Put the Box Dye Down

We know, we know, it’s tempting when you’re walking in a store and see the large shelves filled to the brim with fun hair colors and treatments, and for a lower cost; but we beg of you, put the box dye down. You may not think of it in the moment, but it can alter or change the possibilities with your hair color in the future. We know it may seem a bit dramatic, however, given certain ingredients and how it can alter and change your hair, it can completely change the outcome and potential pricing for your future hair services. There are ways for our stylists to work through it and try to get you the end result you desire, but we do have to be realistic when it comes to limitations for your hair.

For example, if you are currently blonde and desire to go darker and decide to just grab it from the store, there are a few things that could go wrong. Firstly, if you have extended roots and put the color on all at the same time, your roots and ends will process differently and you’ll end up with potentially brighter “hot roots”. If you are extremely light and want to go much darker, because of the lack of pigment in the hair, you may end up with a green hue or it may not even last more than a few washes. Then, if you do want to go lighter down the road, we now have to consider that the pigments used are potentially harder to remove, and your previously lightened areas are already going to be in a weaker state, limiting what we may be able to accomplish.

Here is some simplified color theory - to get you to the light brown or blonde that you want, your stylist needs to work through all of the pigment in your hair. That means that if you are a level 1 or 2 (black or very dark brown) your stylist has to work through levels 1-8/9 to get a decent blonde result. However, it still would be a few levels away from a very bright blonde. Box dye makes this process that much harder, because now they have to work through both your natural pigment and the synthetic pigment that was used previously. If you do decide to go for it, and try the box dye route, be prepared. Prepared that it may limit or prevent you from achieving future hair goals. It may also require a much higher price point to achieve your new hair goals due to additional timing and product. Overall, be realistic in what the limitations could be. Your stylist should always want to maintain the integrity of your hair. If they inform you that your desired result isn’t achievable due to the box color, just remember, it’s strictly because they want you to keep the hair you have.