DIY: Salon Quality Hair Color

As I’ve mentioned before Brian and I are working hard to cut costs where we can.  One of our goals is for me to stay at home with Isabella and any future (no, I am not pregnant right now) children, which will obviously mean a huge change to our current lifestyle.  Cutting costs now will help us save money for then, but will also prepare me for the day I can no longer buy everything I want when I want it.  I’ve always been a big fan of saving money on big ticket items, but there are certain things on which I’ve always been willing to spend the bucks.

One thing I’ve grown quite accustomed to, and really have always believed is worth every dime, is going to an upscale (or at least upper scale) salon for a good haircut and color.  In the past I’ve frequented places that would get me in and out from anywhere from under $80 to as high as $130, but I’ve always left there feeling like the cut or the color could have been a little better.

If I could find the right salon, stylist and colorist I would leave looking a little more like the celebrity whose picture I had taken in as a guide for the cut and color.  (Note to anyone who is thinking of trying the same tactic:  IT DOES NOT WORK! ) To actually look like said celebrity would require thousands of dollars to cover the cost of the celebrity hair and makeup artists, wardrobe stylist, an eating disorder, plastic surgery and an odd blend of uber-ego and insecurity…and possibly a major drug and/or alcohol addiction…or perhaps simply an appearance on MTV’s, I Want A Famous Face.

Since none of those things are in my future, I am stuck with the decision that those of us who reside in true reality face: pay for the cut and color, do both at home or pay for cut and do the color at home.  I have never thought of myself as one of those girls who is gifted in the arts of makeup and hair styling, so I am comfortable with the idea that I will never purchase a flowbee or a home clipping/trimming kit.  Saving money is one thing; ending up looking like let my one year old cut my hair is another!  But, I have toyed with the idea of coloring my hair at home and paying for a decent hair cut.  I could then still get the high end salon experience, come out with a much better style than the chop I would be able to give myself and still save about 50%.

I’ve been a tad trepidacious, however, because I’ve heard the horror stories and seen the photographic proof of hair home dye jobs gone awry.  (My own mother attempted to color her hair once and ended up with day-glow orange; the only solution was to dye her hair blond. NOT GOOD; NOT GOOD AT ALL! Her natural color is a dark brown, espresso if you will, bordering blackish.)  So even though I’ve considered coloring my hair at home, I’ve always chickened out and shelled out another $100+ to get the color and cut.

Recently, I’ve started reading Whoorl’s Hair Thursday; one of her recent posts was about Feria’s (by L’Oreal) newly improved home hair coloring line. I’ve found through reading Whoorl’s various blogs that I usually agree with most of the advice she dispenses, and since she herself has great hair, I took her recommendation seriously.  Plus, the before and after pictures of the guinea pigs girls who tried the product were very convincing, especially Holly’s.

So I went to the L’Oreal site to get more information about the product.  There I discovered a $2 off coupon for any Feria product, which I confess made me even more excited about potentially trying the product.   FYI:  if you want to print the coupon you must first register for the site, which involves answering a few questions and providing some personal information.  You will, however, get to print the coupon after doing so, but will also continue to be notified of new products and specials!

Once I registered I proceeded with the Find My Shade questionnaire.  I knew if I was going to follow through on coloring my hair at home I wanted to be sure I was armed with as much information as possible.  The questionnaire was very thorough and the advice/explanatory videos along the way really helped to keep my pulse rate low!  (Even if you don’t color you hair at home or would never consider it, the questionnaire would help you determine an optimal hair color before heading to the salon.)

At the end of the Find My Shade questions I was given a range of colors, including my dream color, from which to choose.  Armed with that information and my $2 off coupon I hit Target (didn’t have my color) and then Wal-Mart (sadly, they came through for me, but I think that just further indicates that Target’s clientele takes care of themselves, whilst Wal-Mart’s let themselves go…they’re too busy rounding up their feral kids and animals before CPS stops by for the latest in home visit.)

I still wasn’t sure if I was going to follow through on my decision to go for it, but I figured even if I spent the $5 and didn’t end up dying my hair at home I wasn’t going to be out too much.  During all the hemming and hawing I did call my mom to seek her advice, but as fate would have it she was not home, so I was left to weigh the pro’s and con’s with my go-to person for anything fashion and style related: Brian.  His only response was, “It seems to me my mom and sister were always coloring their hair.”  Ah, spoken like a true sage!

Ultimately, I decided to proceed with coloring my hair because I kept going back to the money thing: if I hated it I was only out an extra $5, but if I liked it I had just saved myself about $80 and could then use that money elsewhere like feeding my kid this month.  (What a rare treat indeed!)

Here are the before shots:

After reading the directions, which are divided into four easy steps, I called upon Brian, who is the very definition of a Renaissance man, to help me.  He put on the gloves, applied the dye, and helped me rinse my hair once the color was set.  He begged me not to publish the proof; “It’s gay for a man to do this!” is what I think he said.  But, I countered that most women would find it endearing that a man would stand in the garden tub and apply dye to his wife’s hair.  Of course, doing so put a lot of pressure on Brian for he feared the worst and that if my hair turned ugly that I would blame him; I assured him I would not, but that I would still cry.

Brian also offers up this shot as proof that he is not gay:

I think the only thing it proves is that he is juvenile.  (He took several of these shots!)

Here I am about midway through the 25 minute dye processing; I am terrified terrifying at this point!

See, even Isabella thinks so:

Could I look any more like “Horse Face”?  I submit that I could not!

And after a quick rinse, conditioning treatment (two minutes) and some styling here are the after shots:

For $5 I think the color, shine and highlights are great.  Brian, Isabella and I were pleasantly surprised at the non-scary outcome:

The products I used:  Feria #40 (color) and L’Oreal’s Studio Heat Seeker (product to help w/ straightening)

If you’ve considered/are considering dying you hair at home L’Oreal is the way to go!  I will definitely use their products in the future and happily spend my $80 savings elsewhere!  Happy dying!

Filed under Blogs, DIY, Hair products, Websites | Comments (6)