While most hair magic happens at the salon, it is possible to create amazing color at home with the proper tools. It's also possible to do some serious damage to your strands, so educating yourself about effective at-home hair-color techniques is key!
We chatted with our favorite celebrity colorist, Rachel Bodt of the Red Door Salon & Spa in New York City, to get the scoop on the best way to elevate your at-home hair-color game. Bodt's magic hands have crafted some iconic heads of hair, like Tilda Swinton's coveted icy blonde, so you can rest assured she knows a thing or two about hair color.
Read on for her tips on at-home hair color, along with product recommendations from both Bodt and our editors who have dared to dye at home:
Protect the skin near your hairline with a stain shield.
First things first — before you go slathering your hairline with that box color, you need to create a shield to keep your skin from staining. Especially when you're working with darker colors, it can be a pain to scrub off and can cause unwanted irritation to the delicate area you've just applied chemicals to. Bodt swears by Repelle. "It comes in a Chapstick applicator and you can purchase it online," she explained. "In a pinch, I love good old Vaseline or coconut oil too."
Repelle Hair Color Stain Shield
Vaseline Skin Protectant
Start with demi-permanent if you're new to at-home hair color.
Demi-permanent color is the best starting point if you're unsure of your best color type and formula. "Start with a demi-permanent to see if this doesn’t do the trick, and then work towards permanent," said Bodt. Demi-permanent hair color deposits pigment onto the cuticle without penetrating it, so it's not as harsh as permanent color. Because it doesn't permanently change the natural pigment of your hair, it's easier to experiment with and find your best shade.
One downside is that it does not last as long as permanent color, so evaluate what works best for you. If you have gray hair, demi-permanent might not cover everything, depending on how much gray you have in your natural shade.
Redken Shades EQ Demi-Permanent Hair Color
Wella Color Charm Demi-Permanent Hair Color
Clairol Professional Demi-Permanent Hair Color
Create a barrier to keep your ends from getting too dark.
One obstacle many home hair colorists face is uneven color from root to tip, with the ends developing much darker than they should. This could happen because you didn't coordinate the processing time properly for each area, or because you applied color all the way to the ends when you really just needed to touch-up the new growth. Either way, you can avoid this issue by creating a barrier between your ends and the hair-color product.
"When you are done applying the base color, I recommend applying either Olaplex Step 3 or coconut oil on the mid-shaft to ends," Bodt told us. "This will help repel the dark color from filling in on the dry ends."
If you're uncertain of which color to choose to begin with, Bodt recommends going with the lighter option if you aren't 100% sure what shade you should pick. "It’s always easier to fix hair that’s too light than hair that's too dark," she said.
Olaplex Hair Perfector No. 3
WellaPlex No. 3 Hair Stabilizer
Use cooler colors to combat "hot roots."
Another at-home hair-color tragedy that can haunt the DIY colorist is "hot roots," which is essentially the result of the new growth by the scalp looking a level lighter (and usually warmer) than the rest of your hair. To combat this, Bodt suggests selecting a cooler, ash color for the roots, as this will help cancel out any unwanted warm results in this area. She also recommends mixing equal parts of lighter and darker shades if you can't quite find the perfect color match for your hair in one specific product.
L'Oreal Preference Light Ash Blonde
Garnier Nutrisse Medium Ash Brown
Don't bleach your hair at home.
We could not agree with Bodt more on this. While we fully support experimentation, it takes an incredibly skilled hair colorist to master the art of at-home highlights. "Definitely stay away from bleaching at home," Bodt said. "It can destroy your hair, clothes, and even your skin."
And if you feel you must bleach your own hair at home, our editors recommend buying a kit designed for balayage, as this technique is a little more forgiving than trying to foil an entire head of highlights by yourself. (And don't get us started on the tragic results we've seen from at-home highlight caps.) Subtly painting on the bleach in just a few areas will provide a softer look that doesn't have to be exact (and will be less likely to ruin your entire head of hair).
L'Oreal Preference Brush-On Glam Highlights
L'Oréal Paris Touch-On Highlights
Avoid shampooing your hair too often.
"I can’t stress this enough that not shampooing a lot is key," Bodt told us. "This will keep the gloss fresh. Going from wet to dry a lot will make your hair look and feel dry."
We also recommend confirming that your shampoo is safe for color-treated hair. Some shampoos, especially those designed for dandruff, contain ingredients that will strip your beautiful new color.
If you get super oily, you can use a dry shampoo in-between washes to keep your hair looking "clean" as you work to preserve and protect your sparkly new hair color.
R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo
Redken Color Extend Shampoo and Conditioner
Batiste Floral Dry Shampoo
Read more:
The Best Purple Shampoos for Blonde Hair
Hair Growth Oils for Your Longest Locks Ever
Reach Ultimate #HairGoals with These Frizz-Fighting Hair Products
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Katie McBroom is an award-winning content creator and freelance writer. Prior to contributing to Biography, she served as Content Editor for Google and Beauty Editor for Best Products. Her work has also appeared in publications including CNN, WWD, Business Insider, Forbes, and Men's Health, among others.
