The Beauty Diary by Rebekah Scanlan: How to colour your hair at home
Australian supermarkets have reported huge increases in sales of this DIY item, but experts are warning us not to attempt it at home.
While hairdressers are still able to operate during Australia’s coronavirus lockdown, many of us don’t feel comfortable leaving the house to use the service during such times of uncertainty.
But about two months into isolation, those of us who colour their hair are starting to show some impressive regrowth – myself included.
The situation has left us with two options: rock your regrowth or attempt to deal with the situation yourself – and with supermarkets recording an increase in sales of hair colourants, it seems a lot of us have gone for the latter.
Woolworths hair care category manager, Matthew Harbich, said demand for hair colourants has increased by 50 per cent in its stores.
Coles category manager for haircare, Rebecca Tinnion, said “popularity of hair dyes drastically increased in March and April”, revealing sales were up over 100 per cent in both months.
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BLONDES SHOULDN’T RISK IT
If you are going to attempt a bit of DIY at home, there’s some simple steps you can follow to avoid having a total disaster.
It’s good news for the brunettes and redheads among us, but experts have warned that blondes need to step away from the box dye.
You only have to check out a video of Sophie Monk attempting to lighten her dark roots to know why.
“If you have blonde hair, do not colour your hair at home on any level,” celebrity stylist Anthony Nader, who runs RAW in Surry Hills, said. “It’s just way too risky and you’ll get into trouble.
Instead he recommends investing in a purple shampoo and using it once a week to cleanse your colour.
“This will clean out that unwanted brassiness and yellow tones, that will make your blonde strands appear clean and fresh again.”
Sydney colourist Rochelle Boidin agrees, advising people to stay away from attempting to lighten their hair in any way.
“The art of foiling is a tricky one that takes years to perfect. I would recommend against this,” she said.
TALK TO YOUR HAIRDRESSER
Those with darker hair tones that are looking to cover grey roots or revitalise their colour can get away with experimenting at home – but still check in with an expert first.
Salons across Australia have adapted to the current climate, offering digital consultations over platforms such as Facetime and Zoom, where they’ll assess your hair and send you out a professional salon-approved colour kit.
Edwards and Co, who have eight salons in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, are encouraging clients to use services like this to avoid any DIY disasters.
“We want to keep our clients feeling good, even if that means applying their own colour at home for now,” Jaye Edwards, the salon’s owner told The Beauty Diary.
“As such, we have launched at-home colour kits and an online Instagram TV series, The Lockdown With EdwardsAndCo, to equip viewers with tips and tricks for taking care of their hair at home, and also provide some entertainment.”
These kits, which cost between $120 to $160, are perfect for covering grey hair and touching up regrowth to keep you going through the lockdown period and come with videos on Instagram that show you how to apply the colour.
“For anything more technical than this, for example balayage, foils or scalp bleaching, I would recommend holding out,” Ms Edwards said. “You will cost yourself so much more in the long run by attempting these techniques at home.”
This is a sentiment echoed by Mr Nader, who is also offering his clients a tailored “Colour Box”, for between $55 to 110 that can be delivered direct to your door.
“I understand the temptation to reach for the supermarket box dye, but please don’t,” he said, explaining they tend to be “blocky, one dimensional colours” which can end up looking disastrous even if there’s no bleach involved.
WHAT YOU NEED
If you are going to attempt colouring your hair at home, whether that be a box kit or colour from your hairdresser, you’ll need a few bits and pieces.
The main things you’ll need are gloves, a bowl, a colour brush, a towel and some Vaseline. “Make sure you wear gloves, don’t wear anything you wouldn’t want to get colour on as
mistakes happen,” Ms Boidin said. “Lay a towel or sheet on the floor to avoid ruining your carpet or bathroom tiles and apply Vaseline as a barrier to avoid staining on your skin on places like your ears and hairline.”
BRUNETTES SHOULD DOUBLE UP
Mr Nader suggests buying two brown different hair dyes that have one to two shade difference – no more – to create more texture and dimension. You should apply the darker shade on your roots and midlengths and use the lighter colour scattered through your ends.
“This will give the appearance of being lighter and textural and not one heavy solid colour,” he said.
Another way to avoid blocks of colour when dying your hair is to focus on the regrowth you can see.
“This is enough to get you by until salons reopen,” Ms Edwards said.
Having grown up watching my mum dye her hair in the bathroom sink, I’ve gone through many waves using supermarket colours in my locks over the years.
My two favourite are Revlon ColorSilk and Schwarzkopf Brillance Colour, both of which you can buy in Woolworths, Coles, Priceline and Chemist Warehouse.
Whenever I’ve wanted a bolder colour, I‘ve always gone for Schwarzkopf Brilliance, which costs $15 dollars depending on where you buy it and what deals are on. I tend to choose Revlon ColorSilk, which costs $9, when I want to get back to basics and go more natural. Both products are easy to apply and have a good pay-off colour wise, plus they leave hair silky soft afterwards.
Woolworths and Coles have offers on heaps of hair colours at the moment after seeing an increase in sales, so definitely check out your supermarket if you’re after a deal.
REDHEADS HAVE OPTIONS
At the start of this year, I took my hair to a serious level of red, a colour Ms Boidin explains can be hard to maintain even without having to contend with lockdown.
“Reds are so fun but they fade fast,” she said, explaining that instead of going for a permanent dye you could refresh the tone with a red shampoo or conditioner.
Mr Nader agrees, predicting he’ll be seeing a lot of redheads after the COVID-19 crisis has balanced out.
“My top tip for red, copper, titian hair colours is to use a colour foam once a week,” he said. “Think of this as an injection of colour that will gives your strands new life and gloss again.”
My favourite and Mr Nader’s recommendation is Revlon’s Professional Nutri Color Creme, which you can pick up on adorebeauty.com.au for $26.
Usually about two to three weeks after I’ve had my colour, I notice the vibrancy will start to fade – but I can’t go back to my hairdresser as paying for a new colour every few weeks would cost a fortune.
I whack this on in the shower and leave it on for between three to five minutes and then wash it out. It brings back my punchy red shade. Love it.
Another expert-approved option is Schwarzkopf Professional IGORA Expert Mousse, which Dario Mastronardi, the brand’s professional advisor, said is a great option rather than going for an “unpredictable” box dye.
“It is a conditioning colour mousse that lasts up to eight washes,” he said. “It gives up to 20 per cent white hair coverage and is easily applied by hands.”
But, hot tip, use an old towel for a few days after applying one of these colour mousses as they transfer easily in the early stages.
PLAY IT SAFE
If you don’t want to wait it out to get an expert to colour your hair once restrictions ease, but are becoming self-conscious of your greys or regrowth on those video calls – there’s another option.
Root touch up products, which mask your growth essentially by colouring them in and wash out later, are a nifty way of buying yourself time.
L’Oreal Magic Retouch is a firm fave even among celebs, with Eva Longoria recently sharing a tutorial on how to use the $13 item while she’s been in isolation.
The other option is to just ride it out like Carrie Bickmore until restrictions are fully lifted. with some states already starting to relax the rules, we may be reunited with our beauty pals sooner than expected.
This column is not advertorial content. Every review is independent, honest and ad free.
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