A lot of women are petrified of the prospect of taking their hair color into their own hands, but it CAN be done successfully and beautifully! Plus, think of all of the money that you could save if you do it at home (I did the math, and I could be saving around $700 per year!). I spoke with Lindsay Perez, who works with Sally Beauty and is the Franchise Education Manager for Clairol Professional & Wella Color Charm about how to overcome the fright and instead be equipped with a bevy of knowledge to make the perfect brand, color, and tool selections in order to create an incredible (and afforable) hair color at home. See below for my q&a with Lindsay, and be prepared to learn all that you wanted to know about everything from what is a warm verus cool tone, to what to do about your eyebrows when you dye your hair.
Fashion Pulse Daily: How do you know what tones are in the color you had done professionally, or last used, and match it with a box dye? How do you define the different tones?
Lindsay Perez: First start by determining if the tones are warm or cool. Warm tones can be compared the sunsets; golden yellows, red oranges, and bright red violets. Think of cool tones as the colors reflected from moonlight; shades of blue, deep violets, and grays. Once you determine if it’s a warm or cool shade, look for descriptive words that correspond to the tone like golden blonde vs. ash blonde.
FPD: What’s the best way to maintain and upkeep salon-colored hair with a bought boxed dye?
LP: Sally Beauty Supply is the best place to start, because they sell high quality, professional color lines like Wella Color Charm and Clairol Professional and you don’t need a license to buy them. Wella Color Charm is perfect if you have stubborn, resistant grays and they have a variety of shade choices in gel or liquid forms. If you want a color that leaves your hair healthy and shiny looking, use Clairol Professional Liquicolor Permanente. Both lines allow you to mix and match more than one shade, which allows you to get the most natural looking results.
FPD: When should you use permanent hair color? Semi-permanent hair color? What are the best brands?
LP: Permanent color is mixed with a developer and is used for going lighter or are covering more than 20% grays. I would recommend Wella Color Charm permanent color. It’s been recently re-vamped with liquifuse and gelfuse technology to give 100% gray coverage and vibrant shade results. Semi permanent color is not mixed with any developer and is designed to blend grays, refresh faded color, or enhance natural color, but it will not lighten the hair. My favorite semi permanent line is Clairol Professional Beautiful Collection. It’s ammonia and peroxide free so you get color, moisture and shine!
FPD: What are the best tools to have to DIY hair at home (i.e. mixing bowl, applicator, comb, etc)?
LP: It’s always good to have a tint brush, because you can use it for various color applications. An applicator bottle is great is you have long hair and are using liquid color. I would also pick up a pack of salon towels and a color cape so you don’t end up staining your bath towels or your clothes. You can find all these professional grade goodies at Sally Beauty Supply.
FPD: If you can’t find the exact shade you want in a box…what tips do you recommend to mixing your own correctly?
LP: If you have grays, always pick a shade that has the word neutral or natural or sometimes the letter N and mix it equal parts with a shade that has your desired tone. If you like warm tones, go for something with the word golden, rich, or red. If you try to avoid brassy tones, look for shades with keywords like cool, ash, or ultra ash. Clairol Professional is easiest to use, because it’s organized by level and tone, meaning the number indicated the degree of lightness or darkness while the letter next to the number indicates the tone.
FPD: What are some key tips to successfully going lighter? and darker?
LP: If you’re going lighter and doing it home, don’t go more than 2 shades lighter than your natural haircolor. Any lighter should be left for a professional to avoid hair color mishaps. But if two shades are enough lightening for you, try using Clairol Professional crème permanente. It has SOY4PLEX technology which gives you healthy looking color. Always use the dedicated developer in 20 volume, which gives the standard amount of lift or lightening. If you’re going darker, try using an ammonia free demi permanent color like Clairol Professional crème demi permanente. It lasts 24 shampoos and leaves your hair feeling soft and silky.
FPD: What do you recommend for the eyebrows?
LP: Most haircolor manufacturers do not recommend applying color on the eyebrows, but Sally Beauty Supply has nifty little facial coloring kits that are safe to use on the eyebrows. A good rule of thumb when it comes to eyebrow color is that your brows should not be more than 2 shades darker than your hair color
