Going to the hairdresser is great, right? Once you find a ‘dresser you love, you hold onto him/her for dear life and hope they never go on a holiday for more than three weeks (speaking for bottle blondes here), then, you spend four hours in the chair and $400, and walk out with your go-to look.
For ten years I’ve considered this a part-of-life process to undertake every three weeks, but lately, it feels tiring. And costly. And well, the grey hairs have really changed things too. The last thing I want to do on the weekend is spend an entire day of sunshine under a canopy of foil, intermittently topping up the parking meter.
So, last week, I decided to march into Priceline, pick up a packet colour and take to the two-centimeter-roots situation myself. After all, no person saving to buy a house in Sydney is above a packet colour.
All I could think about was the mulberry hair rinse that stained my hair for two years in high school. It was meant to be a six-wash fresh change. Nightmares.
I have always been told my hair “throws warmth” so my salon blonde needs to stay on for longer than other people’s. I’m also naturally brunette, so, using a packet colour has always been out of the question. “Those roots will turn orange in a millisecond,” I’ve always been told. WELL. Turns out there’s now an app to help navigate that ~situation~.
A pharmacy assistant caught me mid-fluster in the hair aisle and suggested I download this app called “Clairol Myshade”.
Fun fact: It’s the only app that lets you virtually try on hair colour that actually exists.
I took a selfie with my brunette-grey roots fully on display, and then got to work trying on the shades of blonde. Hilarious yes, but actually, so helpful. You get to see exactly how each shade is going to flatter your skin tone and existing hair colour. Or, you can get an expert living in the app to pick a tone for you. Yes, there’s a hairdresser in there waiting to have a consultation with you.
Then, instead of pitching a tent in Priceline for the night, you can save about a thousand versions of yourself and find the colour that suits you best on screen.
I couldn’t tell if the colour I liked in-store was the colour I liked in-app, so I scanned the bar-code and the app showed me the shade on my mug shot. Perfect! Technology, hey.
I walked out with this guy — Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Root Touch Up in Shade 7 Dark Blonde.
Dark = no chance of orange. So I felt 50 per cent confident I might be able to pull this whole DIY thing off and touch up my roots like a pro.
Prepping the colour was a lot simpler than expected.
First up, you squeeze the two tubes into the little plastic dish that comes in the box, mix with the brush provided, (make sure you wear the gloves) and you’re good to get painting.
The box says this concoction is going to cover my greys in 10 minutes, and, it does. Brilliant. This is when I start to freak out.
10 minutes is very fast. I leave the colour on for 15 just to be safe. The colour is notably lighter than my natural roots but only by about three shades, which is exactly the lift I was going for.
Somehow, this tint has toned my hair into the perfect deep bronde shade. Like this, minus Lauren Conrad’s face.
Final consensus? I got my salon colour job in 20 minutes flat. WHY did I wait so long to tackle regrowth on my own? Blame the $6 hair rinses of 2004.
Before you go attempting your own balayage (start slow, friends) these are my top ten tips for fellow first time colourists.
Ten tips for touching up regrowth at home
When in doubt, go for the darker colour option
I’m talking to you, blondies. It’s better to be a couple of shades darker at the roots than platinum at the top and brassy at the bottom. Look for cool words like “ash” over warm words like “honey”.
Start with clean hair
Product build up can mess with your colour finish, so double shampoo the night before to get the cleanest possible colour result.
Towel up
Cover your shoulders and your sink. You don’t want to bleach your basin.
Do a strand test
Yes that fan-dangle app told you this colour was fail-proof for you, but it’s still necessary to test it in real life. Choose a strand toward the nape of your neck that’ll be easy to disguise.
Never use metal clips to section your hair
Any colour containing a developer can have a chemical reaction with the metal, and in really rare cases, causes hair to dissolve. Yikes! Play it safe with plastic sectioning clips instead.
Use a barrier cream to prevent skin stains
A coat of Vaseline smoothed along the hairline will prevent the colour from tinting your forehead. This is an essential step, especially if you’re applying colour in a hurry. Remove any excess colour from your forehead with a damp cloth after application.
Start at the top
Your part line needs the most attention, so start there, then work your way around your face. Use a tail comb to create super precise part lines. It’ll make your paint job a whole lot easier.
Stick to the time limit
At-home colour develops fast. Under-developed colour is easier to fix than over-developed colour.
Don’t wash your hair again for 48 hours
Obviously remove the colour, (and use the conditioner in the packet because that stuff is silk bottled) but then, don’t wash the hair again for two days.
Invest in an anti-fade shampoo and conditioner system
A root touch up is a perfect maintenance product that will last up to three weeks and will make regrowth less obvious for longer, but it pays to care for your hair with a specialist shampoo and conditioner designed for coloured hair, too. Something with safflower oil will prevent colour from fading and keep your hair soft.
