Going from salon color to at-home color

[spacegirl2007]

Has anyone gone from getting their hair professionally colored on a regular basis to coloring at home with good results?

I've been getting my hair colored at an Aveda salon for the past 5 years or so, using their semi-permanent hair color (and a few times the permanent). But it's expensive and I'm trying to find ways I can cut corners so that I don't have to give up everything I love and I thought this might be one thing I could DIY with good results.

I've had a couple of people tell me to go to Sally's Beauty Supply (we do have one in my town, amazingly!) and get the stuff the pros would use and just do it at home. I used to color my own hair with stuff from the drug store (like garnier, feria, etc.) in my youth so I'm familiar with the process, but now I care more about my hair and keeping it nice and healthy!

 

[BEA2LS]

I have went to salon from home and i did have some mishaps time to time but now i am honestly more happy with my color than when i used to pay to get it done!

 

[..kels*]

i just coloured my hair at home a week ago after going to the salon for 5+ years. i wasn't really nervous as i was just going from a warm brown with caramel highlights to a darker brown all over. i used clairol's perfect ten shade 5. it only has to process for ten minutes & has a comb-thru applicator. the colour came out perfect & my hair doesn't feel any more damaged than it did when i would colour at the salon. if you know how to mix colour & developer properly then i would go with the "professional" stuff at sally's. i'm pretty sure it's better for your hair than the box stuff.

 

[user79]

If you're just doing an overall color without foils, then I don't think it's worth it to go to a salon for that, tbh. You could also go to a hairdressing school salon, usually its very cheap and at least they use professional products.

 

[xsnowwhite]

yeah do you have an aveda institute near you? They do color for like 30 bucks I believe. I have gone from salon to at home and I really don't notice a difference, except that I love going to the salon. I use miss clairol dye from sallys mixed with pure white 20vol developer.

 

[aLove4MakeUp]

I went from salon to home and get great results. I really online relied on my salon when I had highlights. Once I decided to have an one overall color I did my own hair at home. It really is a lot more affordable.

 

[COBI]

I would avoid mixing your color if you can; and if you are going to do it at home go with the "fail-proof" box versions at drugstores, department stores, etc.

In all honesty, and maybe it's different in other parts of the country, but in my area, licensed cosmetologists don't typically buy their products at Sally's. They buy them at cosmetologist-only distributors/stores. So, I wouldn't say that the color at Sally's is the same as what they use in most salons.

Also, color formulation has made huge progress in even the last ten years. It is a lot gentler on the hair than it used to be. Of course, if you are going from dark to very light, excessive bleaching/lightening is going to cause some damage to your hair, particularly over time.

 

[MACLovin]

Ok, I'm glad I found this thread, I'm bumping it!

........

I was going to ask the same question, because right now I'm getting my color done at the Aveda institute and I love the results. HOWEVER.. I'm trying to cut down wherever I can.

I'm sure we have some hair color experts on here, what is a good at-home brand to use?

And furthermore, is it possible to do your own highlights AND color at the same time? I mean, I'm not doing a full head of foils, I just want a few natural looking highlights. Is this something I can reasonably do and not look like crap? It can't be THAT difficult...

Heeelp!

 

[vocaltest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COBI In all honesty, and maybe it's different in other parts of the country, but in my area, licensed cosmetologists don't typically buy their products at Sally's. They buy them at cosmetologist-only distributors/stores. So, I wouldn't say that the color at Sally's is the same as what they use in most salons.

Nope, not true. There is no real difference between Sally's and other suppliers. I'm speaking about the UK here.. but Sally's stock's all the major colour brands that 99% of salons use... L'Oreal, Wella etc. The only difference I have noticed is the colour range. Also, all colours are essentially the same it just varies slightly on ingredients throughout products... all colours have a base number, which will be the same throughout every single brand. The base numbers are the same throughout box numbers too. Mixing colour won't affect it if the colour is the same, they all do the same job essentially give or take a few ingredients.

To the OP, I personally wouldn't go from salon colour to box dyes, but I work in a hairdressers so I'm biased. If you're going to buy colour from Sally's only do so if you know exactly what is required... i.e what percentage of developer, what colour, how much of a tube of colour is needed etc. There are alright box dyes out there... L'Oreal Castings is the cheaper version of their professional Diacolour, and Feria is the cheap version of Luocolour.

 

[vocaltest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MACLovin And furthermore, is it possible to do your own highlights AND color at the same time? I mean, I'm not doing a full head of foils, I just want a few natural looking highlights. Is this something I can reasonably do and not look like crap? It can't be THAT difficult...

Have you tried doing foils? Haha. You could do slices, but not weave highlights. It won't look very natural.

 

[MACLovin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vocaltest Have you tried doing foils? Haha. You could do slices, but not weave highlights. It won't look very natural.

Weave highlights is where they take the pointy end of the comb and kind of weave in and out of a section and then put that part in the foil, right?

I'm sure I could handle the physical part of it, my only concern would be how much the color is lifted out of my hair and when to rinse it out. Also, how would I keep them from turning brassy, should I use a toner?

Oh, and since you seem to be knowledgeable about hair stuff, when i'm doing the whole process, is it best to do the few foils and then brush the actual color in the rest of the hair? I'd wanna get the timing down right..

I would be so sad if I messed up my hair

hahah

 

[vocaltest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MACLovin Weave highlights is where they take the pointy end of the comb and kind of weave in and out of a section and then put that part in the foil, right? I'm sure I could handle the physical part of it, my only concern would be how much the color is lifted out of my hair and when to rinse it out. Also, how would I keep them from turning brassy, should I use a toner? Oh, and since you seem to be knowledgeable about hair stuff, when i'm doing the whole process, is it best to do the few foils and then brush the actual color in the rest of the hair? I'd wanna get the timing down right.. I would be so sad if I messed up my hair hahah

Yep thats right! I don't mean this to sound like I'm doubting you or anything but foils are really fiddly at the best of times so I don't know if you would be able to get it as close to the root as possible doing it yourself, but its up to you! Again, I don't mean that to sound horrible, but I don't want you ending up with messed up hair then blaming it on me

It depends on the percentage and the colour (blue/pink) of the bleach you are using, and the current colour of your hair on whether it'll turn brassy. If they do turn brassy.. as in slightly yellow, not orange haha, a toner will help to remove any yellow.
And yep you've got it right... foils first then colour! Again, the development time depends on the bleach type/hair colour but its generally 15-30 mins depending on the desired colour. The tint colour development time depends on permanent or semi-permanent... semi is usually 20 minutes, permanent is between 30 and 40. Take the foils out first followed by the colour, and be careful to not let the colour run into the foils.. otherwise your hair work will be ruined! If that does happen though, take some washing up liquid to the bleached parts and scrub scrub scrub!