An alternative to box color?!

[Dreamergirl3]

Hi ladies and gents! The time has come for me to dye my hair once more, but I simply have never been satisfied with any box hair color.
It either leaves my hair feeling especially nasty or the color is way too dull or brassy.
But I simply cannot afford to go to a salon at all

I was thinking of buying those dyes maybe at sally beauty, or salon dyes but online? How would the mixing go, how much developer needed, etc.?
Is there a better alternative to box color that doesnt require going to a salon, yet is not expensive and can be done at home? Thanks so much!

 

[hyperRealGurl]

Although Pro Porducts are better IMO... its not so much the color in the box that causes dull/brassy tones in ur hair. But the color itself.. if that makes any sense.... if ur going light from dark ur hair goes through stages before it reaches the desired color ur going for...
for instance:
If u have darker hair u can have problems going blonde; the red pigment can result in a brassy effect, especially if you try to go too light. Assess your skin tone to find the perfect color that will suit you.
any color can be dull even pro products, Mostly colors look dull when u over-Porcess/leaving in the product to long. Sometimes u can avoid this by using a semi-permanent products instead of premanent colors.
I strongly sug. using semi-perm where the pigments sit on top of the hair adding plenty of tone and shine, if u dont want to use a semi-perm color... after u use the permanent color use a semi-perm color over the newly colored hair to give it that extra shine. to get the brassy color to go away... this sounds weird but its all about taking a color to take a color/tint/tone out... If ur hair color gets brassy u want to use products with purple/violets in it. It neutralise all the yellow 'tones' in the hair. Look for Products that contains purple pigment in.

 

[lara]

hyperRealGurl is bang on the money, as usual.

My own attitude is that unless you've been trained about the hows and whys of tinting/lightening your own hair with pro products, fork out the bucks and go to a professional OR find a nice hairdresser to give you a quick lesson. Saving $$$ isn't worth giving yourself a chemical haircut.

 

[aeni]

i use sally products to color my bf's hair. i use 20 activator (there's different types, the higher you go the more it's going to lighten your hair. 40 is basically going from black to blonde in a way). if you have a vague idea about what you're doing, ask the people in the store. they have the knowledge and are willing to share it.

 

[MACActress]

Have you tried looking for hair salons that teach students in your area?

I always go to Vidal Sassoon for my highlights, and at their school it costs about $15, but it was free when they used me as a model for my stylist's test.

I know Paul Mitchell does the same thing, and Im sure there are a lot of other places that do it too.

 

[Calhoune]

This is maybe not what you had in mind while asking the question but;
ever tried Henna?

Gorgeous color, and it actually conditions the hair, so it's very easy on it, leaving it shiny shiny shiny

But that's only for darker colors though. You could get henna from lush for example, and depening on what you add to the mix, you get different effects. (Peppers for really red, mix with tea for a lighter effect, with coffe far a deep brown for example.) Plus henna is really cheap, and it doesn change the color drastically, and it fades after a month, so it doesn't hurt to try?