AT HOME HAIR COLOR: DIY BALAYAGE

     Are you sick of paying salon prices to get your hair colored? Did you know that you could do it yourself? Yes, I said you can do it yourself! I actually come from a long line of hairstylists in my family, but never pursued the career on my own. I found coloring my hair as a hobby to be quite enjoyable and I haven't stopped since. When I lived at home I would color my mom's hair all the time using a cap and quickly learned how to do my own hair. With being a stay at home mommy and only having one income, we try to find ways to save money so I can spend it on items I want instead of pampering myself with hair and nails at the salon. 

     I am going to try to be as detailed as possible with walking you through each step on how to color your hair using the cap and how to add a balayage color style to your locks of hair. Please feel free to email me with any product questions you might have. 

Lets get started...

Tools you will need:

• Mixing bowl
• Brush to paint color on hair
• Gloves
• Measuring tool (most come with easy measurements with no extra measuring tools needed)
• Cap with needle (comes as a set at Sally's Beauty Supply)
• Tin foil (you can use the one from your kitchen)
• ZOTOS Hair color (both color and developer)
• Deep conditioner
• Comb (to section off hair)

When shopping for hair color:
     

     Pick a color that is not too drastic of a change. If you change your hair color to a darker color too quick you might be very unhappy with it. Gradually go darker each time you color your hair when doing 'touch-ups' if your goal is to go multiple shades darker. Pick a color in the same color family as your hair. I use a 7N on my own hair. 

*This step only matters if you are going to color your hair darker before doing the balayage.

    You can use bleach or a high lift color to lighten your locks. If you are blonde, I suggest doing a high lift. If you are brunette, I suggest using bleach, since your hair has so many shades to lighten.

Picking your high lift hair color/ bleach: 

     Read the boxes in the ZOTOS hair color aisle. They have explicit directions on what color to use on your shade of hair color and what developer to use (whether you need a 40 or a 20 and so forth). I got a HLN and the directions on the box said to use it with a 40 color developer. 

    If you are buying bleach, you can get the Revlon kit for adding highlights to your hair (about $9.00) at your local Walgreens or Walmart. You will still need to purchase a brush to paint on your high lights, but this kit comes with a mixing bowl, gloves, and the color you will need to mix. Depending on the length of your hair, you may need two boxes. Hair longer than your bra strap line, buy two boxes just to be safe. *You can always buy bleach from Sally's Beauty Supply and ask the person on staff to assist in picking out the powder and peroxide to mix it with. 

Using the cap to go darker:

*Skip this step if you are just doing balayage

• Brush out hair and spray a little bit of shiner to ensure that your hair will pull through the cap with ease
• Pull hair through all of the holes 
• Brush out the hair that you pulled through the holes
• Mix hair color
• Apply color on all of the hair pulled through the cap (apply from scalp to the ends)
• Wash hair
• Dry hair
• Start the next step for balayage

Before coloring your hair: 

• Tear sheets of tin foil so they are prepped and ready to go. Be sure to have about 8 strips for each side of your head (cut to the dimension of about 5 x 8)
• Be ready to know exactly where you want to place the color (I frame my face with hair color and pull throughout the front of my scalp, so that it doesn't look too fake)
• Put gloves on
• Wear an old shirt (I color my hair in my bra, so I don't ruin my shirts taking them off)
• Mix your hair color

Painting on the hair color:

• Check the time you start and continually make sure you are keeping a good mental record of how long the color has been on each section of hair (check about every 10 minutes)
• Pull on the strand you want to place color on by using the comb to isolate that piece of hair
• Paint on about half of the strand; paint on color in a downward motion (scalp towards the ends of your hair)
• Start at different heights when painting on your hair color to avoid looking like you dipped all of your ends in bleach
• Pull off the tin foil and rinse each strand of hair when it is lightened to your liking.