By far, this is the most popular question we have been asked by our clients since the beginning of the self-quarantine phase of this pandemic. And just yesterday the situation grows more desperate as the President extended stay-at-home guidelines until April 30th. Yes, we do realize that there are thousands of women at home now with no access to hair salons until the end of April. What’s a woman to do?
Well, we asked our very own Fabrizio Hairstylists for their opinion and compiled them into the list below. You may want to reconsider the coloring at-home option until after you read our advice and opt for a different solution.
Reason #1 Don’t Damage Your Own Hair
Unknown to most is that not all hair color is created the same. There are those hair color lines that are mass-produced and tend to use less expensive ingredients, fillers, and sometimes more caustic ingredients to deliver effective results to a broad spectrum of people. These less expensive ingredients drive down the cost of the hair color. However, when ingredients are compromised to deliver on an inexpensive, very tempting price, your hair pays for it. Don’t compromise the integrity of your hair. All too often, we see dry, damaged hair and frayed ends from clients who have previously used an at-home hair coloring kit.
Reason #2 Standard Formulas are not Right for Everyone
The one size fits all approach does not work when it comes to hair color. Understand that there is a standard formula already pre-mixed in box-dye hair color kits to cover grey hair and to deliver results on a broad scale. This standard formulation can be tricky if not dangerous because it fails to take into account your grey percentage, nor is the color formula customized to your particular hair type or condition. These two factors are very important to consider because both contribute tremendously to the outcome of your hair color results. Remember your hairstylist has a trained eye and can spot these variations right away and compensate by calibrating developers to be more or less potent.
Reason #3 Hair Color Banding when Touching up your Roots
When there are variations in the hair color canvas (i.e. grey hair at roots, previously color hair mid-shaft to ends, dry damaged ends) it has to be addressed accordingly. Your Fabrizio professional hairstylist knows how to address all of them. Overlapping of hair color onto previously colored hair will result in a darker overlap area than the root. This is a problem because you will end up with an undesirable hair color result known in the industry as “banding”. We see this very often with clients who have “retouched” their roots at home. There is no cure for banding. Essentially, you will have to grow out the banding until it can finally be cut off. Lastly, dryer, more often, damaged ends tend to have more porosity (microscopic holes in the hair structure). This condition tends to “grab” or soak up more hair color resulting in darker ends. Once again our Fabrizio professional hairstylists know how to tackle these common hair conditions so that hair color blends uniformly throughout your hair.
Reason #4 Are you a Color Correction in the Making?
Remember your hair colorist is a trained professional using a professional product line. Each hair color line has its nuances for which your stylist has come to know and expect. Expect is key here. With box color, you don’t really know what to expect. The color on the front of the box is a representation only, not a promise. Box colors also tend to cover much darker. Too many times we are trying to remove and undo what did not come out as “expected”. Color Corrections are costly. Why? Consider that a professional stylist has to undo what was previously done to arrive at a blank canvas. This very often takes more than one try. They then have to recolor to get to a more desirable hair color result. This is a time-consuming process and requires the use of a lot of products.
Reason #5 Do not Lighten, Blonde or Highlight your Own Hair
Be especially wary of at-home blonding color kits. The developer in these kits is an unknown. The bleaching agent, or also commonly known as peroxide, has a shelf life and tends to weaken with age. How long has that product been sitting on the shelf? This unknown variable can cause unexpected outcomes in your hair lightening results. Also, peroxide is a very strong ingredient. If left on the hair for too long or even as recommended, it can literally “fry” the hair structure resulting in a cotton candy-like texture. Do not try to bleach your own hair at home. It is just too unpredictable and dangerous.
So what is a hair color client to do?
For as long as you can, hold out on doing it yourself at home. There are root-touch up powders, that can get you through until your next hair color appointment. There are also hair color sprays that spray a very temporary hair color concealing powder that is washed out with your next shampoo. Two such products that we endorse and sell at the salon and via our website are Bumble and bumble Hair Powders and Wella Insta Recharge. Lastly, consider investing in a cute hat or baseball or athletic-type cap that you can add to your arsenal and alternate in your journey to prolong your last hair color as long as you can. Before you know it, we will be open for business.
Remember too – we are here anytime you need us. Just send your hair coloring questions or concerns via email at fabriziosalon@gmail.com and we will help you as best we can. For more information and pricing on hair coloring services, visit our hair services menu.
A big thank you from all of us at the salon and Urban Retreat Spa where “your beauty is our passion”.