The moment you decide you need an extreme change...

We've all been there.
Wanted/needed a dramatic change.  Your hair is the first place you turn to!
  You feel the urge to do something new and exciting.

Maybe blonde to brunette, brunette to red, stripes of pink or green, ice blue even.

Now, it can be tempting to just do a 'home job', save your pennies and still try for that WOW factor.

Lets be honest though, who has actually had a successful dramatic change to their hair from a 'home dye kit?'

Maybe to start with, but then the colour faded out and you tried to do it again but it all eventually went wrong and you ended up with black instead of brunette, or your hair went like chewing gum?

Sure enough, sometimes it can look all right, and you keep doing the same thing for a while after, but you know, admit it to yourself, you always end up back at the hairdresser with your tail between your legs promising to yourself you will never do it at home again.

And sometimes it can turn out like this even after you try to 'colour correct' it yourself!

Please!...Never, ever, ever bleach your hair at home!

But WHY doesn't it work so well at home?

• Bleach is an unstable colour, it is very hard to control and therefore it can easily over-lighten or under-lighten your hair, often both in the same sitting.  You will end up with light and bright roots and dark orange tinged ends (hmm... sound familiar?!) 
• Home hair bleaching kits do not have toners with them. Toners are required to even out the lightening effect on your hair to finish your colour and to avoid the raw look. Bleaching at home is very rarely subtle and often ends in a more expensive trip to the hair salon for colour correction work and a hair repair treatment!

I'm not offended by all the dumb-blonde jokes because I know that I'm not dumb.  I also know I'm not blonde.  ~Dolly Parton

And for darker hair:

Colouring your hair darker at home, is not such a mission, if you don't mind your expensive bathroom walls and floors getting the odd splatter of permanent stain!

Issues you may run into include:

• Non adequate coverage of grey hairs
• Too bright coverage at the roots
• Over colouring (this is very common) this is where the hair gets a colour build up, leaving the hair with a dull dead appearance - no vibrancy at all.  Colouring again will not correct this, it only makes the problem worse.

In the salon we have soooo many colour to choose from, and often in one colour application we are actually mixing up a few different colours with different strength developers to deal to all the different hairs on the one head! Box colour doesn't give you this choice :(

If you want your colour to last longer, then the best thing to use is Joico colour endurance. It is a beautiful rich shampoo and conditioner specially formulated for colour longevity. Also Kpak argan oil (which we have mentioned in previous blogs) Both products are available in our salon.
(62 Ardmore street Wanaka)

"I can vouch for the Joico shampoo and conditioner, I originally had a very light blonde hair and now have the girls in the salon dye it a beautiful dark chocolate/red brunette colour...it is amazing how much longer the colour lasts with this product.  Its also awesome how much money I save as I only need to have my roots done instead of my whole head every time."- Jess Eastwood

And last, but by no means least: 
Maintain your tresses by making sure you have an in salon treatment put through your hair at the time of your cut/colour. Home treatments are affordable and the best way to know you are doing the best for your hair.


The hair is the richest ornament of women.  ~Martin Luther

So...who has a great 'home hair dye' story/photo...good or bad...leave us a comment or a picture!...people who comment get lucky sometimes!