I get it! Inflation has us all taking a second look at what we can cut back on. And even though hair care is kinda important, we look at the possibility of shaving a bit from that particular service. Hair color is usually the first to go, because, hey! Can’t we just go to the grocery store and grab a color from the shelves and apply it ourselves; or maybe barter something with a friend to convince them to “just throw it on there.”

‘Tis true, some come out pretty dang good! I guarantee you, however, it’s just a luck of the draw. What most don’t realize, is you MUST consider what your natural (or chemically treated) hair brings to the table as part of the formula. One can’t just “like the color of the picture on the box,” and say, “This is the color I want…fingers crossed.” If you are adding the color to totally white hair, then yes, you should get close to the boxes hair color. If you have ANY pigment in your hair, be prepared to get a huge surprise. Oopsie…

TRUTH: The box has no way of knowing what your current hair color is, the texture of your hair, the condition of your hair. Do you? If you do, do you know how to apply the product to keep it from becoming muddy, or drab, looking? Do you know anything about what color cancels out another? The box can’t possibly know how long you should leave the product on, since the box can’t decide all of the above conditions of your hair.

For example: If you have dark hair, there is simply no way, with ANY color formula, that you can be a blonde, without first using a lightener. Bleach. Developers DO NOT bring lift to the party. The color does. Developers are used to open the cuticle of the hair at different speeds. Slow to fast. That’s it. Ugh! Science!

Sooooo…If you are a level 4/5 (brown) you cannot be a level 8/9 (blonde), without first lifting some of that dark pigment out and then using color to tone to the level you desire. If you try, the result will be a very warm, possibly very brassy, blonde. Or a bright orange red color. That would be fun. Right?

Save yourself some unwanted pain and the price of a corrective color. Put the box down.

If professional hair color just isn’t in your budget, maybe choose a more likely, more doable, close to your natural, hair color. And please don’t drag the color through to your ends if you’re just wanting to cover the regrowth. If it’s a first color on virgin hair (hair thats not been touched with chemicals), color the entire head, just follow directions.

If you need help with correcting what you end up with, you know where to find me.