Hair Care At Home: How to Skip the Salon and Still Look Great

Many people are choosing to trim, color, and style their own hair at home rather than go to a salon. At-home hair care can save money by spacing out visits to a professional, prevent the inconvenience of waiting for an appointment, and protect against potential health risks associated with going to a public space. If you are looking to start caring for your hair at home, keep the following tips in mind.

Refreshing dyed hair

Many stylists will warn clients looking for a color touch up to stay far away from boxed dye. This is because stylists are able to take hair color and type, dye chemistry, skin tone, and more into account to give you your best possible color. Box dyes can behave in different ways on different types of hair, meaning that they will often color hair a shade or more away from the color on the box. If you are naturally a brunette with bleach-blonde tresses, don't even think about home bleach systems - they can cause your hair to have green or orange tones that are difficult for a professional to remove. Instead, treat salon-bleached hair with a purple shampoo to remove brassiness and keep that platinum shine. Tinting hair darker is a little more forgiving; blondes going brunette or red can use color-depositing shampoos and conditioners in their chosen shade. Try to use no parabens or sulfates shampoo. If you must, ask your stylist about a semi-permanent dye for home application. Semi-permanent dyes fade over 20 - 40 washes and don't leave harsh roots the way a permanent dye will.

Trimming your own bangs

Thinking about trimming your own bangs? Start with clean, dry hair. Hair is stretched when it's wet, so cutting it wet can mean disastrously short bangs when it dries! If your hair is long enough, pull everything but your bangs back in a hair elastic to get it out of the way. Determine approximately where you want your bangs to end, then hold hair about a quarter of an inch below that - you can always cut a little more if the bangs are longer than you want. Hold your scissors vertically (parallel to the individual hairs) and snip your way across. Release the bangs, check for length, and try again if needed.

Banishing split ends

Once you've successfully trimmed your own bangs, you might be ready to give yourself an all-over trim. You'll need to make a plan that takes your hair type into account before you pick up the shears. If your hair is straight, continue to hold the scissors straight up and down when cutting. Wavy hair with a consistent pattern should be cut with the scissors facing into the wave. If your hair has distinct curls, you'll need to isolate each curl and clip with the direction of hair growth. Separate hair into ~3 inch sections with barrettes and clip one at a time in the same manner as the bangs, keeping any layers created by your stylist in place.

Give hair some TLC

Hair care on your schedule means doing maintenance, too. If you find yourself spending some extra time at home, skip heat treatments like curling or straightening to avoid frying your mane. You can also be kind to your hair by skipping elastics, barrettes, and other accessories on your lazy days - keeping hair pulled up all the time can result in breakage. If your hair is a little worse for wear, try deep conditioning masks with ingredients like jojoba oil and coconut oil to restore softness and shine.

Caring for your hair at home doesn't have to be scary! These simple tips will help you look and feel your best without a trip to the salon.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes