Edit: FYI, The hair dye I use has changed names and is now called SB1 Summer Blonde
Today I want to share with you the reasons why I dye my hair at home and some tips if you want to do the same.
From the moment I was born I had really blonde hair, to the point that if I had been out playing in the sun it was almost white from being bleached by the sun!
Growing up you just don't think that your hair colour will change, but I found that as I reached my 20's my hair started to go darker and darker. My natural colour now is a dark blonde/light brown colour, and I really don't think it suits me as much as a lighter blonde, which is why I dye my hair! I know it sounds odd but I actually get depressed with darker hair, I need my lighter blonde colour to feel happier, when I see my roots creeping back through I hate it and get really fed up!
The main reason I dye my hair at home is to save money, you can buy a box of hair colour for around £5, and in the UK there are usually offers on so that you can buy 2 for £10 or less - and as I have super long hair I have to use two boxes at once so this works out great for me. If you were to go to a salon and get the same dye put on by a stylist, you'd probably get charged £100+, which to me is a LOT of money when you can do the same job at home. I've been dying my hair at home now for about 8 years, which is a long time to be continually bleaching your hair, so I have a lot of experience as well as tips on looking after bleached hair.
How to Dye Your Hair at Home
Before you even consider dying your hair for the first time I must stress that you need to put a bit of thought into going about this if you want it to go right! A lot of people skip this point but it is SO important to do a skin test 24 hours prior to actually using a hair dye for the first time. You are meant to do a skin test every time you use a dye, but as I use the same dye and have done for years I don't do this now.
The reason why you need to do a skin test is that some people can get a bad reaction to the chemicals in the dye, and it can cause burning of the skin and even in some very serious cases people have died from doing this! I could link you to photos of peoples reactions to the dyes, but I think they are too disgusting to show you! I'm not trying to scare anyone but I just don't want to brush past this point without emphasising the importance of a skin test! It's really simple to do, you just get a cotton bud (aka q tip), and you dip it into the dye, then apply it to your arm and leave it on for 24 hours to make sure you don't react to the chemicals in the dye.
Before you've even bought your dye you want to decide on the right colour for you, as well as whether to use permanent or semi permanent dye. Don't forget even semi permanent dyes can be difficult to remove, read my post on My Hair Disaster - How To Remove Semi Permanent Hair Dye, where you can see how I struggled to sort my hair out after using a seemingly harmless semi permanent dye. You also need to think that if you have dark hair and dye it blonde it is more difficult than dying blonde hair a darker colour, so if you're dark and want to go blonde your first attempt at bleaching may turn your hair orange, so it's always good to have a spare bottle of dye to hand! As a final tip I would suggest that when you dye your hair for the first time make sure you have plenty of time and don't do it just before you're going out for the night, in case it goes wrong!
Now the dye I use is Clairol's Nice and Easy Summer Blonde SB1 , you can read my review on that here. I've found that Clairol is the best brand for me, however you may favour a different brand, especially if you are going for a less natural colour.
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| This is the old box Natural Baby 101, new name is SB1 Summer Blonde |
I'm not going to go through each step of instructions on dying your hair, as that is what the instruction leaflet in your dye is for, and each one is different. Usually you have to leave the dye on for anywhere from 25 minutes to 45 minutes, usually depending on the amount of time you need, for example if you are touching up on a previous dye job you may not need the full 45 minutes.
A good tip prior to application is to dress in an old t-shirt, and if you have a spare bin liner cut it in half and wrap it around your shoulders, securing it with either an elastic band, hair tie or hair clip. Similarly, if you have an old towel and a hair band, just wrap your towel around your shoulders and use your hair tie to secure the towel around your shoulders - this is what I tend to do because I'm too lazy to get a bin liner!
When applying your dye to your hair make sure you are wearing your gloves so as not to get the dye on your hands, as the dye can also colour your skin and be difficult to remove. If you do get the colour on your skin it should wash off after a few days; you can always buy hair dye colour remover skin wipes if you urgently want to remove it. What I would also suggest if you are worried about getting dye onto your skin is using vaseline around the edges of your forehead just before you get to the hairline, so that if the dye does run onto your forehead it will easily wash off. I think this can be very useful if you are dying your hair a darker colour, when bleaching your hair lighter it isn't such a problem.
Some people suggest that you comb your hair through whilst the dye is in, in order to get a thoroughly covered dye job. I don't agree with this as brushing your hair when wet can really damage your hair, as well as ruin your hairbrush!
Remember dying your hair at home can be a bit of a messy job, sometimes you may think you've been really good at not spilling any dye and then once the dye has set you realise there are loads of blobs of darkened dye around the bathroom! Cover up or remove any items you don't want to get ruined, especially bath mats or towels!
Once you have left your dye on for the required amount of time you are going to want to rinse off the dye and apply the conditioner. The conditioner provided in your dye kit is usually an extra special conditioner that will give your hair the best care after dying, so I would definitely suggest leaving it in for at least five minutes to help soften and condition your hair properly.
Then when you have removed the conditioner, either towel dry or blow dry your hair, it's always best to towel dry your hair to keep your hair healthier, but I know that when you want to check the dye has worked blow drying is quicker!
When your hair is dry you can check it over and make sure you are happy with the colour you've got, and then you can go about styling your hair! I re-dye my hair every 6-8 weeks, so you will probably have to dye it again then.
Here is a photo of my hair after dying:
I hope this blog post helped you, let me know how you get on with dying your hair for the first time, i'd love to hear about what colour you used and how it went!
Lots of love,
Samantha Dawn
xoxo
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