STOP coloring your hair at home

5 reasons why you shouldn't be using Box Color at home.

Dominique DeFrancesco, Colorist from De La Mer Salon (Bellmore, NY), has seen her fair share of homemade "ombré" color created at home with box color, so she has a list of tips she now shares with her guests on why doing their own color at home is a less than stellar idea.

1. Color must be customized and formulated for the individual. When using at home color, it is not formulated specifically for the individual, at a salon a professionally trained colorist formulates it for the individual hair type, taking into consideration factors such as texture, skin tone, eye color and starting color level, to achieve the proper and predictable end result.

2. Out come can possibly be a chemical haircut. At home color can be high in peroxide, which can damage hair and poses the risk of over processing and overlapping (resulting in breakage known as a chemical haircut).

3. Most guests who are budget conscious spend $8 on box dye only to end up in the salon seeking a professional for corrective color which ends up costing even more in the long run than if the guest had opted for professional hair color initially.

4. Compromising the health of hair. Box color often creates dry straw like hair texture. A professional is able to decolorize hair without compromising the health with different professional products that they are trained to use. Salons have multiple products they can turn to, like Goldwell Silk Lift Decolorizer, which conditions the hair why it is lightening.

5. When doing your own color, it is nearly impossible to see the back of your head, therefore it creates banding and uneven application, not a very professional application, and it’s obvious. A salon services makes sure color is applied correctly, processed properly and the formula is calculated properly, hence a professional service.

Doing their own color at home is a less than stellar idea.