Do’s and Don’ts of Home Hair Colouring

Colouring hair at home is popular for many reasons: it saves time, money and can be much more convenient all while achieving great results. More than half of women colour their hair and, of those, half colour their hair at home, according to a recent poll. When asked what concerns them about using at home hair colour, the top concern raised by one-quarter of women was that they would not get the colour they want.

Luis Pacheco, Clairol’s Consulting Colourist, offers some tips to ensure women get the hair colour of their dreams.

Do a strand test. First, before colouring your hair, you should always do a patch test to ensure you don’t have any allergic reaction to the colour. Next, a strand test to ensure that you get the colour you want before you actually colour all of your hair. Not only can you test the shade, but you can ensure that you know how long to keep the colour on your hair for.

Don’t do a drastic colour change at home. There are times to seek out a professional colourist such as when you want to go drastically lighter or darker. The general rule of thumb for at-home colour is to stay within two shades lighter or two shades darker of your current colour.

Do try something new. Try a colour with a bit of red in it or look for a colour with golden undertones. Clairol Nice ‘n Easy offers 44 natural-looking colours with colour-blend technology to ensure the result is full of depth and dimension.

Don’t worry about choosing the right shade. Twenty percent of women are concerned about choosing the right shade of hair colour. Choosing a you-only-better shade requires a little prep work but shouldn’t be intimidating. The first thing to consider is your skin tone. Take a look at the inside of your wrist. If your veins appear bluish, you should look for cool or neutral tones; if they’re greenish, look for warm or neutral tones. For warmer shades, look for the words golden, bronze, and copper. For cooler shades, look for the words ash, platinum, and Champagne. Then, select your colour based on going no more than two shades different from your current colour.

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