To maintain our mental health in quarantine, it’s important to experience some sort of change. A lot of people are taking up new hobbies, redecorating their homes and trying out new recipes. But among these, one emerges as trending and that is hair coloring. The idea of it is very exciting, but how to do it? It can seem complicated with all the terminology and techniques. So, in this article, we will share the ins-and-outs of dyeing your hair. After all, what better time to experiment with at home hair coloring than now.
📌 To learn more, read our article about Can I Dye My Hair After a Hair Transplant?.
Preparation
The process of dyeing hair involves a lot of strong chemicals such as bleach or permanent color. So before starting, protect your skin, clothes and immedeate area. Cover your ears with vaseline, as well as the neck and forehead along the hairline.
Contrary to popular belief, you actually shouldn’t wash your hair before the dyeing process. Washing your hair makes tiny little abbrations in the scalp. If you’re using bleach, it will seep into the small cracks and burn. In fact, you shouldn’t wash your hair for several days as the oil secreation can protect the scalp from bleach.
Make sure that your hair is all dry. You shouldn’t apply color on wet hair as water would dilute the formula. Brush out your hair. Get the tangles out to make sure that the chemicals apply evenly. If you start without brushing, the color will come out spotty.
To make the coloring process easier, seperate hair into 4 sections. First, part your hair down the middle. Then, seperate vertically starting from behind the ears, splitting the hair into even sections.
📌 Click here to read our article about The Relationship Between Dyeing Your Hair and Its Fall.
Mixing Bleach and Color
It’s important to understand the distinction between bleach and permanent color. Bleach comes in a powder form and it’s pure goal is to lighten. Whereas permanent color is a liquid material that just deposits color.
Permanent Color
In terms of permanent color, there are different level developers you can buy. The type of developer you should use depends on your current hair color and your target hair color. In this section, we will explain the functions of developers.
- 10 Volume Developer: If you are trying to achieve a darker color than your current one, 10 Volume is for you. This developer doesn’t have any lightening properties. It just deposits color into your hair permanently.
- 20 Volume Developer: 20 Volume is for people trying to go darker but also have gray hairs. 20 Volume actually gets into the cortex of the grays, lifts and changes the color. It’s the ideal developer gor highlights.
- 30 – 40 Volume Developer: These are typically used for high lift color. If your hair color is natural and you want to achieve bright, vibrant colors, you can use 30 or 40 volume. There really isn’t much difference between the two.
📌 Click here to read our article about Split Ends.
Bleach (Lightener)
If your hair is already colored and you want to go lighter, bleach is the way to go. It is also for people with natural color and want to go extremely light, such as platinum blonde.
As opposed to 10 and 20 volume developers which stay on top of the hair shaft, bleach penetrates the hair. It works by opening the hair shaft, getting inside and lifting the color.
Since it’s very strong, it’s important to mix bleach and color the right way. Always read the instructions and obide by the mixing ratios.
Where to Start?
If your hair color is natural, start at the mid-section of your hair work your way towards the ends. After you are finished, wait 10 minutes and then start applying the mixture to the roots. This is extremely important because your scalp produces heat. Bleach develops quicker with heat, resulting in the roots ending up a lighter color than the ends.
If you have dark and colored hair, start from the darker sections of your hair. This way, the darker spots will have more time to develop. As a result, your hair color will turn out even.
Application Method
Make sure you have gloves on. As mentioned above, coloring chemicals are very strong. Contact with these chemicals will dry out your skin.
Permanent hair, compared to bleach, is very straightforward to apply. As you are working through the hair, use a comb or a brush. This ensures that the color applies evenly throughout the hair.
With bleach, it’s important to use an adequate amount. Make sure that every strand is completely covered with bleach or you will get spotting. Start with one of the sections on the back of the head and pin up the rest of the sections. Start by grabbing even smaller sections that are half an inch thick. Apply the bleach in the middle, then using your hands, move it downwards. Go over this motion again and again, until it’s completely coated. Then, make your way up to other sections.
If you’re using bleach, you can spray a little water in a bag and put it over your hair. Tie it up around your head to make sure it stays moist. Unlike permanent color, you can’t brush through your hair if you’re using bleach. Your hair is at a very fragile state and brushing will be harmful at this stage.
Cleansing
Use lukewarm water. It would probably feel good to rinse with cold water, but this would shock the hair. Your hair just expanded a great amount to get rid of the pigments. If you put on more pressure, it will cause breakage. It’s also possible that it could take two washes to take out all of the color from your hair.
Also, don’t scrub your scalp. Be gentle, remember your hair just went through a lot.
Photo Sources
- bfonds.com
- zotosprofessional.com
- madison-reed.com
- youtube.com/bradmondo
- beautifulgracesalon.com
- allthingshair.com
