Is a home hair colouring kit as good as a £80 salon one?

This is a question I’m asked every day and to be honest it’s a no brainer. “You get exactly what you pay” for is my standard reply.

A new generation of home hair colours is flooding the market and some of the latest DIY products are as good as the ones used in salons.

These new hair products can be confusing to say the least. Sales of home hair tints have almost doubled in the past few years with more than 8m women now colouring their hair at home. Women now seem to have developed a passion for DIY hairdos and thinking that they’re saving money.

With the average home hair colour kit costing around £5 compared to a minimum spend of £80 in a salon, dyeing-it-yourself is definitely an attractive option. However, be warned. That box marked as ‘Scandinavian Blonde’ may have you looking like Ronald McDonald if you get it wrong and there’s absolutely no recourse to get it put right. Home hair colouring can still be a disaster waiting to happen.

There are now, among the roughly 50 products available, ‘tone-on-tone’ tints, ‘level one, two and three’ colours, colours with fruit extracts and herbal additives, reflective shades and even fashion tints for men. It sounds reassuringly scientific but, for the average shopper, it can be very confusing. The big problem is that almost every manufacturer uses a different terminology to describe their product, which makes choosing the right colour for you more difficult than it need be.

Some of the home hair colour kits are just as good as the products used in salons but what you are paying for when you go to the hairdressers is the colourist’s expertise in choosing the right shade and applying it correctly on you.

We know all too well that preparation for colouring is far more important than the application stage. To get a good result at home, you must take time to prepare your hair first.

A common mistake when colouring at home is choosing the wrong product, people have no idea what their natural colour really is!!

Top Tinting tips
* ALWAYS read the instructions, all the way through – twice.

* ALWAYS do a strand test on a small section of hair.

* SILICONES which are contained in many modern shampoos, conditioners and styling products, particularly those that promise shiny hair, can act as a barrier to hair colouring products and adversely affect the finished result. Wash your hair the day before you colour it with mild baby shampoo.

* DON’T wash your hair on the day you plan to colour it. Natural oils on the scalp, which will have accumulated over the previous 24 hours, will help to make you less sensitive to the chemicals in the tint.

* HAIR-COLOURS can stain your forehead and ears – albeit temporarily. To avoid staining, apply a thin layer of Vaseline or cold cream around your hairline and ears to act as a barrier before colouring.

* IF YOU do stain your face or hands with hair-colour, rub a little more tint into the stain then rinse immediately. Product will usually remove product. Cigarette ash, face or body-scrub and eau de cologne are other effective remedies for removing tint stains. Keep tint away from porous surfaces and favourite towels – it will stain.

* FINALLY, if in doubt call one of the manufacturer’s free help lines before you start (details on all packs). It’s easier to seek advice than ask for help when you’ve made the mistake.

I hope the above has been of help, remember if in doubt give me a call and see what I can do to help.