How to dye your hair at home?

Since time immemorial, hair coloring has been one of the most effective means for women to change and improve their appearance, emphasize attractiveness, and meet the aesthetic requirements of society.

But often fairly objective circumstances may impede a trip to the salon: cost of the service; lack of time; the desire to use natural means for coloring or those that change the color or shade of the hair for a short time; desire to experiment.

In order for the staining result to meet expectations, and as a result of this process not to damage the hair, not to get a chemical burn or allergic reaction, it is enough to follow a few simple rules.

The process of self-coloring of hair can be divided into several stages:

• selection and purchase of dye,
• preparation of necessary equipment,
• allergy test
• directly coloring
• color fixing
• further care.

The right choice of paint is often not a very simple task, since an incorrectly selected color simply will not work in the best case, and in the worst it will underline the appearance flaws.

To avoid this, you need to decide on the base color type of appearance.

The "winter" type is distinguished by a bright appearance with a predominance of cold shades. Natural hair color is saturated - from ash white to dark.For dyeing your hair, you should also choose cold tones: black, brown, chestnut, plum, ashen. Contrast in coloring is quite acceptable.

The “summer” type is also cold, but contrast is hardly suitable for it. Natural hair color is often light: ashen, light brown, so “unloved” by all. A very feminine appearance requires when painting cold ashy, platinum, light brown tones. This type may have a yellowish skin color that golden hues only accentuate.

Warmth and softness are the hallmarks of the "spring" and "autumn" types. Most of all they are suitable for red, copper, chocolate, brown, light brown tones with a golden tint. A “spring” woman should pay attention to light shades, and a “fall” woman should pay attention to darker shades.

Having decided on the color, it is worth considering whether to choose a natural or chemical dye. Even the best professional paint contains components that harm not only the hair, but also the scalp.

Natural remedies do not destroy the structure and natural pigmentation of the hair and most often have an additional strengthening, healing and caring effect. The only drawback is that many of the desired shades are very difficult or almost impossible to achieve, or to achieve the desired effect, it is necessary to carry out the procedure several times. There are several time-tested recipes for the preparation of natural dyes, which are based on such components as henna, basma, cinnamon, lemon, tea, coffee, chamomile.

Dark hair is usually smoother, denser and thicker. Natural remedies will give these strands a shade rather than radically change the color. The most noticeable red tint will give henna, a little lighten cinnamon and chamomile, basma will give the natural pigment depth.

Henna is considered one of the best natural dyes. The color that she gives the hairstyle depends on the country from which she was brought. In its purest form, Indian henna dyes hair in more red, brighter colors, Iranian - in more muted copper. Very often, manufacturers mix henna with other ingredients. Such paints are sold ready-made and allow you to vary the color scheme. The result will depend on the concentration of the composition and the exposure time.

It is very simple to prepare this dye for use - the instruction is most often given directly on the package. The mixture is poured with boiling water, hot or warm water, heated in a water bath, applied to the hair in a warm form in the same sequence as other dyes. Then the head should be covered with a film and wrapped warmly.

It can be considered a disadvantage that such a procedure is carried out for a rather long time, but in the end it is impossible to damage the hair with this tool. The composition will saturate the hair with useful substances, they will better tolerate the negative impact of the environment, since each hair will be in a kind of protective cocoon. The strands will become more obedient, smooth, dense and resilient. In addition, outwardly they will appear thicker and more voluminous, acquire a beautiful radiant shine.

Additional components such as honey, olive, burdock, grape oil, and essential oils designed for hair care will help strengthen the therapeutic effect. In the presence of a certain amount of free time, in addition to the coloring effect, you can create a very effective caring mask based on henna, useful both for the hair itself and for the scalp.

At the end of the procedure, the composition is washed off with shampoo, you need to rinse your hair until the water becomes light.Further care for the hairstyle can be carried out by conventional means.

Regular use of this method of hair care will not only preserve the color for a long time, reliably color the gray hair, but also significantly improve the condition of the hair.

To get a darker color - from chocolate to black - allows a mixture of henna and basma. The result of staining will depend on the proportions of the starting components. You can use a ready-made mixture, or you can first yourself prepare a base from henna according to a basic recipe, add basma powder in the right proportion, mix until smooth and apply to hair.

Very effective coloring, tonic and caring masks can be prepared on the basis of cinnamon. If you do not mix it with other dyes, then the reddish strands will acquire reddish hues, darker ones will become golden tint, light strands will become brownish.

A mixture of cinnamon with lemon and honey will lighten the hair a little, this mask with regular use stimulates their growth, makes it shiny and silky.

A unique shine will give the hair a decoction of lime color. It is impossible to paint over gray hair and change the color with it; this product will slightly lighten dark hair, and light hair will get a light golden hue.

Chamomile is another plant whose decoction will allow you to hide gray hair with regular use and lightly lighten your hair. This remedy will not give a pronounced coloring effect, but in a rather concentrated form it will provide golden overflows, and due to its antiseptic properties it will eliminate itching, peeling and other unpleasant phenomena. The result will depend on the concentration of the solution. The same effect is possible when using a decoction of onion peels.

Decoctions of these plants are prepared in fact according to one recipe. The necessary amount of raw material is poured with water, boiled over low heat for a time sufficient to evaporate about half of the liquid. Further, the composition cools, applied to the hair or used as a rinse.

Beautiful chocolate shades can be obtained using strong solutions of tea and coffee. The use of these funds tones and enhances blood circulation in the scalp, which brings considerable benefit to the hair: strengthens and accelerates their growth.

Using a natural coffee scrub is useful to massage your head - this will eliminate dandruff. First you need to massage, rinse off the scrub, apply a warm coloring solution, cover your head with a film, wrap and leave for about an hour.

Staining with strong tea (two tablespoons of 200 g of boiling water is brewed) is carried out in the same way, you can massage your head using a certain amount of drink. Tea and coffee can also be used as a rinse aid.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice, in equal proportions mixed with water, after several rinses is able to lighten hair by one or two tones. In addition, lemon gives a beautiful shine and cleanses the scalp well.

But it should be remembered that the juice of this representative of citrus should not be used with dry hair, since it has a drying effect.

Quickly and radically lighten your hair at home with hydrogen peroxide. This time-tested and fairly safe tool is widely used in everyday life and in medicine. For cosmetic purposes it is used for whitening teeth and hair.

This procedure is quite easy and very budget. The result is fast and lasting. But it should be remembered that peroxide is not suitable for all types of hair. Dry, thin, brittle hair will not tolerate its effect. On dark hair, the effect can also be quite unexpected.

In order to avoid unpleasant consequences, it is necessary to analyze the condition of the strands, if necessary, conduct recovery procedures, preliminary testing and observe safety measures.

Three large groups of chemical dyes - black, chestnut, blond - have ten additional subgroups: from the first, which indicates a saturated black color, to the tenth, corresponding to the lightest white. Inside these subgroups there are still additional shades.

This information is usually contained in the numbers on the packaging, the first of which indicates the main group, the other two are color subgroups.

In addition, this information is accompanied by illustrations on the package, which shows the initial hair color and the expected result. Reputable manufacturers apply to their products an additional palette with all shades.

When purchasing dye, it should be borne in mind that such illustrative material provides samples of staining healthy hair of a certain natural shade and subject to all the attached rules for dyeing. If you deviate from these conditions, the result may also be different.

Chemicals for hair coloring can hardly be called safe, even if they do not contain ammonia.

The effect of the use of dyes can vary significantly in time. There are three main categories of coloring compounds.

• Tinted shampoos and balms. It is impossible to radically change the color with their help, and they are washed off quite quickly. Such means can be used to dye your hair temporarily or for experimental purposes.
• Semi-resistant dyes. They do not contain ammonia, but sometimes they are also replaced by fairly toxic amines. Able to change color by 1-2 tones and for a not very long time. It is unlikely that they will be able to paint over gray hair with quality and for a long time.
• Persistent remedies. They contain ammonia, allow you to radically change color, reliably eliminate gray hair, hold on your hair for a long time. But they should be used with caution, since allergies are possible, if used improperly, hair and scalp can be damaged. In addition, regrown roots must be tinted periodically, otherwise the hairstyle will look untidy.

A set of tools and tools for dyeing hair at home is very simple and little depends on the length, density of hair and the chosen dye. It includes a number of essential ingredients.

• Means for coloring.
• Dishwarenecessarily glass or ceramic, plastic can be.
• Cape for clothing protection. It can be an old towel, bathrobe, waterproof fabric, soft polyethylene.
• Gloves are polyethylene (often attached to paint) or thin rubber.
• Set of two non-metallic combs: common with frequent denticles and rather large, with rare large teeth.
• Brush for painting. It is advisable to purchase a classic, fairly soft professional one, 4-5 cm wide. If the hair is long, it is more convenient to use a wider and stiffer brush, and to narrow individual strands - narrower. At home, a sponge can completely replace a brush.
• Plastic hair clips or hairdresser hair clips.
• If you plan fashionable dyeing with feathers or other types of complex painting, then you will additionally need foil or thermal paper for wrapping strands and a special spatula for separately stacking curls. With normal staining, these devices are not needed.
• Any greasy cream or petroleum jelly, which is applied along the hairline to protect against dye.

Hair coloring at home should not be spontaneous. In addition to choosing a dye and preparing a set of tools, it is necessary to assess the condition of the hair, cut off the split ends, and make several healing and moisturizing masks.

Be sure to conduct an allergy test. Even if a permanent dye is used, the manufacturer can add a new component that can cause a negative reaction.

With caution, you need to approach dyeing gray hair or darkening light curls by more than 3 tones. Pre pigmentation will help to avoid an unwanted greenish tint. Many manufacturers produce special tools for this test.

Each paint must be accompanied by instructions. It must be read carefully. In some cases, the dye is applied to dry hair, sometimes they must first be wetted. Not only the result, but also the health of the hair and skin, depends on how the rules of staining are followed.

In order to properly, evenly and beautifully dye your hair itself, you need to follow a certain sequence of actions.

• Comb your hair, flipping it from side to side.
• With the help of clamps, separate the strands, fixing them in the occipital, crown and temporal parts.
• Apply cream or petroleum jelly along the hairline.
• Protect shoulders, clothing from paint by using prepared material, wear gloves.
• Prepare the ink mixture in accordance with the attached instructions. As a rule, you need to mix paint and an oxidizing agent. For short hair, one package of the product is enough, for medium and long hair you will need 2 or even 3.
• Apply and smear the resulting solution near the ears, along the parting and hairline. It is very important to act quickly and accurately, especially if it is supposed to make hair 2 or more tones lighter.
• Release the hair from clips and divide into thin strands of hair in one of the four zones.
• Apply the paint first to the roots of each curl, then carefully and evenly distribute along the entire length.
• Do the same with the entire mass of hair, treating each zone in turn.
• With a rare tooth comb, gently comb several times in different directions, allowing air to circulate freely.
• If necessary, fasten the locks with hairpins and leave for the time specified in the instructions. Often the hair is dry at the roots or at the ends, in which case the dyeing time must be shortened. It is not worth it to overdo the dye on the hair - a long chemical effect will not bring any benefit.

• About 10 minutes before the end of the procedure, slightly moisten the hair with water and massage it along its entire length for a more even distribution of paint.
• After sustaining the set time, rinse the composition with warm water. Most modern dyes already contain detergents, so the use of shampoo to rinse off is often not necessary.
• After washing off the paint on the hair, it is necessary to apply the supplied conditioner, and, if possible, carry out additional treatment. This can be a constantly used balm or a caring mask based on natural products (honey, egg yolk, vegetable oils, medicinal herbs). Even the most gentle modern paint is a chemical compound that damages the structure of the hair.
• If the hair has already been dyed, and you just need to dye the roots and refresh the color, the dye is applied to the root part. A few minutes before the time specified in the instructions, emulsification is carried out (the hair is slightly wetted with water and the massage spreads the paint along the entire length).

Dyeing your hair once, especially with persistent dyes, is not enough. It is important to keep the result for a long time.

This technique is not particularly difficult. To do this, you should purchase a special shampoo for colored hair. This name is not a marketing move, the composition of this tool is slightly different from ordinary shampoo. Properly selected detergent will make the strands softer and silky, will allow you to save and update pigmentation.

In addition, there are additional tools for fixing and restoring color. They are applied to the hair for a short time, do not have a hard chemical effect, are easily washed off with water.

How to preserve the color of dyed hair for a long time should be taken care of in advance. Pre-care does not require trips to the salon, expensive tools and a long time. The color obtained as a result of dyeing will remain for a long time smooth hair with a dense structure.

Porous damaged hair can be restored by refusing any aggressive styling procedures about two weeks before dyeing: blow-drying, curling, and perming.

Damaged split ends of the hair must be cut. Any caring masks based on vegetable, essential oils, as well as herbal, vinegar rinses will be very useful.

As a rule, manufacturers apply a color fixer to the dye. If it is not, then you should take care of its acquisition.

It is important to remember that the coloring pigment is fixed on the hair for about two days, so you do not need to wash your hair at this time. A visit to the pool, sauna, any room with a high temperature or the content of chlorine vapor should also be limited.

Staining is a complex chemical process. Permanent products destroy the natural structure and pigmentation of the hair, any violation of technology can lead to unpredictable results.

Dyes strongly dry hair, so it is very important to take care of their subsequent hydration and nutrition. Very simple and effective means will help restore the natural balance: masks based on egg yolk, honey, vegetable decoctions, oils.

Natural coloring agents will also help to fix the color for a long time. Henna, basma, chamomile, tea, coffee - for the color fixing procedure, they do not need to be applied for a long time, regular rinses are enough, you can hold it on your hair for a while and rinse with cool water.

The following very budgetary procedure is useful for hair: add a little vegetable oil to the proposed natural composition for restoring and fixing the color (burdock, grape are especially useful), apply on curls, cover with a film, wrap heat and leave it at any time. Wash off with shampoo. Such a mask will not only preserve the color, but also make the hair soft, docile and shiny.

The same effect can be achieved by rinsing with vinegar. It is enough to dilute a few drops of vinegar essence in a liter of warm water and rinse your hair: the result will be no worse than when using expensive products.

Starting the staining process, you need to know and if possible avoid fairly common mistakes, so as not to end up with tough, dull, not too beautiful strands.

• One of the most common mistakes is the expectation that the hair color will be the same as on the package. Crucial is the original color and structure of the curls. Blonde hair is thinner and more porous, it lends itself well to pigmentation and retains color longer. On dark hair, the result is less noticeable, they are usually thicker and denser than light, radically lightening them at home is quite difficult, and the result can be far from what was expected.This process must be divided into several stages, previously tested on a separate, inconspicuous strand.

• Another common mistake is neglecting allergy testing. Science does not stand still, even in a constantly used dye, a manufacturer can add a component that can cause an unpredictable reaction: damage, hair loss, redness or burns of the skin, breathing problems.
• Protective equipment such as gloves and a wrap for clothes should not be neglected. Even a very small drop of the product can hopelessly damage the fabric.
• To mix the components, combing the hair you need to use only non-metallic devices. Any metal will inevitably enter into a chemical reaction with the dye.
• Experts do not recommend washing their hair, using styling products 2-3 days before staining.
• Each chemical indicates the staining time. Violating it is strictly not recommended. You can get a more stable result if you repeat the procedure after a while (2-3 weeks).
• Change the original color by more than 3 tones. Persistent paints penetrate deep into the hair, destroying the natural pigment. An undesirable result is quite difficult to fix at home.
• Failure to observe the safety precautions specified in the instructions can lead to health hazards.