First, you'll want to head over to Clairol on FaceBook, where you can take a Hair Color Alter Ego quiz. It has fun questions such as your plan to spend a million dollars, and they translate that over to what your hair color should be! Probably no big surprise, but my answers gave me the Alter Ego of a brunette. I'm a "reliable brunette", which sounds horribly boring. But really, it is a good description. Would you want someone wild and crazy as your kid's ICU doctor? Probably not.
So, after figuring out that I'm a brunette, the next step is picking a color! Clariol has quite a few product lines. Semi-permanent, demi-permanent, permanent, foam.... sooo confusing! So, once again head over to Facebook for some help. On their page, Clairol has an amazing app to give expert hair color advice, and it is serious fun to play with! I found it best to upload a picture of myself looking straight at the camera. You answer a few questions such as how much gray you're trying to cover, pick a color range you're interested in, and the app will offer up suggestions and show you the results!
Marie had a few great tips for at home color application.
Choosing the correct color/formula
• Marie suggests that you should first know what your skin tone is. My favorite test comes from The Girls in the Beauty Department. In general, cool tone girls have bluish undertones, look best in silver jewelry and wear colors like pink, blue, purple and other jewel tones. Gals with warm tones usually have gold jewelry, reddish undertones and look great in browns, tans and oranges. Think warm fall colors.
• Once you know your tone, you'll want to make sure you have a color that is in the same range. Yes, it is possible to be a warm or cool blonde!
• Stay within 2 shades of your natural color. If you mess something up it will be much easier to fix.
• If you have more than 25% grey Marie recommends using a permanent color. If you have less grey or are making less of a color change then a demi-permanent color should be fine.
Application
• Consider a swatch test! A small section of hair behind your ear is perfect to color an then pull over to hold against your skin to check results.
• Don't wash your hair the day of application. Day old hair will have natural oils to help protect your scalp.
• A layer of Vaseline around your hairline can help protect your skin from color.
• Divide your hair into 3 even sections prior to application. If you have particularly long or thick hair consider using even more sections.
• Marie says that Nice‘n Easy Color Blend Foam has quite a bit more hair color than the other products. If you have thick or long hair consider using the Color Blend Foam or buying 2 boxes. You should have enough to coat your hair evenly, without trying to scrimp.
• During application, apply to your roots (especially near your hair line and part) and then work hair color through the rest of your hair.
Keeping Your Color Fresh
• Clairol comes with a Color Seal Conditioner which makes your color last longer and maintain shine. Use it once a week to help prevent fading!
• Use shampoo/conditioner for colored hair. They are usually a bit gentler than other products and will help maintain your color.
• When roots are a bit obvious, try using a product such as Root Touch-Up every 3 weeks or so. Concentrate on your hair line and part, those are the most obvious areas when you need a touch up.
Clairol on FaceBook
This is a very good way into knowing what is the best hair color to every skin tone.
ReplyDeleteI took the quiz and ended up as a "sultry redhead." Guess we were both born with the right color.
ReplyDeleteHa! I guess we were! (That's my little sister, who is, yes, a natural red head)
ReplyDelete