Rita Hazan Salon
Fix at-home hair color with these suggestions from Manhattan’s top colorists. As beauty budgets continue to shrink, more and more women are dipping their toes into the DIY pool and eschewing salon color in favor of color-in-a-can.
I had my own adventure in at-home hair color this past winter. Tired of my dull, dirty blonde locks, I used Frederic Fekkai’s At-Home Hair Color #10W in hopes of garnering a quick pick-me-up, not a total redo. Less than an hour later, I stepped out of the shower and in front of the mirror: my hair had transformed from blah blonde to a supernatural shade of electric orange.
As the color began to oxidize, my tresses seemed to turn more – not less – orange. Or, perhaps I was just becoming less tolerant of my day-glo ‘do. Either way, I slunk over to Alex Eziel, colorist extraordinaire at Cutler/Redken in Soho, to redress my wrongdoings. The only way to correct my specific shade of horrible orange was to lift my locks to a lighter blonde thereby stripping the brassy tones. I’m happy with my color – now – but to avoid your own personal hair color horror show, follow these tips from NYC’s beauty pros.
Choosing a hue: “Don’t try and match your hair color to the color on the box,” says Joel Warren, L’Oreal Professionnel Color Ambassador. Instead, use those synthetic hair samples to get a clearer picture of the color you’re selecting. Rita Hazan also warns DIY dyers not to “try anything too complicated or too drastic at home.” For instance, if you want to swap your medium brown locks for a beachy blonde shade – or vice versa - dial up a trusted salon, don’t attempt at home. In general, both Hazan and Warren agree it’s easier to fix color that’s too light versus too dark, so opt for the fairer shade if you’re torn between two hues.
To correct color that’s too light: Salons offer color glazes, glosses and semi-permanent treatments that deposit deeper tones onto the hair helping to mitigate a too-pale palette. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do at home without risking further exacerbating the problem.
To correct color that’s too dark: Hazan suggests “repeatedly washing hair with a cleanser like dish soap, if hair is just slightly too dark. Even still, it takes a few days for the intensity to calm down.” If all that scrubbing has left your locks feeling bone-dry and damaged, Warren suggests using a strengthening treatment “to seal the cuticle of the hair.” For color that's several shades too dark, check in with a colorist.
To correct brassy overtones: Violet-tinted conditioners can help soften brassiness at home. But for overly orange shades, head for the salon and your colorist can add cool ashy tones to your tresses. Another in-salon option is to darken hair one level with an ashy-colored toner or gloss.
To correct ashy shades: Hazan says, “You have to add in gold.” Salons can apply a golden-toned gloss, “or at home, you can use a gold color-depositing shampoo.”
When in doubt, seek out professional help. Angie Kandinov, colorist and treatment specialist at the Julien Farel Salon, says, “It’s very difficult to self-correct color errors. See your colorist to avoid further damage…not to mention the unnecessary cost of additional products!”
If you enjoyed this article, check out this piece on Prolonging Professional Beauty Treatments and this roundup of NYC Beauty Freebies and Discounts.
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