How to be your own hairdresser

 Every woman over the age of 12 has had a bad experience (or 10) at the hair salon, right? Rarely have I been to the hairdresser in the past 15 or so years where I have left happy. And my one “happy” visit cost me $200 in highlights. They looked awesome, but I cannot justify spending that much money on my hair every two months or so. Then (then!) there are the visits where I go and explain what I want and bring pictures and expressly say what I don’t want and walk out with something horrifying and drive home crying. I may have even thrown a hairbrush or two in a tantrum. (Don’t judge.)

What I’m trying to say is I’m tired. Spending $50 for a trim or more on a hair color that I’m not happy with is a waste to me and I’ve begun avoiding the hairdresser like the plague. Part of it has been because we moved and I don’t have a hairdresser here, part is pure laziness and cheapness, and part is having a pair of haircutting scissors at home and a willingness to experiment a little on my hair with box color. I’m not gonna lie, I have messed up on my hair in the past, really badly! Last spring I sort of over corrected a hair color and fried the ends and had to cut off a good five inches at home. Luckily the clavicut is in style, so we’ll go with that reason for the new cut;)

I guess I’ve sort of come up with a system of sorts for coloring and cutting my hair and I’ll share it with you (at your own risk, of course!) Let’s begin:

Haircutting:

My hair is mostly one length with minimal layers, with some shorter, face framing layers up front. I start with clean, straight hair and part in in my usual spot (the middle.) I separate my hair down the back and pull it forward over my shoulders on each side so all my hair is in the front. I then trim the ends that are pulled forward with my scissors. This isn’t about making it perfect and even, there may be shorter or longer bits, but I like my hair a bit imperfect and find that trimming my hair this way works. You can also have someone trim straight across the back if you want and do the front yourself, but I typically trim or cut mine impulsively and do this when I’m alone. I use my fingers as a guide when trimming and cute a little off at a time to gauge how I’m doing. Its better to cut a little less off as you can’t undo it once it’s cut (trust me!) 

I have a couple of ways I color my hair currently. My default is to do an all over darker brown color. I like Feria Shimmering Hair Color in Espresso. If you have color treated and/or damaged hair I would suggest dying your hair lighter than you want as it will hold more color. For instance, I like a dark brown color, but when I have bleached my hair a lot dark brown turns black on me, so either apply the hair color on your roots first and then in the last five minutes or so saturate the ends and your hair won’t be darker in some areas, or choose a lighter color and apply all over. 

All dark, using Feria Shimmering Hair Color

Now when I want to do an at home ombre I have a two part system that works pretty well. For my hair I use Feria’s Ombre kit for medium to dark hair to start. I mix up the formula and pull my unwashed hair over both shoulders like I am cutting it. I don’t like the brush they include and instead use my hands (with gloves) and saturate the ends of my hair only with the bleach. It’s up to you how high up you want to apply the mixture, I do about 3-4 inches of hair. I use this technique for applying the bleach and I think it works better than the brush!) After I’ve finished I wrap the ends in tinfoil and leave it in for 30-45 minutes. I check it a lot, starting at about the 20 minute mark, wiping the bleach off and seeing how light it is getting. When my hair is all dark I have to leave it on longer, but if I am lightening it more I leave it on less. Once my hair is about where I want it to be I rinse it out and blow dry it. At this point it will resemble a strange orange-y color and is truly frightening. Feria didn’t take into account that people with dark hair can’t use bleach without a toner after, so you may cry if you thought this was supposed to look amazing after this one step. 

The second step in home ombre is to tone your hair. This balances out the reddish tone and creates a lighter, blonder look as the final result. I have gone two ways with this final step: choosing a light ash brown or the dark ash blonde all over hair color. The light brown will initially make your hair look one color, but washes out and creates a pretty blonde color after a week or two. The dark ash blonde creates the ombre look right away and the ash neutralizes most of the red in darker hair (important!) Last week I used Revlon Colorsilk in Dark Ash Blonde and was pleased with the results. I apply this color only on the ends that I ombred, not to my whole head. I apply it with my hands and leave it in for 25 minutes or so and rinse it out. I also find that as time goes by it rinses more and gets blonder and looks really nice. My hair was really dark this time I did the ombre, so my ends are not as light as I want them. It currently looks redder on camera than it does in person, but it’s will get there. I’m giving my hair a rest and will repeat this process again in a month or so. My end goal is the color below. 

At home ombre, using Feria and Revlon Colorsilk

Lastly (!) I have to touch up my roots every month or so due to a heavy volume of gray hair growing in at an alarming rate. My fave product for this is Root Touch Up by Clairol. I buy two boxes as the one doesn’t have enough product to cover all my roots. I mix up the product and paint it on my roots only with the little brush they include (which works well) and leave it in for the time it says. When I rinse it out my roots are all dark again and if I have ombre ends this doesn’t affect the color there, only on my roots. I love this product because I can do it at home and it is cheap enough to do monthly. 

If you have any questions for me, leave them below and I will answer them!