I wanted to know an experts opinion on the difference between dying your hair in a salon or dying it yourself from a box. Long story short I used to have bleach blonde hair and I dyed it at a salon dark brown with a little red in it back in August and it faded quickly to a light brownish color. I dyed it again in November at the same salon and it barely changed color, only the roots changed, so now it has faded a lot and you can see the blonde coming through a lot and I hate it. I want my hair to be very dark but I don't know if I should go to a salon and do it or do it myself. I paid 70$ last time I went to the salon and it barely changed the color of my hair so I basically wasted my money. I found a salon in the mall that I work in that will do it for 40$ but I want to know if it's really worth it. If I do it in a salon will the color stay longer then the box dye or is it pretty much the samething?

It's not who does your hair, as much as it will be what color you use and how long it lasts. (Right now, as we speak, my mom is dying my sister's hair.) Obviously, a salon will be more professional, than if it is self done. You could always buy your own color and have a professional do it for you, or find a friend who is hair saavy do it for you. Or, you could just ask what color the salon is using and tell them that you want a long lasting color. And be very specific about what you want, so that there is no mix up between you and your hairstylist.

Is there a difference between salon dye and the box dye? Does one last longer then the other?

Yes, there is a difference. This is why it costs more at a salon. Remember, that if you do it yourself, and it turns out bad, many salons won't fix it.

OK, thank you.

I have to ask. What is your natural hair color?

Dying over bleach blonde isn't easy, even for a professional.

You may have to wait until the blonde grows out before you get the desired color, even if you go to a salon.

My natural hair color is brown. My hair isn't blonde anymore, what happened was I did my whole head white blonde and then I let my roots grow out for about 9 months after that because my hair was so damaged, so I had 4-5 inches of brown roots and the rest was blonde. I went to a salon in August and had it dyed dark brown with a little red in it. Because half my head was blonde and half wasn't it faded weird, the top half of my head was more red then the bottom and the bottom half faded to a light brown with blonde in it because that's where my hair was blonde before. I went back to the salon in November and asked for dark brown with a little more red. When she did it the second time the roots stayed red but again the bottom half went a light brown/blonde color and it barely changed color from before, just the roots changed. Now it's faded again, the roots are very light red and the bottom is light brown with a blondeish color at the tips of the bottom, which is probably where the blonde would be by now since I haven't dyed it blonde in over a year.

I think the problem is that last time I got it done the red didn't grab onto my hair like a darker color would and that's why it barely changed color. I want my hair to be really dark, almost black, with a little red in it. My concern now is that if I buy the box dye it will be a cheaper dye and fade faster and then I can't dye it again because it's too damaging. If I go to a salon and I spend the little bit of extra money I can get it done professionally and hopefully the dye will last a bit longer. Some people that I talked to said there is no difference between the dye so that's why I wanted to know if there was. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go to the salon to get it done I don't want to take the chance and try it myself just yet, especially if there is a difference in the dye.