Chic AF is a recurring column on Sudden Chic written by my mom, Karen Resta. Because she tells the best stories. Also, she has yellow hair. This is her third piece.
I Get Bright Colored Hair with a Little Help From My Friends
I’m often asked how I make my hair bright sunflower yellow. Do I go to a salon? Or do it myself? My answer is that I do it myself – with a little help from my friends – and you can too!
One thing you should know before you start is that there’s no promise your hair will come out exactly as you expect. Often there’s no promise in salons either. Colored hair – and brightly colored hair in particular – is not for the faint of heart.
If you want a guaranteed result, just leave your hair alone and do nothing to it. For most of us, that will guarantee our hair will not be adorable and wonderful, glowing and energetic, the kind of hair that gets compliments at every corner.
Here’s what I do to get brightly colored yellow hair: I buy my products, I line up my helper (in my case, my daughter), I set a schedule for maintenance and I get to work on it.
The products I use are:
- Wella Powder Lightener (in 1.1 oz. packets)
- Wella Color Charm Cream Developer 40 Volume
- Care and Comfort anti-itch concentrate (in 1/6 oz. packets) (I use three)
- Plastic gloves, mixing trays, hair clips, dye brush
- Sparks (I use Sunburst Yellow) Hair color
- Shampoo, conditioner, and masque (I use Kerastase)
- Dry shampoo (I use Eva NYC)
If you’ve never colored your hair at home, it’s best to buy a brand-name color kit at the drugstore just to get the basics down. It’s simpler to use the kits since everything’s included and the directions are very specific. This is like using training wheels on a bicycle. We all do it! Feria’s recently come out with some gorgeous bright shades and if you need to lighten your hair (to get true color it’s advised that hair always be lightened) they also make ready-made bleaching kits.
If you don’t want to use a kit and have never bleached your hair at home before, please go to YouTube and find a video on how to do it. This is the best way to see how to do this IRL. I personally remove all the color from my hair every three months – sometimes every two months – depending on how the roots are growing out – then put my color on the following day, as it does take time and dedication to the work process.
Some notes: Do a strand test. Be ready to make color adjustments, and think ahead as to what your strategies will be. Would you want to go darker if you don’t like the color you end up with? Add in lowlights or highlights? Tonally change the color by adding, for example, yellow to green or purple to blue? Yes, it’s a lot of work and thought, but anything good is, right?
After coloring to keep the color vibrant and fresh, use dry shampoo when you can instead of doing a full shampoo. Each time you do (wet) shampoo your hair, mix the original color dye into your conditioner half and half and use this as your usual conditioner.
Next time, I’ll talk about bright colored hair subcultures as well as and about various brands of bright hair dyes – I’ve tried a lot of them and I’ll tell you how I REALLY feel. ☺
Want to get yellow hair? Shop some similar products below!! To get my mom’s exact look, click the links in her ingredient list above. It’s super affordable and never fails.
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