- Shampoo your hair properly and then condition them. Thereafter, wait for two days, to give the natural oils in your scalp time to resurface. This is an essential step to protect the scalp from chemical reactions and also would help your hair color to set better, giving you uniformed results overall.
- On the day of hair color, you need to first arrange the toolkit for the hair coloring purpose. Put on an old t-shirt and collect some older towels and washcloths. Get some hair clips for sectioning your hair, a handy timer and a hand mirror, which will enable you to view the back of your head.
- Section your hair so that you can handle you hair better, during the coloring process.
- Before starting, make sure you read the instructions at least two times. Each of the coloring brands follows a definite style or process, so if you don't want to do a blunder, ensure that you read the instruction. Also, do not forget the strand test.
- Put on the gloves and start the coloring process. If you are touching up the roots, be sure that this is the area that you target. You shouldn't be applying the color to the entire head as in the first application.
- For those of you, who are coloring for the first time, start at the crown or at the nape of the neck. This because it is here that the natural hair color is darkest.
- For the ends, apply hair color that is one level darker, without adding the developer. The color at the ends of the hair tends to fade faster than the rest, because the ends are porous and does not hold color.
- Once you have applied the color, use a timer to keep track of the time. Often while reading a magazine, we completely forget to keep a track of the time. So, a time would be beneficial in this case.
- After the specified time is over, rinse your hair thoroughly. Rinse, until the water runs clear.
- Make sure to condition your hair properly. After the coloring process, hair becomes very vulnerable to damage.
Precautions
- Always color your hair, when they are fully dry because color of damp and wet hair may get diluted later.
- If your current hair color is darker than the next shade chosen, use a color remover to completely lose the old tint. However, they are effective on only artificial colors and not natural hair color.
- For gray hair, use a shade darker than the shade of color used on the rest of the hair.
- After coloring your hair, do not perm or straighten for several weeks.
- If you go out in the sun or swim regularly, your hair color may wear off quickly. To avoid this, condition your hair regularly to negate the effects of summer heat and water.
- If light-reddish blonde tones fade to orange color, you can use a little red-gold accent to give fashionable highlights.
