my hair color routine

A wrote a post about hair dye a long time ago, but since then I have changed my dying routine a bit, so I thought a new post was in order! 

Like I said in my older post, I used to be blonde up until my freshman year of college when I went brunette. It was a nice change, but brown just wasn't for me. I soon tried red, and I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon! 

On average, I dye my hair about every 5 weeks. Sometimes I wait longer, and sometimes I need to dye it before then. It all depends on how often you wash your hair, the type of shampoo you use, the temperature of your water and what type of hair dye. 

Make your red hair last longer:

• Wait as long as you can to wash your hair. I usually wash mine about every three days. Dry shampoo (or baby powder) is your friend! 
• When you do shower, use a sulfate free shampoo. I have used really expensive and cheaper shampoos, and the one I keep coming back to is Loreal's EverPure Volume Shampoo and conditioner. 
• Wash your hair with water that is as cold as you can stand. If you can handle washing your hair with icy water, this would make the red last much longer. Personally I don't have that willpower, but do try to turn the temperature down when I wash it. When I wash my hair for the first time after dying it, I usually use cold water. 
• Try different dyes, see which work for you the best. I used Loreal Preference for a long time, and liked it just fine. That is until I got my hands on some Redken Color Gels thanks to a friend of mine with a cosmo license. The Redken Color Gels are more vibrant and last longer for me, but if you don't have access to a professional beauty supply store, hop over to Sally's and try Loreal. 

So you wanna go red? I'd be happy to show you my hair color method! You need a color applicator bottle, gloves, developer (I use level 30) and your color. I have recently been mixing one part "Flame," with two parts "Bonfire." "Bonfire" is an orange base and a  level 6 (smaller the level number, the lighter your color will be) while "Flame" is a red base level 7. 

I like to use more "Bonfire," because it's an orange base rather than a red base, and I like it really warm and orange-y. Pay attention to the bases of your colors! They could be blue, violet, gold, red, orange, etc. These undertones play a huge part in what your color will turn out like. For example if I grabbed a blue base and used it with my red, I would get more of a violet-red, rather than an orange. If you wanna read more about all this, I recommend reading this and this.

Make sure your hair is well brushed, to make application easier. Once hair is brushed thoroughly, make sure you got your gloves on! Oh, and a raggedy shirt is good to have as well.

I like to first put my hair up in order to get the color at my roots in the back. Squeeze out color directly onto roots, and massage in with fingers. Once you have your back hairline covered in color,  let down another section of hair, securing the remainder on the top of your head. Massage color into roots, then squeeze color onto gloves and apply to the entire strand, making sure to get the ends. 

Repeat this process until all hair is covered in dye. Take a wet washcloth that you don't care about and clean up any dye that may have gotten on your skin (don't forget your ears and back hairline!). Wait about 30 minutes and wash with cool water. Yay, fresh and vibrant red hair!