Tips on Dyeing Your Hair (for the first time)~

Hey everyone!

I was discussing with Rome yesterday whether or not to dye my hair again: the entire head? Highlights? Just the roots? What colour? Bleach? Box or salon? Now or later? And I realized that as someone who's already dyed her hair once, I still have so many questions. Those who are considering dyeing their hair for the first time must have even more. So today I'll be blogging about my thoughts and experiences from dyeing my hair!

The overall structure of this post will go like this. First, I'll talk about making the big decision, then discuss the colouring options. After, I'll share some tips on choosing colours, and handling regrowth and hair damage.

Introduction

Okay first I have a confession to make. You guys have probably figured this out already from all the Chinese food in my previous posts and the photo card in the sidebar that I'm Chinese? No, this is not a two-year secret, my name is just a little misleading :p (more on this later).

So why did I tell you this now? I included some photos in the post, and it might be useful to know my natural hair type: pure black Asian hair. This is what it looks like now. I dyed it near the end of June 2014 and currently have about 6 inches of regrowth. The colour I chose was a golden brown, the second darkest colour on the palette shown to me at the salon.

~7 1/2 months of regrowth

The Decision

To dye or not to dye? Of course, this is the biggest question. Most of you will hesitate because you worry about whether you'll look good, the maintenance, and the damage. The short answer is: it's different for everyone. You'll never know until you try and it's so true for hair colouring! Everyone's hair reacts differently to the chemicals, and I can't say for sure that my results will be the same for you. In the end, the mindset of "you'll never know until you try" was what cinched the decision for me. I had contemplated dyeing my hair for so long, I decided to just give it a go! I'd regret it more if I didn't try it, even if just once.

The Options

First, realize that you have choices! There are many options; I dyed all of my hair the same colour. While this is the most drastic change, this is the option for those who want to completely change their hair colour.

If you're not ready to make that commitment, consider highlights or dip-dye. If the prospect of regrowth is worrying you, highlights are a great alternative. By dyeing only certain streaks of hair, it'll blend in naturally when your hair starts to grow out. Your salon trips will be less frequent as well. Highlights work well to enhance your natural hair colour, and for adding a splash of colour in your hair.

Another option is dip-dyeing. It's a great way to get your feet wet (or your hair) and see what works or what doesn't. And the best part? You can chop it off if you don't like it. I'm contemplating myself whether or not to dip-dye my ends. Because you see, pink hair sounds awesome, but I'm not quite sold on full blown pink yet XD

And of course, another big question: box or salon? Personally, I got mine done at the salon, because I was inexperienced. I preferred having the experts handling my hair, especially since it was the first time. On the other hand, the day right after I coloured my hair, I helped my friend box dye hers, and it essentially looked identical. Contrary to popular belief, box dye isn't all that bad if you choose the right one. So of course, the salon may be your "safest option", but if you trust yourself or your friend, box dye can be a cheap option.

We used Palty hair dye. They have a wide range of colours tailored for Asian hair. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo, but my friend used a colour called Caramel something (I don't remember) and it turned out pretty close to the colour swatches on the box. I would say it's pretty similar to my colour above.

Palty hair dyes

Choosing Colours

It's almost dizzying, the number of colours to choose from! Unless your local salon (ie. mine) doesn't carry them -_- For myself, I had picked out a colour that I really liked - a lovely ash brown. I later found out from my stylist that in order to achieve that colour, I needed to bleach my hair first. The double process (lighten and tone) is much more damaging than the single process (just colouring). So over to the golden palette I went! It was my first time colouring my hair, and I wasn't prepared to bleach it.

This is the photo I showed my stylist (didn't quite turn out like it).

Yura of Girl's Day

If you're unsure of what colour to pick, I'd suggest you choose the colour closer to your natural hair colour. If your hair is naturally black, pick a dark brown over a light brown - and if you're blond, pick a light brown over a darker one. This way, you're less likely to be shocked after it's done. Even though I picked a relatively harmless colour, the initial change in my hair colour was enough to scare me away from mirrors for a few days!

Once you're comfortable with dyeing your hair, you can explore the entire spectrum! As for me, I'm looking towards…(you guys know it!) pink? :P I've always wanted to try blond as well, since Luraland's hair is really pretty. All in good time… ;)

Handling Regrowth and Damage

So you decided to go all out, and now you have five inches of regrowth - or as I like to say, five inches of regret at the top of your head. It's not as pretty as you imagined...now what?

It's not as bad as it looks. You judge yourself the hardest. This goes back to what I was saying about choosing colours. If you're worried about potentially ugly roots, you'll thank yourself for choosing a colour closer to your natural hair colour when it starts growing out. Needless to say, I can only imagine what will happen the day I decide to go blond…

Different hairstyles can do wonders for hiding regrowth, making it seem less obvious than it actually is. A half up-do, or any hairstyle that gives your hair more texture will help your roots blend in. Take the example below, the half-up ponytail and scrunchie takes away from the colour difference.

The most obvious solution would be to dye your roots. However, colouring your hair frequently may cause various problems. Aside from eventually becoming a pain to maintain, the continuous application required to hide your roots can cause damage to your hair. The hair dye chemically breaks down your natural pigment to replace it with the colour of your choice, so some damage is inevitable. Is the mess of frizzled strands and split ends on your head beyond repair? Here are some tips to keep your hair healthy.

1) Use hair masks. Hair masks such as this one that I use will restore shine and lock moisture in the strands.

Herbal Essences Rinse Off Treatment

2) Get frequent trims. Trimming your ends often will reduce the split ends and encourage new growth.

3) Use heat protectors. Try using your straightening or curling iron less often to let your hair recuperate. If you absolutely must, make sure to apply a heat protectant!

4) Wait between colourings. Even if your hair seems healthy, it's a good idea to wait a couple of weeks or months between each session. If your hair feels like hay, take some time off to let it heal before colouring it again.

That's all for today! It was a pretty long post, and it took longer than I thought it would to write it. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll be happy to answer! And just in case I forget tomorrow, happy Chinese New Year!

Stay safe, stay healthy, and please support SERA00!