Share some ‘nice ‘n easy’ tips for at-home hair care - win a £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

Have a tried-and-tested trick up your sleeve for DIY hair dying? Well, nice ‘n easy want to hear them! They'd like to know the things you do to get a great colour at home, every time.

Here’s what nice ‘n easy have to say: “To help you achieve your most amazing hair colour, we’d love to share with you some nice tips and tricks. Tip #1 : Apply petroleum jelly to your hairline, it prevents colour from staining your skin (Bonus: Dab a little onto your cuticles to soften them!). Tip #2: When your natural hair colour seems to be a distant memory, use your brows as a guide and stick within two shades lighter or darker for the most natural looking hair colour. Tip #3: when the time is up, just set your TV on record even if that’s your favourite program. Over-processing hair is a common colour mistake that ends in colour not being what you expected! These were only a few of the tips we got up our sleeves. What are yours?”

So - what advice do you have for hair dying newbies? Do you have a top tip for prepping your hair before colouring at home, or choosing the perfect shade for you? How about the best ways to prevent staining your skin, or clothes (or bathroom!) - and things to do to pass the time while the colour is on?

Whatever your tips and tricks are, add your comment below and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop gift voucher.

We’re also on the lookout for 5 Mumsnetters who are willing to film their hair dye tip or trick in action. If you would be happy to do this, please sign up here. Those selected will each receive a £100 voucher. More details will be sent.

thanks
MNHQ

Standard insight T&Cs apply

Old towels and covering any surface I may encounter to prevent staining.

oh yes, I have hair dye towels and baggy old t-shirt of DH's before he lost lots of weight I put over my clothes.

Lots of old towels to cover your bathroom floor and wearing old clothes. Using a hand held mirror to check that you haven't missed any hair and covered the hairline always helps me.

These are my suggestions .....

1. Always wear an old tshirt
2. Apply hair dye liberally at the temples/hair line - mine goes grey here quickest
3. Make sure you have a spare pair of gloves, they often split
4. Buy 2 boxes - you don't want to run out of dye!
5. Always do the roots first - as instructions tell you.

Get everything ready, including a mirror and a muslin/old towel to blot up splotches, before you start.

If you drip hair dye on the carpet, hair spray straight onto the stain apparently makes it easier to blot the stain out. Sadly I learned this tip 6 months after I dyed the carpet along with my hair.

Not necessarily about colouring but my Hairdresser told me to wash my hair less, maximum twice per week. I tried it and have never looked back, keep getting compliments on how shiny my hair looks and I have no split ends!

Buy disposable CSI style gloves. They are better than the ones that come in the box.

Vaseline around the hairline to prevent staining of the scalp and use old towels.

We have old stained bath towels and an old bath mat which we keep for hair dying. The gloves in the box aren't great so I buy stronger and stretchy gloves in value boxes online. I have a cheap small hair dye brush from a bargain bucket type shop which is great for around the hairline.

Remove cat from bathroom prior to hair dying.

Yep, my poor cat was sporting red patches for months .

Definitely use better gloves than you get in a box!
Have a damp facecloth or a couple of baby wipes out so if you do drop any dye you can wipe it straight away.
Use a wide tooth comb to go through your hair to make sure you've spread the dye all over.

Clingfilm hair whilst waiting for it to set.

Old towels and t shirts and definitely do it when your small children are out of the house with someone else and can't interrupt halfway through and at a crucial point!

I bought some cheap black towels from Wilkinsons that I keep just for home dyeing :-)

I always wore a strappy top when dying my hair so I could just pull it down when it came to rinsing, and less likely to get marked

Keep some old towels just for hair dying so you don't ruin your usual ones!

-Vaseline around the hairline.
-Old towels just for colouring hair.
-Spare gloves so you can have a cup of tea without either having to remove the gloves or getting dye on the kettle.

I buy two boxes as I have so much hair. I learnt the hard way after running out half way through. Definitely set an alarm.

hese days I get my highlights done by the hairdresser but in my student days I was fond of dying my hair red using a moose. I found it really good as it was easy to work into the hair, and it gave a good, even colour. I always used plastic gloves which you can pick up for free by the pumps at most petrol stations. I would sit in an empty bath reading a magazine while I waited for the colour to take so that I didn’t worry about getting the moose on anything else.

My hint is take two standard supermarket style plastic bags into the bathroom with you. The first is for you to put the waste into as you go along (empty dye bottle, gloves, wipes or tissue used to remove excess dye from hair line etc.)

The second bag is an improvement on the old cling film around the head trick (to prevent drips) - bag over the hair, handles pulled forward and tied in a bow high on the forehead, flip ears out, done.

I find having the bag tied this way is quicker and easier than wrapping in cling film (prevents getting dye all over my arm wrapping around my head), gives a good seal against neck seepage, and makes it easy to clean dye off ears.

Some times, if I'm feeling indulgent, I use a third bag and repeat the head bagging with the post-dye conditioner.

• apply the dye naked from the waist up, then wrap a towel around you whilst it processes!
• don't forget to apply the dye evenly around your hairline behind the ears and at the back, especially if you wear your hair up a lot.
• for root touch ups, leave on the roots for two thirds of the time then spread down your hair slightly to blend in the colour.
• if you are blonde and going a bit brassy, use a silver shampoo to tone it down.
• remember to recycle the empty box and bottles/tubes!

Buy a professional's bowl and brush for just a few quid online. It makes all the difference to applying the dye in vita places like your hairline and temples.

Ditto thin latex gloves.

Put a dark towel over your pillow to prevent staining the first couple of nights after dyeing - I learned this the hard way.

And have something nice planned for the evening after you do the dyeing, so you can show off your glossy hair!

Acknowledge and accept that you will botch it and get a friend to help

I do nothing but follow the instructions to the letter. Never got my skin dyed, the carpet wrecked or experienced a problem.