At-Home Hair Color Offender is ME!

At-Home Hair Color Offender is ME!

Yup, another at-home hair color offender has been spotted, and it is ME. What kind of a human am I if I constantly poke fun at all the hair mistakes I see with my Monday Hair Police column and cannot myself be humbled. And boy, did I mess up my hair!

Happy rainy-ass Monday! Although the weather is yuckful, I do hope you have cause to smile to day, and it could be that my big at-home hair color mistake makes you giggle. So, what did I do?

For those just passing by, let me briefly explain this beauty blog. I am a licensed stylist based out of Long Island. I post about four articles during the week. Monday’s is the Hair Police, which attempts to correct hair mistakes, Tuesday’s is a how-to guide, Wednesday’s is my Q&A, answering readers’ and guests’ hair, nails and beauty questions, and Friday focuses on my favorite beauty product of the week.

As a professional, I NEVER endorse chemical services at home or from a pharmacy-bought box, and only promote the beauty business from a salon perspective. Yet, the past few questions entering my inbox all focus on home remedies…so, please know, NO is always my answer.

The reason the beauty business has my full support is because hairstylists are one of the most underpaid professions, unless you align with a brand, become a celebrity stylist or educator etc. But, as a general rule, we don’t make nearly enough money to support a family, nor do we receive benefits. Box hair color, at-home products/services and the Internet have only worsened this fact.

The Internet has been inundated with nonprofessional nincompoops touting free advice to DIY. Even professional brands such as Schwarzkopf and Vidal Sassoon have formulated at-home color because they have seen a drop in sales due to a drop of business in salons. People would rather skip here and there and cheap out on hair color, than see a professional thanks to inflation, low pay and just an awful economy! Doing at-home hair color leads to mistakes, which lead to severely damaged hair and possibly a visit to a salon for corrective color, which is more costly than if you just stopped in for quick touch-ups.

This bothers me, but I was impatient and broke, and although I buy professional hair color, couldn’t afford to restock at the moment. OK, so my at-home hair color disaster wasn’t box caused, but I still goofed.

I mixed what I had on hand, and it came out too dark. Although it looked fine, I panicked over the dark hair, because in my vanity, need it blonde for a TV thing I am doing in June.

So, the next day, I mixed bleach (again, professional quality), and with a small paint brush, applied a few fine lines near my part to lighten around my face until my next touch-up, which is in only 2 weeks cause my hair grows like a weed. But, I had to leave, it was on too long, and I washed prematurely, bringing it up to an awful orange.

SMH! The next day I mixed bleach with a stronger developer (I won’t tell you, I don’t want anyone to copy who isn’t a pro), reapplied, but again in my haste, made thicker sections that resulted in what you see here.

What the hell was I thinking?

At-home hair color gone wrong

Is my at-home hair color awful? No! I can change my part or wear a hat. However, I just want to prove that I am not immune to error, nor am I too proud to admit I effed up! Go ahead, laugh, I deserve it!

I figured I’d order my color and fix it next touch-up. But as luck would have it, I received an email asking if I’d like balayage master and celebrity hairstylist George Papanikolas on behalf of Matrix to provide a color service for me. I will visit George tomorrow, and hopefully have a quick video of my time with this 5^th Avenue pro and his remedy to correcty my at-home hair color mess. Until then, happy styling!