October 23, 2021 l Tara E.
Natural hair dye tips and tricks continue to evolve as more and more professionals and DIYers perfect their game and spread the knowledge across the natural hair community. If there is one thing that we love to do to natural hair…it’s to try new hair color. Whether simply touching up our natural hair colors, adding a few highlights or lowlights, or even trying a daring, possibly funky, new color, color treatments can be fun. But, unfortunately, they can also be dangerous at the same time. This statement is particularly true as it relates to us dyeing our hair within the comfort of our homes.
While at-home hair color treatments can be well and good, there are a few things you should avoid when coloring your natural hair at home.
Here are three natural hair dye tips to consider should you decide to color your hair at home.
Avoid Choosing Hair Dye Color Because of the Box
Just because a gorgeous naturalista with golden locks is staring at you on that hair dye box does not make it a viable option for your natural hair. Many people decide on a whim to dye their natural hair based on the picture on the hair dye box. The thing most people don’t take into account is that we all have different hair and the photo is not of a home hair-dye job but instead, it is a picture of someone whose hair was professionally dyed.
While the people on the box may have brilliant colors, it doesn’t mean the hair dye will leave your natural hair looking the same. It’s always smart to select a color that is either lighter or darker than the shade you want. If you take this action, chances are that your hair could end up in the light or dark shade you want!
Always Color Carefully
Hair dye is notorious for leaving stains behind in its wake. Your clothes, beautiful marble or granite sink as well as your furniture or walls can easily fall victim to at-home color treatments. Most people usually end up staining their scalp, forehead, even their shoulders or neck. This action shows that you went the cheap way and did your hair at home instead of going to a salon. The trick to avoiding staining yourself is applying a base a neutral base like olive oil or coconut oil to your forehead and other areas prone to staining, and having old towels around to wear over your shoulders and where you are coloring your hair (bathroom sink, kitchen area, etc.) This step keeps you from straining yourself, your scalp, or other nearby objects.
How to Remove Hair Dye from Your Sink or Tub
If you inadvertently get hair dye on your sink or tub, do not despair. There is hope! The key is to act quickly. There are dozens of methods that you can deploy to get that dye off your porcelain or fiberglass finish.
Nail Polish Remover contains acetone, an ingredient that can lift stains from the surface if used immediately following the incident. You want to be careful not to use nail polish remover on a surface that consists of wood or is a painted surface.
Isopropyl Alcohol is another option for ridding your sink or tub of those pesky hair dye splatters. You can use a cotton ball or disposable rag to remove the stain. It works by reactivating the ingredient that creates the color long enough to allow for its removal.
Lemon Oil is an amazing essential oil that can serve as a natural solution and cleaner with the perfect blend of ingredients to rid your favorite surface of inconvenient hair dye stains. Lemon oil contains a high level of acidity which ultimately enables it to strip away hair dye from the surface.
Baking Soda and Vinegar can also provide a natural solution for stain removal. Simply create a paste solution and using a brush, such as a toothbrush, scrub the surface to get rid of the stain.
How to Remove Hair Dye from Your Skin
On occasion, you may get dye on your skin, despite your best efforts to prep your skin for the adventure of coloring your hair. Do not fret. You can use a few natural solutions to remove hair dye from your skin. Dish soap is a common ingredient in most natural recipes for this process, so make sure you have a gentle but powerful solution such as Dawn Dishwashing Liquid.
In essence, you can mix dishwashing liquid and baking soda or rubbing alcohol and dishwashing liquid, apply to the spot and rinse off to remove the dye from your skin. Keep in mind that alcohol is drying to hair and skin, so you may need to moisturize these areas after use to prevent irritation.
How to Dye Natural Gray Hair
Let’s face it…as we age, gray hair becomes an ever-present part of us. You can either embrace it, or you can cover it. If you decide to cover your gray, keep in mind that you may need to use more than one color even when using the best hair dye for gray hair.
For best results, use two different colors around the same shade. If you want to be blonde, use a darker blonde color first and then a couple of shades of a lighter blonde.
Are you trying to become a brunette? Use a dark brown and then a shade or two lighter brown. This keeps the color from fading quicker than it usually would, saving you money and possible stress and agitation headaches.
Coloring your hair is something we all do at some point in our lives. However, when it comes to picking the right color or finding the right dye, we all can mess up. These three crucial tips can help you with your hair coloring journey when you color your hair correctly and choose the right shade for yourself. Good luck!