NWR: At home hair color

andyandhillary

Anyone have tips?  I have never done it by myself (FI helps...hehe) and I'm scared.  I have a lot of hair and it is medium length.  What's a good technique? 

laurenclaire1386

Depends on if you're going lighter or darker.  From personal experience, if you're trying to lighten your hair, I'd just pay for it.  It's really easy to end up orange when you try to go lighter.

georgia_bride09

Are you trying to go a shade or two darker or lighter, or are you trying to do chunky highlights? Speaking from experience, I would stay away from the chunky highlights.

maggyruth

Section it off (in quarters) and concentrate on one section at a time.  Do the back first.

mandysmear

Just say no.

SarahSmile23

OP, you may not realize this, but Mandy and I are the resident hair care experts and we both vote no on this one. It's worth it to pay a professional! I don't know anyone who colors their own hair who doesn't LOOK like they color their own hair.

andyandhillary

Well I have been dying my hair red for years.  I used to get it professionally done but then I got poor.  So it's about the same shade.  I'm just worried about missing chunks or having it be uneven not about the actual color itself.  Trust me, if I had the cash I would definitely go back to having it done properly.  Sad panda.

BecW2be

Before yesterday I'd say go for it, but I screwed mine up and it ended up my natural black color, and I've been DYI DYE for years using the same color. I'm convinced the wrong formula was in the box. But I showed up at work this morning and I've gotten four compliments so far on my hair color, which means I should have just kept it its natural color all these years! I also have short hair, so it's easy to color and I have never missed a spot. If you are not close to your wedding and want to give it a go, section your hair off and color it bit by bit.

andyandhillary

Oh and while it's "worth it", living in DC is ridiculously expensive and working at a non-proft makes my paychecks skimpy.  To find a GOOD stylist here that does good hair color is pushing $200 when you include tip and a trim.  I definitely do not have that to spare.When I got my hair colored here last fall by someone who was within my budget it sucked, the cut sucked, and I may as well have saved myself the money and did it at home.  So I do.

mandysmear

Then go to a hairschool.  When I was in hair school colours started at $30 for  clients.  It's teacher supervised.

aMrsin09

Andy, if you are willing to travel a bit I have a person up by Towson MD and a place in Arlington (my guy left so I stopped going there, but I think they are still open). Daff Jill also has a person in NoVA that does her coloring.

andyandhillary

aMrs:  if could let me know of those places that would be great.  are they moderately priced.anyone know of any good hair schools here?  I knew what the good ones were when I lived in MI but I'm not sure of DC.  And it definitely makes a difference, IMO. 

aMrsin09

The place in Arlington is called "That Hair Place in Arlington".  They are right at Rt 50 and Glebe.  I don't know what their current prices are. My Place in Towson (cockeysville) is "Image Is".  Ask for Mary. You can tell her her client that moved to Australia referred you.   They are at York Rd and Cranbrook Rd. I was paying $90 for a cut/color/blowdry and tip. If you page Daffodile Jill she can give you her place, I can't find where I wrote it down. Not a clue on hair schools.

Marina007

I colour my hair darker - usually at the salon, but being broke and living in the world's most expensive country, I'll do it myself inbetween visits.It's just by a shade or two, and it's usually no big deal.  Just be careful, because if you colour your hair darker a lot, the ends tend to go a LOT darker than the roots.  So I usually section off hair, start with the roots, then the rest of the hair.  Run a hairbrush through your hair, to make sure it's distributed evenly.

knj92107

I live in the DC area and go to an excellent salon and they don't charge anywhere near $200 for an all over color.  Highlights can be $100+ but all over is more like $40-$50.  If you're willing to travel to Bethesda, I see AC at The Shop on Woodmont - he is amazing with color.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

If you have a Vidal Sassoon, they have a school. I've gotten cuts and colors there for about $25 each.If you do it at home, make sure you get alllll the way to the edge, especially around your temples and the nape of your neck. Then wipe off excess color from your skin so it doesn't stain.

Mrs_AF

I tried coloring my own hair once, to save money. I ended up spending twice as much because it came out orange and I had to go through 4 boxes of toner. The hair school is a good idea. They have instructors around everywhere too, so if you are concerned you can have them watching too and make sure it's done correctly.