How To Colour Your Hair Extensions

With lockdown feeling like it's never going to end or even if you feel like your hair extensions are in need of a refresher, colouring your hair extensions is one of the many ways that is fun and easy to change up your whole look. We get asked all the time if you can colour Hey Stacey hair extensions and the answer always is "of course"! But don't run off so fast without knowing exactly how to colour your hair extensions correctly first - you could do some serious damage otherwise. 

You already know that hair extensions are a great way to give yourself instant length, colour dimension and added volume to your natural hair, but they are also an investment! Dying your hair extensions at home is easy but also challenging if you don't know what you're doing. If you're really worried about ruining your hair extensions, definitely book in with your hair dresser to have them do it for you to avoid any damage or mistakes. However, if you're up for the challenge and think you have what it takes to, then keep on reading to learn our tips and tricks on how to colour your hair extensions from home.

Things To Note Before We Begin...

- There Is A Different Process From Going Lighter To Darker Than Darker To Lighter

Because we use human hair in our hair extensions, you can colour your hair extensions to almost any shade of your choice. If you're looking to make your set of hair extensions darker or just wanting to change the tone, it's quite a simple process that you can do from your own home and will save you money in the process - win!

However, if you are wanting to lighten your hair extensions... this is a process we do not recommend or encourage you do with hair extensions. You might be asking, but why? It's human hair isn't it? Whilst this is true, hair extensions aren't getting natural nutrients from the scalp and therefore cannot be repaired from damage caused by bleach. This is why we recommend avoiding the use of bleach or anything that'll lighten hair extensions. If you are wanting to bleach hair extensions, you need to look for VIRGIN hair (this is hair that hasn't been dyed before and is cut straight from the source) but we definitely recommend consulting with your hair dresser first before going down that route.

- Make Sure Your Hair Extensions Are Made Of Human Hair

It's important that you make sure your hair extensions are made from human hair and are not mixed with synthetic fibres or hair. Hair experts have advised against dying artificial hair because it has already been chemically treated and will not be able to handle the colouring process. If you're wondering if Hey Stacey hair extensions are made from human hair or synthetic hair, we are proud to tell you that all of Hey Stacey hair extensions are made from high quality, 100" remy human hair.

Once you've confirmed the set of hair extensions you want to colour are human hair or not, you will quickly open the door to a world of colouring opportunities to consider and have fun with. Not only can you colour your hair extensions to give yourself the perfect match to your natural hair, but you can also colour your hair extensions to try an ombre effect. An ombre effect is usually when hair is darker at the roots and lighter from the mid-to-ends and gradually gets lighter at the ends. If you're confident, you can do this technique from home however your hairdresser can create an ombre effect for you. 

With all that information, let's get started!

1. CHOOSE YOUR COLOUR 

To begin, choose the colour you'd like to dye your hair extensions with. We recommend using colour that is from a professional hair brand such as Fanola or Adore because box dye colour from the supermarket will not let you choose an activator (developer) for your hair extensions and this is very important! A high developer will likely cause damage to your hair extensions, this is why semi-permanent colours such as the Adore colours will be best to use as they are ready to use and don't require any activator. 

2. GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES

You'll need more than just colour to begin, you're also going to need gloves, a tint bowl, a tint brush, foil, plastic wrap, a towel and a wide-tooth comb. If you're looking to tone your hair extensions, you might want to look to using the watercolour method - you will need a deep container such as a sink, bucket or mixing bowl. Once you have all your supplies, you're good to go and ready to get stuck into dying your hair extensions. Colouring your hair extensions can be messy work, so make sure you have a towel or use foil to protect the surfaces around you from unwanted colour stains.

3. PREP YOUR HAIR EXTENSIONS

Fill your sink with lukewarm water. Then, add a few drops of your favourite shampoo into the water and mix the product around in the water so it becomes nice and soapy. Wash your hair extensions one weft at a time to avoid knotting, hold them from the top and submerge them into the water and gentle wash the hair extensions. Avoid rubbing the hair and be super careful to not tangle the hair like we said. Once all done, air-dry your hair extensions and make sure they are completely dry before you begin colouring your hair extensions. When your hair extensions are dry, gentle run a comb through the hair extensions to remove any knots or tangles.

4. PREP YOUR COLOUR

Prepare your colour by sticking to the manufacturers instructions. Most semi-permanent hair colours are ready-to-use and don't require any mixing of developer etc but if you are using a colour that requires developers, most hair dyes are composed of equal parts colour and developer. Also, make sure you have plenty of colour before you being because you don't want to run out of colour mid job. 

Let's say you're wanting to dye your blonde hair extensions pink, you can opt for a watercolour method like we mentioned earlier. This method means you wont be applying the dye directly to each weft but instead you'll be submerging the hair extensions in a mixture of water and hair dye. If this is a method you're going to use, make sure you have plenty of colour as you will end up using more product with the watercolour method. To perform the watercolour method, fill a bowl or bucket of hot water (make sure it isn't boiling) and then add a quarter size amount of hair dye into the water and mix it all around until the hair dye has dissolved and that there aren't large chunks of colour floating around in the water. From there, continue adding enough hair dye so that water a bright vibrant pink (or whatever the colour is you've chosen).

5. APPLY THE HAIR COLOUR

You're prepped and ready to go - let's get colouring! BUT, before we get to the fun part, it's always a good idea to do a strand test first. Colour a single weft hair extension at the bottom before applying all over the hair extensions.

If you're going to do the watercolour method, dip the weft into the water entirely, let it soak for a couple of seconds. Then, take it out and gently squeeze all the water out from the hair extensions. If you're happy with the colour after one dip, you can lay it to the side and let it dry but if you want it to be more vibrant, repeat the same step until you're happy with the vibrancy. Just remember the colour will dry differently again, it could look lighter. 

Just like you would with your natural hair, let the colour sit on the hair extensions as long as the box says, then rinse, shampoo and dry. With the watercolour method, remove the shampoo step because it can fade the semi-permanent dye. Trust the process, doing a test strand first will help you with the whole set of hair extensions and making sure everything is perfect first.

If you're happy with the results, put your gloves on and use the tint brush and tint bowl to coat each weft piece evenly with your colour of choice. Start from the top of the hair extensions and make your way down the hair until it's fully coated in colour. Don't apply the colour in an upward motion because this could damage the hair extensions and leave them frizzy looking. Make sure the colour saturates the hair extensions completely, so this means flipping the hair over once you've done one side and repeating the steps on the other side of the hair extensions.

For the watercolour method, repeat the same colouring process on the remainder of your hair extensions and put them aside once all done. You'll notice that as you go through the hair extensions, your colour bath with begin to lighten up or may end up with less water. When you notice this, all you need to do is add more water/dye, dilute the colour again and then continue on as you were. Be mindful of how much colour you use, you want your hair extensions to be even. Once all your wefts are done, you can skip step 7.

6. PROCESS THE COLOUR

After you're done colouring your hair extensions, cover them very loosely with cling wrap. This will prevent the colour from drying out. Going back to the manufacturer directions, it should tell you how long to leave the colour on for - generally it's around 20 to 40 minutes. Whilst your hair extensions are processing, check on the colour by gently rubbing a piece of paper towel over a small piece of hair. Make sure you reapply colour with the colour brush you used after any checks you make.

7. WASH YOUR HAIR EXTENSIONS 

Once the colour has processed and you're happy with how the colour is looking on your hair extensions, you will then need to rinse your hair extensions. Using cool water, gently wash your hair extensions using your fingers and continue until the water runs clear. After you rinse the colour out, shampoo your hair extensions with a sulphate-free shampoo and follow with a sulphate-free conditioner. Using sulphate-free products means you will protect the colour you just applied from stripping from the hair extensions and keeping in moisture. 

8. LET THE HAIR EXTENSIONS DRY

After giving your hair extensions some tender love and care, it's time to let them dry. Lay a towel down and lay each weft piece down and apply a leave-in conditioner to your hair extensions also using a wide-tooth comb to evenly distribute the product. The last step is to allow your hair extensions to air-dry before you wear or style them. We recommend avoiding blow drying your hair extensions because heat strips colour from hair and this is why letting your hair extensions air-dry is better to protect the colour. If you absolutely must, make sure you use a heat protectant spray before applying ANY heat to your hair extensions.

Once your hair extensions are dry, you are free to style how you wish and continue living your days with your funky coloured hair extensions. Things to remember is to make sure you're colouring human hair extensions, you don't use box dye found at the supermarket, you know what technique you want to use to colour your hair extensions and that you perform a test strand before colouring your whole set of hair extensions. 

We hope your DIY hair colour comes out just like you planned and that our easy steps mentioned above help you achieve the colour you want from home. Don't forget to tag us in your looks, we love sharing your photos across our social media.