I've read a lot of magazines' advice about techniques for coloring hair, and while some bits of advice are very good, I've found that some are not! Here, in my opinion, are the best tips for dyeing your hair. I've learned a lot of this by trial and error, and hope it works for you too! Keep in mind that I have thick, straight, slightly oily hair and slightly oily skin - if you have dry hair and/or skin, some of these things might not work for you - if ever in doubt, test something in an unnoticeable spot rather than making a noticeable mistake. Most of these tips are designed for people that want natural-looking results, but many can also be applied to funky looks.
1. Is your complexion warm or cool?
This is the first thing you have to know in order to pick the right shade of dye for you. From clairol.com: "When choosing a haircolor shade, keep in mind your natural skin tones. You'll look best in haircolor that complements your natural skin tones.
Cool - If you have skin that's olive, rosy brown, fair or rosy and eyes that are hazel, blue, blue-gray or green.
Warm - If you have skin that's fair to medium golden, golden brown or darker and eyes that are deep brown, hazel or brown."
2. How to pick a hair color, including undertones ("hues") and shades ("values").
First, be sure to read #1 above. [Paraphrased from clairol.com,] "For a cool complexion, complementary haircolors will have the word "ash" or "neutral" in their package descriptors. For a warm complexion, complementary haircolors will have the word "warm" or "reddish" in their package descriptors." Ok, that being said, it isn't always true. If ever in doubt, pick a color with the word "neutral" in it, as these will go with almost any skin tone.
If you want a natural look, this is the part that can get complicated. If you were born with a different color than your current natural hair color, you can always try going back to that, as it will probably still look natural, unless, for example, you have fair skin and use dark self tanner on your face. I've read the advice about ash-colors for cool complexions in dozens of different places, but let me tell you something... I have a cool complexion (pale pink skin and bluish-gray eyes), and I followed that advice. Trust me when I say that not only did it not make my skin look any less pink, but the color itself looked VERY unnatural. It made me look dried-up and older. The only people that can successfully pull off the natural ash haircolor look are those with Nordic backgrounds that have naturally white-blonde hair. Other than these people, all natural hair colors (except for gray and white, but I assume neither of these are your target color) have SOME red tones in them. So avoid dyeing your hair an "ash" or "cool" color, especially anything in the medium to dark blonde range (I do have ONE exception to my "never use ash haircolor" rule - see #4 for it). Brown ash tones are a little less severe, but still not the best you can get. If you have a cool complexion, stick with neutral undertones. AVOID colors with yellow undertones like the plague!!!!! Despite most "haircolor company" advice, people with pinkish skin CAN get away with having reddish hair - one of my best colors ever was Natural Instincts - Cinnaberry, a dark reddish-brown. Study people with naturally-red hair - most of them do have pink skin! And you know what? If you can use natural-looking makeup to cover up your facial redness, then don't even worry about the undertones - these rules are for people like me who are stuck with this type of complexion 24/7! If you have to plaster makeup on to cover a reddish complexion, then don't bother. This can make your face look really bad and can draw attention to even the tiniest flaws in the skins' surface. If you have a warm complexion (lucky you!), stick with either neutral or golden undertones.
Now that you know what undertones to look for - on to the shade choices! These do not concern color (or "hue"), but the levels of white versus black (or "value"). Basically, there are four levels: very light, medium light, dark, and black. For a natural look (according to my observations):
If you have pale skin, almost any shade can look natural, except for jet black. Note that the darker you go, the whiter your face will look in comparison. If you have medium skin, any shade can look natural besides white-blonde. If you have dark or asian skin, dark shades look the most natural, but the best way to add a little zip to your hair while not going overboard is to dye a dark reddish color into your whole head or do some highlights (see #7).
If you're going for a funky look, follow the "hue" guidelines but do the opposite of the "value" ones! If you have really dark hair and want to add some crazy color(s) to it, you'll either want to bleach it first, or use something like L'Oreal's "Chunking," a haircolor system that lets you do streaks of blonde, bright red, etc, supposedly even beginning from dark hair. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it's available at most drug stores.
3. Don't use Vaseline around your hairline when dyeing!
A lot of advice is given to spread a barrier of Vaseline around your hairline before you dye your hair in order to avoid inadvertently dyeing your skin. However, I don't think this is necessary. Most people have very fine hair around their hairline, and for older people, this is most often what turns grey first. Unless you're VERY careful, you'll probably spread a little Vaseline over some of this hair. The Vaseline will then block the dye from getting to the fine hairs, and you'll end up with a not-so-natural look, meaning that there could be a ring of your natural color left around your face. Instead, I spread the color over all the fine hairs and the skin underneath, and then when I rinse off the dye, I rub the color right off my skin. Soap can help remove it too. KEEP IN MIND that I have slightly oily skin in those areas, so if you have dry skin and want to test this theory, try it out in an area that won't be noticeable just in case it does not rinse off!
4. How to dye dark hair to a very light blonde in the fewest steps.
This is my only exception to my "never use an 'ash' or 'cool' hair color" rule. There are now many varieties of 'bleach blonding' hair dyes on the market and for sale in drug stores. These are designed to bleach hair the maximum amount that Clairol/Loreal/etc types of dye possibly can. However, what often happens the first time dark hair is bleached is that it turns a bright orange tinge (this happened to me personally when I used Feria Extra Bleach Blonde on my hair). To combat this, you should use either an ash-toned bleach blonding kit or the lightest regular ash blonde hair dye you can find. This will work because ash colors neutralize red and orange tones, so while it might not get rid of them completely, it will help a LOT. If you do this once and the results are not light enough, observe your color in natural sunlight and analyze how much orange undertones are in it. If it looks too orange, then do an ash bleaching again the next time you color. If it looks neutral and natural, then you can try a regular bleach blonding kit next time. Using too much ash-toned haircolor can make your hair look very dull and gray (I'm not kidding - it has happened to me)! So whenever in doubt, look at your color in the sunlight, and be sure to observe how it looks next to your skin tone. Think about what results you want, and use ash tones to reduce red or orange tones and golden tones to add them!
5. What to do about dark eyebrows if you dye your hair REALLY light blonde... or vice versa!
Short and easy answer... NEVER try to dye your own eyebrows to match your hair!!! If you're trying to match light eyebrows to dyed dark hair, the easiest way to do so is to get a matching eyebrow pencil. Never draw on "cartoonish" eyebrows - instead, draw tiny little lines, simulating real hairs as well as you can in size, shape, and direction of growth. You can pluck your light eyebrow hairs to an attractive shape before-hand if you want to, but don't wax them all off if you can avoid it. Not only will the natural hairs act as a guide for where to draw the dark hairs, but they will add a natural texture to your eyebrow areas.
Unfortunately, bleached blondes can't draw blonde hairs into naturally-dark brows! For a maximally-natural look, pluck your brows as thin as you can without reducing them to pencil-thin lines. Again, do everything you can to avoid waxing the whole brow off and drawing it on. Both of these actions can make them look even more unnatural! If your eyebrows are so thick that after you pluck them to a more 'streamlined' shape they STILL are noticeably dark, you can try plucking a few hairs out of the middle of the thicker part of the brow, toward the center of your face. This helps 'thin' them out, but beware! Do this very carefully, because even one or two too many hairs can create a bare spot in the brow. If this DOES happen to you, carefully fill in the spot with a brow pencil matching the hairs' natural color. Draw tiny little lines, simulating the real hairs as well as you can in size, shape, and direction of growth.
2007-01-17 02:19:12
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answer #10
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answered by sarabmw 5
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