the clip to clip that section together on top of your head. Any Large Butterfly Clamps
Either take an old mascara wand and clean it really well or buy Disposable Mascara Wands
Wet cotton swabs are great for getting hair dye off your skin without ruining or pulling hair dye off your actual hair in the places where the washcloth would remove hair dye from your hair. I use them mostly to get the hair dye outside of the crevices of my ear and under my eyebrow so it doesn’t get in my eyes.
Randomness To Keep In Mind
- Do not answer the phone unless on speaker. You’ll get hair dye all over the phone otherwise.
- Don’t sit on any furniture during the waiting period. You don’t want to drip. Take a towel if you want to do that, but DO NOT lean back.
- Get a book or magazine to pass the waiting time.
- Put an I-don’t-care towel on your pillow the first night you dye your hair. The dye can and most likely will stain your pillow if you are doing a darker color.
- I highly recommend doing your hair dying after your children go to bed. The chemicals are harsh, and you’ll be happier not to expose them to it. In addition you can’t run after your children with hair dye on your head.
- Dying your hair when it’s dirty is better than clean. It seems the dirty hair catches the color better.
- Don’t wash your hair for at least 2 days. It will help keep the hair dye on your hair longer.
Do you dye your hair at home? If so, share some of your at home hair dying tips.
Comments
Thank you so much for sharing your color tips. I need to economize and so will be coloring hair at home. I needed the push and confidence. Thanks again!
For the Colorado climate where I live, I have started applying a decent amount of coconut oil to my hair and pinning it up while I do a few chores before coloring. The color seems to last longer and hold the shine. Happy coloring!