“If you dye your hair, you’ll soon go bald. Every girl who has changed her hair colour at least once has probably heard this phrase. In fact, modern dyes nourish, shine and even laminate. But, unfortunately, the colouring at home can lead to unpleasant consequences, starting from the unexpected colour and ending with hair breakage and sectioning. To avoid it, you’ll need to follow a few simple rules.
abhair.co.uk has rounded up tips for dyeing your hair at home as well as at a salon, without any nasty surprises.
Table of Contents
Decide which colour you want to use
Before you dye your hair, you’ll want to decide not just which colour you want, but which type of colourant you want. They can be divided into four categories: blonde, physical, chemical and natural. They differ in a variety of colours, durability and the depth of penetration into the hair.
To buy a dye, it is better to visit a professional hair care shop, where sales assistants can help you find the right shade and oxide that would cause the least damage to your hair.
Blonding colours
Blonding dyes can lighten your hair by three shades or more. They work by removing the hair’s natural pigment, melanin. Blonding dyes should be applied on dry and dirty hair, but heating your locks while dyeing is extremely harmful and even dangerous. High percentage oxides are used for special blondes, from 6% and higher.
Remember that colours do not lighten the colour. To lighten colour treated hair it is better to use powder, which you can buy in a specialized shop. Powder is mixed with the oxide in a 1:2 ratio where one part powder and two parts oxide.
Start by applying lightening powder at the back of the head, 3 – 5 cm away from the roots. The roots are the last place to be painted. The temperature is higher at the roots and the reaction is quicker there. It is best to lighten up to 6% oxide. A high percentage of oxide can simply curdle protein, which will cause the hair to turn yellow, and all further manipulations with bleaching will not produce the desired result. Never add water, shampoo or conditioner to the mixture. This disturbs the bleaching technology and the result is unpredictable.
Chemical colours
This group of dyes also consists of two components: dye and oxide. Hair colour is altered by penetrating the dye molecules inside the hair. The chemical dyes are very good at grey coverage and are available in a wide range of shades. Before applying them to your hair, make sure to do an allergy test on the bend of your elbow.
Apply the chemical dye to dry, dirty hair, starting at the back of the head and moving towards the forehead. Afterwards, comb through the hair with a non-metallic comb to evenly distribute the colour.
Grow-out hair is dyed in the following way: dye is applied to the roots, hold for 10-15 minutes and combed out to the ends of the hair. To make the difference between the roots and the lengths less noticeable, choose the same dye (brand and number).
Physical colours
These include tinting hair dyes. These are dye toners, foams, gels and masks. They envelop the outside of the hair in a film and do not react with the hair pigment. Such dyes are single component, they are not mixed with oxide. They cannot make your hair lighter, so the resulting colours can be either darker or tone-in-tone.
Physical dyes are applied to freshly washed hair. They can be mixed together to create interesting new shades and tint the hair after lightening. Unfortunately too dark hair is not affected by physical colours, pre lightening is required. The longer the dye stays on the hair, the brighter and more intense the colour.
Natural colours
Henna, basma, chamomile, walnut, onion husk, tea, and coffee are natural colours. They can’t dramatically change the hair colour, but only change the shade. Natural dyes should preferably be applied to curls that have not been dyed or permed. They are clogged in the hair’s scales, thus changing the shade. After dyeing with natural dyes, do not forget to put a warming cap on your head
The right way to apply the colour
We have chosen the right colour, and that’s half the battle. The other half is a good application.
- Before you start colouring, drink hot tea, coffee or mulled wine to improve circulation in the scalp vessels.
- Don’t forget protection – gloves and a shoulder cover. Apply an oily cream or petroleum jelly to your ears, neck and hairline. These will prevent the dye from absorbing into your skin.
- If you’re not sure if the colour will be right for you and how it will work on your hair, do a strand test. Dye a small strip of hair and review the result after 24 hours.
- Add a vitamin complex or hair-protecting additive to the colouring mixture. You can also purchase these in specialised shops.
- Mix your hair dye in a non-metallic container and apply it immediately.
- Divide your hair into 4 sections: the back, two temporal sections and the forehead. Apply the hair dye in sections, starting at the back of the head and working up towards the forehead. Body temperature is lower at the back of the head, which means the colouring process will be slower. The temples are the last to be coloured. Start the colouring process from the roots to the tips of the hair. The dwell time should be counted down after all the product has been applied to the hair.
- Micellar water, alcohol or make-up remover can help remove the colour from the scalp, hands and neck.
Don’t Forget About Care
Looking after your hair after colouring will not only help maintain the colour, but also the quality of your hair. Anti-dandruff shampoos and oily detergents irritate the scalp and wash out colour very quickly. Colour shampoos or colour treated shampoos are a good option.
Thehair care market now offers conditioners and masks that contain pigments which help maintain the colour of the hair or neutralise yellowness. Apply them in the same way as a normal hair care product, leave them on for a few minutes and then rinse them out.
The colour should be applied in sections starting at the back of the head and moving towards the forehead. The body temperature is lower at the back of the head, which means the colouring process will be slower.
Apply the chemical dye to dry, dirty hair, starting at the back of the head and working up to the forehead. Afterwards, comb through the hair with a non-metallic comb to distribute the colour evenly. Dye the hair as follows: Apply the dye to the roots, hold for 10-15 minutes and comb it out towards the ends of the hair.
Apply the colour first along the parting. Then onto the nape of your neck. Paint the hair at the edges of the hairline – behind the ears, at the forehead, at the temples and at the neck – as the last area to be coloured. Remember, it takes 10-12 minutes to apply all the colour so that the colour is evenly distributed.
Twist each section of hair into a plait and pin it up. Brush the roots of the hair along the parting, then the strands near the ears. Alternately, unravel each bundle of hair, separate it into smaller strands and dye all the roots.
For this reason, it’s ideal to wash your hair 6-8 hours before colouring so that the sebaceous glands have time to develop a protective barrier that will soften the dye’s effect and eliminate the negative sensation. Why can’t I dye dirty hair?
Do you have any colouring tips of your own?
