Do’s and Don’ts of Home Hair Colouring

Coloring 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 Canadian women color their hair and, of those, half color their hair at home, according to a recent poll. When asked what concerns them about using at home hair color, the top concern raised by one-quarter of Canadian women was that they would not get the color they want.

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

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

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

Do try something new. Want to warm up your look summer? Try a color with a bit of red in it or look for a color with golden undertones. Clairol Nice ‘n Easy offers 44 natural-looking colors with color-blend technology to ensure the result is full of depth and dimension. Have fun this summer and experiment with a new shade.

Don’t worry about choosing the right shade. Twenty per cent of Canadian women are concerned about choosing the right shade of hair color. 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 color based on going no more than two shades different from your current color.