Salon color vs Store bought......is there a big difference?

Ok, I am getting kinda tired of paying $93 for my cut & color visits to the salon every 6 weeks. I absolutely LOVE my chestnut color my stylist uses, even though it will fade if I don't use a color depositing shampoo, but I'm wondering if I did it myself will I have the same results with my hair still being in great shape? My hair is not frizzy at all and is still pretty silky so I just want to be sure if I try to do it myself to save some money, will it still hold up? Opinions please............ /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

you can do in between touch ups or dyes. and when you go in to do a hair cut or something, you can get it dyed professionally too. save a bit of money there

I've been coloring my hair with store bought color for over 10 years until December 2005 when I finally went to get my hair professionally colored. Believe me, I can tell the difference. They used Matrix color on my hair and it hasn't faded or run since I got it done. It looks/feels so much healthier than it ever did before. Perhaps you can find a less expensive salon. I got mine done at SmartStyle which is the Walmart salon. I wouldn't recommend them for the cut, but the color was only $30 something. I had to have my hair recut at Great Clips. I've never had a bad cut from them.

Beside the formulas of different brand, I think the difference is that at the salon, the stylist looks at your hair and mixes up the stuff for you (different volumes, etc.). At the drugstore, the box comes with just one volume no matter what type of hair you may have. Depending on the type of hair you have, you may need more/less volume to lift up the color to the one you want. Of course, if you know what you are doing, you can always go to Sallys. They sell the color and volume seperately. Also at the salon, when the color is too brassy they tone it down for you there (you can also do this at home by yourself).

So what is the big difference? You are paying for the SERVICE at the salon. shampoo/condition, scalp massage, and professional opinions.

Very true... you can't always get personal results from a 'one size fits all' color like you get at the store... You can go to Sally's for pro items, but you should know what mixture and what colors you're going to need - as well as timing and any toners that you'd have to add later. You can find out what brand of color she uses and what shade... maybe see if they carry it at Sally's... then just take note as to the timing, the way she does it, etc. If you're going to go with a store dye... try to just go with the color you have, and ignore the names... the chestnut she uses might not be the same chestnut Clairol makes. So if you know your hair is dark brown.. stick with dark brown. I like Garnier 100% color... seems to last quite a long time without much fading /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I have been doing my own color jobs for a long time. To be honest I have had worse jobs done in a Salon than doing myself. Just remember to follow the directions, and don't (unless its your first time coloring or going darker) do you whole head, start with the regrowth wait the allotted time by product, draw it throughout the rest of your hair after that. Hope this helps.

P.s I am new so forgive me if I missed something. Let me know.:icon_smil

I've always had my hair professionally colored. One time I decided to buy a box and do it myself to save some money. It looked horrible and I vowed to never do it myself again. I do have some friends that color their own hair and it always looks great, though.

yes that's where i went too. they did a good job and they're pretty cheap. sometimes salons will have a product testing class where they use people as models to try a new hair color line.for free. i did that before.

Honestly I hate spending the money. I get it done at the salon once a year to keep the color generally neat and do the touch ups at home. But I only go 1 shader lighter than natural, if you are going up or down by more than 1 shade.... stick with the pros.

Yeah - you really don't want to do a major change at home... not that you can't per se' --- but it's usually far too complicated and there's a large room for error if you aren't quite sure what you're doing. If you just wanna give your color a slight transformation at home... get a semi-permanent dye (Color Spa is nice) it'll give you a little kick - and the regrowth is near undetectable, since semi's fade out rather than grow out. You can add some red tones, goldens, or whatever you want - without hassle or much commitment. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

i bought the color at store when i dont have enough money to do it at a salon but i prefer doing it professionnaly. first the color doesnt fade so quick, the color is perfect, they dont miss any spot. your hair looks and more healty. there is less %alcohol in a salon coloration than a store one. its more damagable for your hair.

Thanks for the replies everyone! I guess after reading this thread, I think I will continue to get my hair colored at the salon while possibly looking around for somewhere cheaper and see what I find. I love the way he cuts my hair so I'll still want him to do that, plus I've been going to him now for 9 years (wow that's a long time now that I think about it). First, though, I need to find out what brand he uses. He's told me before it's only been available now for a few months and is excellent.

I used to dye my own hair blonde, but I started having my hairdresser do it. When I did it, it looked good for a couple years, but then after a while the color was just so monotone it looked fake. My hair grows out in the winter a lot darker, this is natural, it did it before I dyed it and thats why I started dying it. She puts highlights in it and leaves it dark blonde/light brown with lighter highlights so you cant tell when it grows out. It looks really natural, I'll die if she stops doing my hair, I had someone else do it once and it didnt look at good.

Yeah, highlights with several colors are great. The variation of the colors makes it easier to go without a touch up much longer than with the traditional highlights, and they look so much more natural. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

For the first time, I decided to "touch up" my roots and it turned out fine. I went to Sally's Beauty Supply and used a Loreal permanent hair color that's resistent to gray. It's lasted 6 weeks. I only did the roots by mixing the color and developer and applying with a flat brush. The sales gal helped me match my color and made sure I got the right products. $5.49 for color! Sally's carries professional colors that you won't find at the retail drug stores. Now I can save some money between my visits to my hairdresser for highlights.

Carol

Try doing it yourself one time and see how it comes out. As long as you don't have to bleach your hair, I would do it myself just to see. If you don't like it, then go to your stylest.

i love sally's!

it definitely makes a difference. There are somethings that are worth the money. The price seems about right. I would be very surprised if you got anything cheaper. A good color and cut will cost you.