By Elisabeth Kuhn

Do you get annoyed when you’ve just slathered your head in hair color and half the bottle is still left over? There’s nothing useful you can do with that leftover hair color — it’ll just go down the drain. What a waste!

Could there be a better way? Read on for the answer.

While thinning hair really benefits greatly from hair coloring since it’ll look much thicker afterwards, it simply doesn’t take as much color to do the job as it does for thicker hair. And yet, it’s all the more important to do frequent root touch-ups, where there’s even more waste. Or is there?

After finding myself annoyed repeatedly, I started experimenting. Here’s the solution I came up with that helps me avoid all that waste and save some money to boot:

For starters, I save now don’t throw out the mixing or applicator bottles once I’m done, but I save it. I clean it, and then reuse it to mix the hair color in smaller batches the next time around.

For the brand I use, the two ingredients are conveniently added in equal proportions. So it’s really easy to use just half the amount in the package. And that’s how much I need when I do my entire head of hair.

For touch-up jobs, you’ll be able to use even smaller amounts, so one bottle will be good for one full round of hair coloring as well as 2-3 minor touch-ups. During those touch-ups, you’ll mostly put color on the roots and then, a few minutes before the end of the processing time, just distribute the color mix all over the rest of your hair to keep the colors even. You won’t really need much color to do that. For the first few times, it will take some experimentation to see just how much or how little color you will need, but it will be worth it. And the money you’ll save with this technique: you do the math.

Here is a second trick: If you’re planning to get a haircut in the foreseeable future, it’s a good idea to get your hair cut before you color your hair. You will need less color.

And last but not least: Are you getting annoyed at getting color splotches all over your towels?

I have figured out a solution for that one too:

I use several sheets of paper towel and pin them to the edge of the shower curtain with clothes pins. Then, when I rinse the color out of the hair and have my eyes squeezed shut for fear of getting any color in them, I can just blindly grab one of those paper towels and dry my eyes.

And if I notice any color on the paper towels after I do that, I know I will need to rinse some more. Meanwhile, my towels stay clean.

Savings: your towels last a lot longer. How much that will mean in actual money savings depends on your tolerance for ratty-looking towels and/or the price of your towels.

So between getting 2-3 extra color treatments out of any one bottle on the one hand and no longer ruining your towels on the other, you may well save enough to pay for some of your haircuts. And, by the way, if and when your hair gets thicker again, you can still use those tricks and still save almost as much.

About the Author: In her

eclectic blog

Elisabeth offers resources for body, mind, spirit, and prosperity. Get a free e-book with hundreds of self-help tips just for visiting and signing up for her e-tips. And if you’re tired of bad hair days and of putting all those chemicals in your hair, here’s

an intriguing alternative

.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=214568&ca=Womens+Interest