Ancient Greeks used harsh soaps and bleaches to lighten their hair. The Romans went more natural and used dyes made of walnuts and leeks. The very first synthetic hair color made itself known in 1907. The point? Hair Coloring isn't a new thing. People have been dying their hair for centuries! Today 75% of American women color their hair. That is up 7% since 1950!
So you would think that since people have been dying their hair since Ancient times, the advancements to home hair coloring should have improved greatly. While they would like you to think this is the case, I am going to tell you why it is a bad idea to do your hair color at home.
First, you step into the aisle and there are so many choices! What brand should you get? Should you use a temporary, semi-permanent, demi-permanent or permanent color? How is this auburn different from this reddish brown? Will it turn out like this on my hair? You don't know the difference? We do. And that bit of knowledge can make a HUGE difference.
What level is your natural hair color? Do you have color on your hair at the moment? Does your at home color take this in to consideration? The answer is no. At best, some color companies offer different boxes for dark, medium and light hair. What's the BIG problem with this? Most box colors are target dyes. What does that mean? They are made to attempt to make any hair color mimic the one on the box. This just doesn't work. It's just not possible. There is another problem with this. If your natural color is only one level darker than the box, the box color still lightens your hair like it was black. If your hair color is lighter than the desired color, the box color still lightens your hair before it darkens it.
Do you have color on your hair already? Regrowth (aka roots)? Do you think the box will know the difference? What do you think will happen when you put the box colour on your regrowth and coloured hair? Two-Tone! You can end up with 2 very different colours on your hair. No bueno!
How about trying out a new look? You want to completely change the color that you have been using but you want to save some money. You decide to pick up an $8 box colour at the corner store. Let's look at how this can go:
You follow the directions on the box to a "T". Rinse and dry. Your hair is now greenish or orange!
So you buy another box $8 to try to fix it. It's greener, more orange or just looks like poo. And now your hair
is dry and brittle to boot.
You decide to call a professional because you just can't run around looking like this. If you're lucky it's only going to take one color application to fix this. (average cost of a single process color in Chicago is $75 -$100 + average cost of a haircut in Chicago is $61 = $136 - $161).
If it takes more than one process, you could pay $200 - $300 more
So the $67 - $92 that you just tried to save could cost you up to $469 more and much shorter hair than you wanted. Is it worth the risk?
You are an individual and live outside the box. So why would you think your hair is a "one color fits all" situation? Colour:fix custom fits your colour to you.
So before you pick up that box, call me! I am an expert on hair colour. 773.627.2375