Do Not Colour Your Hair At Home…
(And other stuff your Diva stylist wants you to know)
Ever tempted to grab a box of hair colour while shopping for groceries? For many of us, money and time is tight so over the counter colour seems cheap and easy. Please think twice! Home hair colour could destroy the condition of your hair and produce a really ugly result. If shaving your head is not an option, then your only recourse is a professional colour correction. That means extra time and expense, especially if you require multiple appointments to fix a dis-ast-hair.
Best Hair Information:
1. Hair colour is chemistry. So, changing your hair colour (especially lightening) is not a simple process. As hair lightens with bleach, depending on the starting natural colour, we all have “naturally remaining pigment” that goes from red, orange, yellow to pale yellow. Trained Diva colourists understand naturally remaining pigment and customize your Aveda colour formula to enhance or cancel these tones. Pre-mixed box colour is not that smart.
2. Hormones affect hair colour. Tell your stylist if you are pregnant, menstruating, in menopause or have a history of hormone imbalance. These factors can affect colour results. A hot flash makes colour process faster!
3. The condition of your hair matters. Your hair is like fabric. If hair is dry, porous or chemically damaged, colour may not cover evenly and tends to fade more quickly. Or, more dramatically, your hair could break off under chemical stress. Be wary of hair colour lines that claim to be “ammonia free.” These products actually require higher percentages of the active chemicals to facilitate proper colour coverage. This ends up being more damaging. Your Diva stylist knows how to get fantastic results while retaining your hair’s integrity by recommending conditioning treatments and realistic colour service options.
4. Bright colours could be forever. Did you dip-dye with fashion colours from the drugstore or with gelatin or drink powders? So fun but this can spell disaster and require several appointments to remove. Sometimes, depending on the ingredients, these bright colours can chemically react with other colour products…badly. The salon becomes a lab; your head a science experiment! Think you can cover that “big bird yellow” with a darker colour? Think again. On damaged hair, the dark colour may process unevenly and will not last. Yikes…splotchy!
5. Henna is forever. The colour molecules line up in the cortex of each strand of hair like a Spartan army formation. So, a hair cut is the only way to remove henna.
Best Advice to Cut Costs:
- Select partial highlights or low lights closer to your natural colour rather than a dramatically contrasting all over colour that requires more maintenance.
- Choose balayage or hair painting that grows out more naturally rather than a full head of highlights applied close to the scalp.
- Lightened hair minimizes the contrast when transitioning to gray.
- Come for “in between” gray coverage appointments. Leaving your appointment until you have 10 centimeters of regrowth is a longer, more expensive appointment.
- Fashion colours require more maintenance and can be difficult and expensive to safely remove.
- Stay with your professional colourist who knows your hair history. Your Diva stylist will work with your expectations, budget, and maintenance preferences for gorgeous results.
More Helpful Hair Tips:
When booking your appointment, tell us if you want a change to ensure adequate appointment time is booked so we can exceed your expectations.
Be open and honest about your hair history – If you don’t tell your stylist about past colour and chemicals in your hair, your hair will tell the story during your service. Honesty is the best policy to get best results. No surprises please!
- Come to the salon with clean hair – Hair with build up will not accept colour evenly nor will the colour last as long.
- Tell your stylist if you use well water – Minerals in water can affect colour results and the products you require for home care maintenance.
- Have with realistic expectations – Want to go from black hair to platinum blonde? This may be possible in one appointment…a six-hour appointment! To maintain the health of your hair and scalp, a dramatic change like this will require multiple appointments with a professional.
- Bring pictures – Your idea of red is different from my idea of red. A picture speaks a thousand words and clarifies any differences in perception.
- Confirm one more time – Don’t be shy to go over your hair plan with your stylist one more time before the first brush of colour or scissor snip. Make sure you are on the same page!
- Products affect the longevity of your colour – We can’t guarantee your colour service if you pass on using the stylist recommended shampoo and conditioner at home.
Thank you Calgary for your continued support and loyalty.
