Don’t be Afraid of the Hair Dye Aisle

Right now I can tell you never to go to a salon, or at least not if you would be going to a cheap one.  Cheap salons are great for cutting hair but people try to make you believe that DIY haircolor will always leave you with green or orange hair.  Not true!  I have dyed my hair over 40 times in 4 years, all different colors.  And I’ve come to some conclusions about how to make sure you get that perfect color.

Levels- First, you need to understand the levels of hair color.  You will see a number on the box next to a letter.  The number usually ranges from 2-10, sometimes 11.  The lower the number, the darker the color, and the higher the number, the lighter the color.  Any color marked “11″ is a light blonde with extra lightening power.  So if you have dark hair and dye your hair with an 11 hair color, it will bring your hair even lighter than a 10 would, even though the color on the box may look the same.  But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.  Rarely will you find a “1″ as a hair color.  Usually it starts at 2, which of course, is black.  A 3 is a soft black, or darkest brown (black with some brownish undertones).  A 4 is dark brown, a 5 is medium brown, 6 is light brown, 7 is dark blonde, 8 is blonde, 9 is light blonde, and 10 or 11 is very light blonde.  Reds can be anywhere on the color spectrum from 3 (reddish black) to 9 (light reddish blonde).  Identify your natural color (mine is a 4-5) and then see what you want it to be.  Oftentimes, on the side of the box, they will show you what your natural color will turn out like.  Generally, hair dye will end up darker than it seems on the box, so if you are choosing between a darker and lighter color, choose the lighter color.  It is easier to correct too-light dye than too-dark.

Tones- Now that we’re comfortable with levels, let’s get to tones.  Often, you will see a letter after the number on the box.  Examples are A, G, R, C, N, and B.  However, there are many others.  These letters usually stand for the tone of the hair color.  G can stand for “golden”, whereas A can stand for “ash”.  Now how do we know which tone we want for our skin?  I like to separate the tones into four categories: warm, neutral, cool, and red.  Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist.  If they are green, your skin is warm-toned, and you will look good in warm or neutral shades.  (Look for G, N, W, or anything with the words “warm”, “golden”, “caramel”, or “natural” on the box).  If the veins are blue, you are cool-toned, and should gravitate towards “ash”, “champagne”, “beige”, “natural” or “cool”.  Some of us have veins in between blue and green.  Those people are called neutral-toned, and they can pull off any color.  As for red hair tones, they can work on anyone depending on the tone of the red.  Burgundy, violet-based reds are for cool-toned skin, and golden or coppery based reds are for warm-toned skin.

Lifting- Here is a little secret I learned from a hair colorist.  In each hair dye box, there is developer creme and a tube of either color creme or color liquid.  Mixing those together makes hair dye.  That’s not the secret, of course.  The secret is that the developers, while all looking the same, have different lightening power.  Some developers are “20 volume” which means they can only lift your hair 2 levels.  So if you have light brown hair and want blonde hair, a 20 volume developer can work for that.  But if you have medium brown hair and want blonde hair, you will need a 30 volume developer.  Most developers in stores are 20 volume, but specialized dyes can be 30 or 40 volume and can lift hair up to 4 levels.  Sometimes, if you take the developer out of the box of hair dye in the store, you will see either 20V or 30V printed on it.  You can also choose hair dyes specifically for lightening dark hair.  Also, if you don’t mind getting some brassy (very warm) results, and you want to dramatically lighten dark brown hair, you can pick one of the “ultra” blondes off the shelf.  Although they may not be formulated for lifting such dark hair, you might get a nice light red out of it, if that is what you are going for.  

Darkening- When you want to darken your hair, you can easily just pick up a regular box dye and do it at home, no questions asked.  It is very easy to darken your hair.  However, if you have light blonde hair and you are going very dark, it can be difficult to get the dark color to stay in your hair.  So there are a few things you should do.  First of all, go dark slowly.  First, go to a medium brown, and then go to black a few weeks later. Also, opt for WARM colors, like golden browns.  Anything else could turn your hair greenish.  

Fixing Botched Color- Even with these guidelines, hair color at home can be unpredictable.  So here is how to fix a botched color.  If your hair ends up too light, there is an easy solution.  Do a deep conditioning treatment for a few days, and then when you get to the store again, pick up a semi-permanent (washes out in 28 washes) hair dye in a darker color.  This will cover the lighness gently without ammonia, which can be damaging.  If your hair ends up too dark, you are in a stickier situation.  Go to the store and buy something called ColorOops (you will see it in the hair dye aisle).  Buy the yellow box if you dyed your hair within 72 hours, and the red box if it has been longer since the last time you dyed your hair.  When you put it in your hair, your hair will most likely end up an orange-red color.  Now here is the tricky part: get the hair dye that is 2 shades LIGHTER than what you actually want.  So if you wanted to be a medium golden brown, pick up a medium golden blonde.  After using ColorOops your hair is porous and accepts more color, quicker. Also don’t leave the new color on for the whole time.  If it says 30 minutes, leave it on for 15. 

So there we have it.  Hair dye can be tricky, but luckily there are so many ways to combat the obstacles.  So get out there and don’t be afraid to do whatever you want with your hair…it’s yours, and in the worst case scenario, it will grow back!