Who here does their own hair at home? Coloring, bleaching, cutting???
By schulzie
@schulzie (4061)
United States
February 8, 2011 4:09pm CST
For years I went to the salon to have my hair professionally colored by a hair stylist. But it got too expensive for me to afford it month after month. So, for the past 8 years or so I have been coloring, or in my case, bleaching my own hair. Some people get worried about doing it themselves but it really is not that difficult to do it yourself. At first I made some mistakes but as with anything practice makes perfect.
My hair is naturally dark brown but I bleach it up to a light yellowish blonde and then I apply a neutral blonde toner. It comes out to a pretty beige blonde when I am finished with it.
Also, my hair is naturally curly but I hate the frizzy curls so I straighten it with a flat iron. When I am finished coloring and straigtening my hair it looks every bit as good as when I was going to the hair salon. Not to mention that sometimes the "professional" would miss an area about the size of a lime or lemon on the back of my head. It would be a big brown circle at the middle back of my head. Then I would have to go back and see him again to have him reapply bleach to the area, then toner, and then flat iron it again.
So, compared to $150 I paid at the salon for the color, then the $30 tip on top of that I was out $180 at least every time to have my hair colored. Compared to the $15.00 I pay to color my own hair at home it is a no brainer. I save about $165 every time I do my own hair. And I can change the toner shade any time I like and to the color blonde I choose.
So, does anyone else here on myLot do their own hair coloring? I can't cut it myself except for my bangs, but I know I am way ahead of the game by bleaching my own hair.
Have a great day and happy myLotting!!!
So, compared to $150 I paid at the salon for the color, then the $30 tip on top of that I was out $180 at least every time to have my hair colored. Compared to the $15.00 I pay to color my own hair at home it is a no brainer. I save about $165 every time I do my own hair. And I can change the toner shade any time I like and to the color blonde I choose.
So, does anyone else here on myLot do their own hair coloring? I can't cut it myself except for my bangs, but I know I am way ahead of the game by bleaching my own hair.
Have a great day and happy myLotting!!!
5 people like this
23 responses
@soyporteno (406)
• United States
9 Feb 11
I'm a guy, but I go to a hair salon to have my hair cut. It costs me $28 plus tip about every 6 weeks. Thank goodness I don't have to have my hair colored yet so no I couldn't cut my own hair in the style that I like by myself at home. It wouldn't look professional for work.
@lizzyt2007 (1312)
• Craig, Alaska
26 Feb 11
This summer I want to bleach my hair the natural way. Its temporary of course. first I need a empty spray bottle then I will fill it with lemon juice and then spray all my hair. then go out in the hot sunny day to dry it. then I will have blonde hair. I've been told there is something u can buy that does this but it keeps your hair blonde until your hair grows out. anyone know what its called?
@ladym33 (10978)
• United States
11 Feb 11
I do my own. My hair is really fine now so it does not need cut very often but when it does I can just do it myself. Same for coloring I just get a little gray up top once in a while and when it gets more than I can stand I just to do a root touch up and do the top of my head and my temples. That is super easy to do and costs me about $7.00 so it is way cheaper then getting done.
@crochetkid (351)
• United States
22 Feb 11
I have always colored my hair at home. I too have natural curly hair and have always been disappointed with the cuts I get from the salon. I cut my bangs myself, the rest of my hair I just let grow, and every few months I have my hubby, son, or a friend just trim the ends after I wash it. This way I can always braid my hair if I should have a bad hair day. I also have a soft bonnet hairdryer and every week I set my hair with rollers. This helps relax and even straighten the curl and the hairdryer is also good for hot oil treatments. I just got a new dryer, my old one poopped out after 15 yrs. I have found that the flat irons, curling irons, and such dry and split my end to much.
@Shellyann36 (11383)
• United States
21 Feb 11
I have always colored my hair myself. The only two exceptions has been once when I went to a local community college and the students frosted it for me and just recently I splurged with my tax money and had it done professionally. The professional color was great and only costed $75 for a cut color & style. They were having a huge Super Bowl Sunday blowout. I was very happy with it. I don't normally have this kind of money to spend on my hair so the next time it needs coloring I will go back to doing it myself.
@Ravenladyj (22902)
• United States
10 Feb 11
I havent been to a salon in nearly 20 yrs! LOL The last time I went it was a botch job that cost too much and I decided to not do it any more....I have been colouring my own hair for about 13 yrs now and I have always flat ironed it myself and I trim my ends myself.
@JJ4Ever (4693)
• United States
10 Feb 11
I think it's great you can color your own hair! Now you can save your money for something else if you can do something like that yourself. I'm a firm believer that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. I can't and don't color my hair myself. I don't trust my abilities just yet, but I made need to do so eventually when the gray starts kicking in. I think I have at least 20 years before that happens (lol), so I'm content to leave it the color it is. My hair is a light brown, and I used to get blonde highlights and sometimes darker low lights. That was crazy expensive on top of having it cut each time. Last time I went to the salon, I had my hair colored back to my original color so I don't have to keep up on it. This was in October 2010, and the color match was great. I was really impressed with the girl who did it this past time. I was even scared to go back to my natural color! That's sad, but I know what you mean about stylists messing up your color. I went to a beauty school to get a discount on my color last summer, and it took the girl FIVE hours to do highlights and low lights. Never again! And the sad part is that after tip, it was at least $90, which I can pay for a professional! Hair can be frustrating, which is why I'm so glad you can do your own. I tried giving myself layers once upon a time, and that was a mess until it finally grew back. I don't suggest that! Thanks for sharing your wonderful talent!
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
9 Feb 11
hi I colored my hair an ash blonde as I was a verypale ash brown blonde really so just colored it ash blonde and it looked just as good as the dye job they did on my hair once. but since my hair has turned a pale ashy blonde white I no longer need to dye it at all.I just wash with Herbal esseance color me touseld and the matching conditioner and it really looks shiny and healthy for a 85 year old lady.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
9 Feb 11
Hi schulzie! I also stopped going to get my hair professionally
colored. It cost way too much money and I was just "covering
the gray" after awhile. I tried experimenting by going lighter,
but it just didn't work for me. I have naturally dark brown,
almost black hair so I went back to the having one of my friends
or BF put the stuff on my roots (I wear glasses so I can't see
what I'm doing) and then I put the rest of the dye on for 10
minutes at the end. I also have been cutting my own hair for
about 3 years now. I had it cut in layers, but got tired of
going every 6 weeks and not really liking it anyway. I have very
thin, curly hair and can't do much with it anyway. Still trying
to decide what to do with it next. May go back to the layers,
but at $65 or more every 6 weeks, that's way more than I can
afford!
@mermaidivy (15394)
• United States
9 Feb 11
I used to do cutting and dying my haier at home for myself, and did cutting for my little sister when she was really small. I have been keeping my long hair for years so I figured I could just trimmed the damaged ends and the forehead hair. Besides, I used to like to dye hair into brownish a lot so I dyed my hair every other 4 -5 months... But now I want to have it grow longer and just go to the salon to do curl hair in the coming summer.
@randylovesdar (4932)
• United States
10 Feb 11
I have not tried cutting hair at all. I am almost tempted to cut my husband's hair the next time he needs it. My husband is balding and only needs a hair cut every four months. As for me I only cut it when the strike moves me. I cut it last month and it probably does not need cutting again until sometime next year. I have not tried dying my hair yet (although I want to because I already have gray hair).
@ap0calyptic (921)
• Slovenia
9 Feb 11
I do. I color my hair myself for as long as I can remember, really, I've been doing it since about 4th grade, though compared to then and now I know how to do i properly now lol
so yeah, I don't get it either why some people are so afraid coloring their own hair at home. It's really not that hard and you even get the instuctions on the coloring box, so from there on it's pretty self explanatory, tho I must say bleaching is a bit more complicated since if you want particular shade of blonde you need to know how long, how and everything to apply it since if you don't do it properly it'll turn very yellowish and unnatural looking. I fortunately don't worry about that anymore since I only had blonde on my hair for a day in elementary school and no more again. I'm dying my hair for years now on this pretty violet color and that's about it. I color mom's hair and brother's sometimes too, so all family is kind of saving money rather than using it to pay a visit to a salon every month. However I did not get to a point to cutting my own hair yet, but I've been looking at videos and trying to teach myself how to do it properly lately too since most of the time it won't turn out they way I'd like it when my hairdresser is done cutting it, so I might consider this option soon too.
@GardenGerty (169564)
• United States
8 Feb 11
I spend about nine dollars for the hair coloring I use. I think I need to cut some bangs for now. I am not sure. I like my wavy hair, so I neither straighten or curl it. I just am pretty easy to please. I got tired of looking older than my husband so I started back coloring my hair to cover the very plenteous gray. I use an ash brown or dark ash blond. I used to go with an auburn shade and I may again, but the first time I did that the big gray streaks turned fuchsia, it was funny. I may start back more auburn when summer gets here, or even the next time I color, I will just go gradually more red, I think.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
8 Feb 11
I pull my hair up in a pony tail 99% of the time. I only get my hair cut when it starts to get too long to pull it up the way I like it. Plus the weight of my hair starts to give me headaches. I have three kids so getting somewhere to get my hair cut is kind of difficult sometimes. So I have let my sister or my husband cut my hair since all I need is a straight across cut. It seems silly to pay someone $20 to cut my hair when all they have to do is trim a few inches off straight across. I just recently started dying my hair. I do my moms for her too. I haven't done mine myself though. I buy the kit in the store and have a friend put it on. I'm afraid I'll miss a spot in the back if I do it myself lol.
@ElicBxn (64172)
• United States
9 Feb 11
I've colored my hair a few times, but on the whole, I only go in for a cut about once a year. I can cut my own bangs and actually don't do too badly on the sides either. Since I keep it up all summer but want it down around my neck in the winter, I like to get it cut in the fall, so its long enough to be around my neck during the winter and long enough to put up come the hotter days of spring and summer.
@hardworkinggurl (37062)
• United States
9 Feb 11
I have way too long of hair to attempt to try and do it myself. I do know several acquaintances who have and some have done great jobs while others have botched and regretted later.
Happy to hear that you are very talented and are able to do this for yourself as it is quite costly and that makes you way ahead of the game, great for you. 
