# If you color your hair at home, why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780 "2006-10-25T00:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780/41 "2006-10-26T17:00:16Z")
I color at home for both the cost, and the convenience. Pick up a kit at the store, use it whenever I have 30 minutes to spare. And I color red, so for me it’s Feria, because the reds are so deep and gorgeous and shiny and they last longer than any other red I’ve used. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780/42 "2006-10-26T17:05:29Z")
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain] I color at home for both the cost, and the convenience. Pick up a kit at the store, use it whenever I have 30 minutes to spare. And I color red, so for me it’s Feria, because the reds are so deep and gorgeous and shiny and they last longer than any other red I’ve used. [/QUOTE] I often go red as well and second (or whatever we’re on) the praise for Feria. I’ve been playing around with dark blond as well lately and have rather liked it. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780/43 "2006-10-26T17:25:26Z")
I have pretty awesome natural red, luckily. When I do want to punch it up a bit, I’ll do a semi-permanent which washes out in a month or so, and it’s just a shade or two deeper than my own. I can’t see paying $50 for something I can do on my own for $8, when the results are pretty much identical (I have pretty good variance in my natural colour so it looks highlighted even when I use a dye). ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780/44 "2006-10-26T19:10:10Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] One thing I’ve found - dark brown hair takes purple dye very well. I looked like an eggplant for a month when I tried the dark purple semi-permanent colour - I thought that colour would never fade. I just stick with cocoa brown now, and it looks fine. [/QUOTE] Yes, it really does! Once in college I turned my normally medium-to-dark brown hair a bizarre combination of black with purple highlights by not watching the time and leaving the dye in only an extra 5 minutes. And the fact that the color was called “Plum Brown” probably should have been my first clue that it wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had! I got away with it due to the fact that K-State was fielding a decent basketball team, so people probably just thought I was a deranged fan sporting “Royal Purple” hair. I also turned my hair a wacky shade of orange by messing with Sun-In in high school. Mostly now I just cover grays, and as long as I stay within my color range, I’ve had good luck with various brands of at-home kits, and just touch up every 4-6 weeks. I do want to try the new L’Oreal one with the dye and highlights. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780/45 "2006-10-26T20:32:33Z")
I’ve bleached my hair at home since I was 18. Salons seem to do a through-and through coloring, which makes dark roots very visible and looks unnatural: blond hair is by itself always darker underneath. At home, I can do just the top, in an irregular way, making highlights. The effect looks very natural. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780/46 "2006-10-26T21:12:57Z")
I’ve had my hair done at salons and am always disappointed in the results. Once I spent $175 and I could not tell they had done anything (subtle my ass) unless I was under the noon day Florida sun in mid August. I used to use temporary hair color that has since been discontinued that was fantastic, it lasted about a week, it was awesome. I would go red, go black way, way too frequently. It was fun. I just did a temporary dye (black) last night for Halloween (I’m a fabulous fallen angel) and my blondish/reddish/brownish hair was exactly the wrong color for the costume and I can’t bear the thought of wearing a wig for as long as I’ll need to (possibly 12 hours). My husband swore I would hate it, however, I really, really like it. It isn’t a harsh black since it is a temporary color, although I think on my lighter bits it might be a bit purpley for my tastes, but I’m thinking about going with a permanent color, just not sure how long I should wait, this color won’t be gone for 8-10 shampoos and I have no idea how it will fade out. Will temporary haircolor futz with a permanent over top of it? Or should I just wait it out? BTW, there are always coupons for hair colors. It is very, very cheap to do it yourself if you match sales with coupons. Free sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780/47 "2006-10-27T00:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] I just did a temporary dye (black) last night for Halloween (I’m a fabulous fallen angel) and my blondish/reddish/brownish hair was exactly the wrong color for the costume and I can’t bear the thought of wearing a wig for as long as I’ll need to (possibly 12 hours). My husband swore I would hate it, however, I really, really like it. It isn’t a harsh black since it is a temporary color, although I think on my lighter bits it might be a bit purpley for my tastes, but I’m thinking about going with a permanent color, just not sure how long I should wait, this color won’t be gone for 8-10 shampoos and I have no idea how it will fade out. [/QUOTE] Hrm. Just you you can be prepared, temporary black dye has a tendency to stain hair, regardless of its label of ‘temporary’, especially in lightish brown or lighter hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-color-your-hair-at-home-why/377780.md?page=2)