Is home dye really bad in comparison to hairdressers

[Upsetrethis]

I used to dye my hair black , I have brown hair and it suited me really well while younger . As I got older I got sick of such an strong colour and it was such a contrast with the roots so had it striped very gradually , now it’s a dark brown colour but much richer and lots of different tones . My hairdresser is brilliant but it’s so so expensive . My roots start to grow out after 3 weeks , i get to six weeks and need to do it again . I’m so tempted to use a semi permanent same brown colour but the hairdresser told me that home dyes ruin hair , some kind of metals in it means it’ll be in the hair way longer than the dyes they use (she is constantly booked up so I really don’t think it’s cause she needs the business ) . I’m late 30s and feel it makes me look so much better when I get it done but it lasts about 2weeks and I can start to see it fade, grow out again. I’m so tempted to use the odd semi permanent at home but feel it would ruin all the work put in with striping it (took a year to get the black dye out). Any colour experts ??

I dye at home and it turns out much better than it ever has at a hairdresser, it’s fairly simple, all over colour though.

My hair is really thick and very ‘porous’ and I have explained it to hairdressers many times to just put an all over colour but they insist on doing the roots first, then the rest of my hair which leaves a big stripe. My hair is particularly difficult so I understand this might not be the case for anyone else!

I use L’Oréal Preference and it turns out really well.

Same here. I doubt a hairdresser would make it look any nicer tbh especially as I'm only matching my natural colour

@3luckystars I also recommend L’Oréal Preference! Probably dye it every 5 weeks but still go the the hairdresser for a dry cut once every 6 months and she always compliments the colour and condition.

I’m a natural redhead but been dyeing my hair back to its original colour for years now. It’s very long, lots of it but started going white after having my kids. I’ve dabbled with many hairdressers over the years and paid a fortune on occasion, but honestly no hairdresser seems to be able to get the proper bright, rich orangey-copper that I get with a 5 quid box dye, so I’ve started doing it myself again and saved a fortune, plus my hair feels great. There are so many great dyes on the market these days but I suppose it depends on how drastic a change you’re making from your own colour.

I always use a box during. I very the colour each time slightly so it picks updifferent tones so looks more natural

I’ve never dyed my hair as an adult, but now I’m 35 I’m getting a lot of greys that are rapidly reproducing.

Weighing up box dying or going to a hairdresser. I’m just worried about a box dye looking really blocky, like all one colour? I have two relations that I know box dye, and both (dark brown and platinum blond) are like that- can anyone reassure me before I take the plunge?

I use salon dye at home. Buy the same that my hairdresser used to use and apply it with a hairdye brush myself, starting from the crown and working in sections.

Wella Illumina (check the colour chart online for your colour and tone)

Mixed 50:50 (in a small bowl on electric kitchen scales) with Wella Welloxon Perfect Oxidant 6% 20 vol.

Then after applying/waiting/rinsing, use Wella Professionals Color Service conditioner to neutralise (this step is important). Then rinse.

The colour is great, nicer than a box dye. Make sure you check if you want an ashy or red tone.

I have dark brown hair which grows super quick. I have balayage on the bottom half (get it done twice a year). The balayage just adds a bit of colour and texture. I then sue my own roots every 4 weeks. I buy the colour from sallys and it lasts about 3 uses.

They're using a colour that's too harsh for their skin tone. Choose something that works with your skin tone and it'll be fine. Bear in mind your skin pales as you age, that's why people still dying their natural colour when they're 70 look kinda wrong, they should have gone a bit lighter.

Thanks so much , really helpful. Are root touch-up sets basically dyes too though? I think I’ll have to give it another shot at home as it’s too expensive otherwise .

My roots take some upkeep so I just do them between appointments using the exact same base colour my hairdresser uses which I buy from Sally’s. One tube does 3 root touch ups.

I've never used one but I expect they're just a smaller amount of dye so you don't have to guess the amount like if you're using a regular bottle dye to do your roots. I always re-did my whole head roughly every two months, it put the shine back on. I used L'Oréal Excellence Crème and find the colours accurate to the box. It never damaged my hair. I never went more than a few shades lighter, the same if dying greys, or darker. Never bleached first.

root touch up kits will leave banding unless you use the exact same colour as your hair dresser though.

I think it’s the build up she was talking about so when you dye your roots that dye grows out but is still in your hair then you dye it again but it’s still in the hair etc etc and it layers on and on and makes a mess of the overall hair as she told me home hair dyes are full of metals or something that stick to the hair .
Basically my hair is prob greying and is lighter at roots and hairdresser dyes it a warm brown and it does look really nice straight after but does wash and goes a bit gingery in the light …
Think pp made a great point re hair dying boxes being way better now. I’ll have to do my roots going forward as I can’t pay 80 euros every few weeks really

find out the colour your hairdresser uses&get that 1 tube should do 3-4 depending on how thick your hair is.

I dye my hair black (and will do so until my hair is uniformly grey then I'm going to get it aaaaaallllll cut off 😂) and I do it at home, I've had it done at the hairdressers a couple of times and the black they use just isn't dark enough and it seems to wash out really easily. I get what I want doing it myself. I use Schwarzkopf deep black and it's less than £5.

That said, if I wanted something more technical like blonde hair/highlights/balayage etc done I'd get a hairdresser to do it. I've ruined my hair more that once going from black to red and I've learnt my lesson. Bleach is better in the hands of professionals 😂😂.

I suppose it depends on what it is you are going for and getting a good match to what the hair dresser is doing.

All I can tell you is: it hasn't made a mess of my hair.

That is SO interesting thank you!

And the rest!

I don’t colour now but my hairdresser told me which numbers of base and tint colour to buy, and a peroxide to mix with, and I got them from Sally’s - per pp it was Koleston. I stopped dyeing in 2021 and my hairdresser estimates I am about 5% grey, so I don’t know why I even bothered!

Have you tried the color wow root touch up powder? My hairdresser got me into this instead of colouring my roots at home between hair appointments. It's not as good as a fresh colour but does the job!
My hair is so grey ive now gone blonde and can now manage up to 6 weeks between appointments instead of 3 when I was brunette!

If you’re worried about build up just use one of those box colour strippers prior to dyeing.

They are quite scary the first time you use them but omg they are brilliant - they leave your hair in amazing condition and you can colour safely straight after using them. The box dye then looks exactly the same colour as on the box (it does for me anyway).

It all takes a lot longer but well worth it.