Do you have a balayage and you’re tired of it? Do you want to go back to your natural, even color?
I’ll tell you everything you need to know to leave your balayage behind.
It’s important to keep a few things in mind that I’ll tell you about in a minute to help you evaluate if you’re ready to change up your look.
You may also be interested in: How to dye balayage hair brown again
First, you need to take a look and see if your hair is healthy. How do you do that? Check if it’s well-hydrated (it doesn’t feel dry) or with a haircut, you can help get some of its vitality back (you can do that by trimming your ends every now and then).
Before you start dyeing your hair, you must evaluate your hair’s current state since step one of changing your look is making sure you don’t end up severely damaging your hair, right?
A bunch of questions probably come up in this process, like: What kind of dye should I use? Is it possible to get a good, but also cheap dye? Do dyes hurt my hair fiber? We’ll help you answer these questions and help you choose which color is the best for your beautiful hair.
Lastly, one of the most important steps: How should I use dye to cover up a balayage? It’s not as simple as you might think, you need to follow the instructions I give you very carefully if what you’re looking to do is end up with a strong, even color that lasts.
So, stick around and take some notes, because I’ll teach you how to navigate the process of leaving your balayage behind. Let’s get started!
How to evaluate if your hair is in good enough conditions to go through this drastic change
To do a balayage, you must put your hair through long sessions of bleaching it and if you add to that not taking care of your hair properly, by not doing things like cream baths or trimming your ends, don’t think that changing your color is going to be your salvation.
It’s important that you don’t rush into and you take the time to check to make sure your hair is in good enough health to color it. How do you do that?
- Take a long, close look at your hair. It shouldn’t have split ends and it must be hydrated. If that’s not what it feels like, then all you’ll end up doing by dyeing it is further damaging it.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind to help you regain some of your hair’s health before you go on to dye it:
- Repairing masks: I recommend using one of these masks 1-2 times a week. If you want to dye your hair right away, this is a good step to take.
- Cut your hair: If your hair is unhealthy and you only decide to cut off a few millimeters of hair at your ends, it’s the same as not doing anything. Get a good hair cut, and you’ll thank me.
- Washing your hair: Try to wash your hair less often. There’s no better treatment than the natural oils on your scalp since those oils contain essential and necessary oils for your hair to restore itself to optimum health, and it will do that much quicker than any kind of hair mask or bath.
Try not to wash your hair for two days before you dye it; that will help make sure the dye takes to your hair.
What dye should you use to dye a balayage at home?
This is without a doubt one of the most important steps, so pay attention.
The first thing you need to do is go to a store that specializes in hair care or beauty products since the products that you can find in the supermarket or pharmacy aren’t the same as what you can get in a specialized store.
Consider talking to the people that work in the store; they can help you find a dye that matches your natural color and they can help you choose a high-quality dye.
You should keep in mind the following key points, though:
- You should choose a permanent dye
- It doesn’t need to necessarily contain ammonia since what we’re looking for is for the dye to properly adhere to your hair.
How much dye will you need? That depends on how long your hair is, from half a tube of dye to a full tube to do the pre-pigmentation, and then another tube (or if you have a lot of very long hair, two), with the right amount of developer for the rest of the process.
I’ll keep explaining and answer your questions a little further down.
How to correctly use the dye on your hair so the color turns out evenly?
Pre-pigmentation is a process that you need to do in these kinds of cases. It’s so that your hair cuticle doesn’t open so much, it holds the color better and it also damages your hair cuticle less.
Once you have all of the materials you need, put on some old clothes and get a plastic container (it must be plastic, not metal), a dye brush, gloves and a lotion (it can be a hand lotion, face lotion or body lotion, whatever you have on hand).
It’s a good idea to have your hair completely detangled, which will help make sure the dye spreads evenly through your hair and there are not any stains because you applied it unevenly.
Once you’ve gone through that whole process, use the lotion on the areas of your face you don’t want to end up stained (like your forehead, ears, etc). Now, are you ready for the most important step?
- Add the entire contents of one of the tubes of dye to the bowl, and do NOT add developer. Instead, just add a small spoonful of water. Mix those two ingredients with the dye brush. The pigment must never come into contact with metal.
- Now, using the dye brush and a comb, use the mixture on all of the light areas. You should only leave the areas of your hair that are your natural color alone but cover the rest in the dye.
- Let that sit for 10 minutes, then completely dry it.
- Then, prepare the dye mixture as you normally would and use it on all of your hair, leaving it in for 40 minutes and then rinsing.
Are you excited about your new look? Well, me too! You don’t have to wait any longer, it’s time to start! What are you waiting for to get out to buy that dye?
