One of our favorite pastimes is looking back through old photos (both digital and physical). Can you relate? For better or worse (let’s be honest here), by looking at a single photo, you can usually pinpoint what year or chapter of your life you were in based on your hair cut or color. Changing your hair is an important part of life, as the way your hair is colored and styled plays a key role in expressing yourself!
Whether you’re looking to change your hair color for the first time or are a seasoned pro, there are a few things you should keep in mind when making a color change. Keep reading to learn the answers to all of your color change questions.
And, before you get started coloring, don’t forget to perform a skin sensitivity test! Check out how to perform a skin sensitivity test here.
Related: How to Know Whether to do All Over Color or a Root Cover Up
What to consider before you change your hair color
Prior to making a major color change, there are few things you’ll want to consider, including your root color and the amount of gray hair you currently have.
going back to your roots
Before making a color change, it’s important to go back to your roots. Yes, you should literally take your root color into consideration when choosing your perfect shade. When changing color on your whole head of hair, note any differences between the root color and length color. Roots may need longer to process to give you even color throughout and ensure you get the beautiful results you want!
conquering grays
Another thing to consider before you change your hair color is the amount and type of gray hair you have. For resistant and high percentage grays, we recommend using Naturtint’s Natural (N) shades for best results (shades 1-7). To fight off stubborn grays, you can also increase timing to 45 minutes for stubborn grays.
perform a color strand test
Besides taking into consideration your root color and the type of hair you have, it’s also important that you perform a color strand test before you begin coloring your hair. A color strand test is easy to do and allows you to:
- Test if your box matches your desired hair color and if it’s light or dark enough.
- See where you need to adjust your color
- Reveal your unique and individual results; if you color your hair regularly, your hair may be extra porous, and results may be different from the model’s picture on the box.
For more information on how to perform a color strand test and what the results mean, check out our blog here!
How to change your hair color and get the best results
find your perfect shade
Are you looking to go blonde this summer? Or maybe drastically darken your hair? In order to get the best results, it’s important to find a color that’ll make you confident. Luckily, our line of permanent hair color products have a wide range of colors that you’re sure to love!
If you have previously colored your hair you will want to take that into consideration when choosing the perfect shade. Adding permanent hair color on top of hair with permanent hair color will affect the results, especially when trying to go lighter! The new, lighter hair color will mix with the current color to create a shade that looks different from the box. A good way to make sure you like this new shade is by performing a hair strand test mentioned in the step above.
Pro tip: when you color your hair, you can go as dark as you’d like, but Naturtint Permanent Hair Color can only lighten your hair by up to two shades. Also, most people find that staying within two shades of their natural hair color suits their skin tone well.
changing back to your natural hair color
Whether you decided to color your hair an adventurous color and are ready to switch back to your natural color or switch back to match the season, we’re here to help! Take a look at our color chart to help you seamlessly get back to your natural hair color.
Choose a color that’s closest to your natural root color and then after performing a color strand test, you’ll be ready to go! As the hair color grows out, it’ll be replaced by new hair growth that closely matches your hair color.
A final reminder
One question we’re frequently asked is what our top tips are for people who like to change their hair color a lot. Want to know our answer? Just don’t do it! Seriously though, coloring your hair too much will damage it over time no matter how clean the products you use are. However, if you absolutely must change your hair color often, be sure to stay within the 2-shade range we mentioned earlier, especially when going lighter, and wait at least 2 weeks between coloring.
And, be sure to get in touch with one of our color specialists. They’ll help you figure out the perfect plan to achieve hair color results you’ll love!
