How To Refresh Ombre Hair At Home

If, like me, you are in dire need of a recolour on your dip dyed hair but are lacking the funds to do it, then fear not! You can have your salon stylist ombre hair looking as fresh and glossy as when you left the hairdressers, DIY style at home.

A few weeks after getting a salon colour, I always find that my hair starts to look very brassy/ginger and my mousy brown roots start to creep up on me, and can appear a little grey against the warm tones. This is an easy method to save money, eradicate unwanted colours and it is the least damaging way of doing ombre at home.

The key is to not bleach over your already damaged blonde ends, (which is likely to be what they would do in the salon anyway!) In this method we will gentle re-tone and nourish the ends using conditioner and a very mild semi-permanent colour.

Before and After

What you will need

A pair of scissors, a roll of standard kitchen tin foil, a tint bowl, a tint brush, a tube of any conditioner (deep recommended), your chosen root colour home hair dye, and blue/purple semi-permanent tint (optional - see below!).

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1 - Preparation

• Whenever colouring your hair at home it is advisable to be prepared for the risk of staining! I have an old towel set aside especially for dye, and I also moisturise around my hairline, neck and ears for any rogue splashes that may stain your skin. I have heard that vaseline is also very good for this. 
• Keep some cotton wool and moisturiser at the ready to clean up your skin as you go. 
• Cut up strips of tin foil ready to wrap the ends of your hair in.

Step 2 - Mixing the dye

Whenever your hair is bleached it will inevitably cause a little damage, at home you can ensure that you can refresh the colour with products that you know will not worsen the state of the ends. To retain the lightened colour on the tips, we are simply going to wrap them in tin foil with conditioner to protect them from the dye. There are two methods listed below: 

If you are happy with the current colour of your ends

• simply squeeze a generous amount of conditioner into a tint bowl and move onto the next step. You can use whatever conditioner you like, I would recommend using a deep conditioner to restore some moisture in the bleached areas. 

If your ends have tones of yellow/orange (brassy) and you would like to freshen them up

• Squeeze a generous amount of conditioner into a tint bowl. I have used John Frieda Intense After-Colour Conditioner (£4.99 Boots) but you can use whichever conditioner you like! 
• Carefully put 2-3 drops of a blue (yes, blue!) Semi Permanent hair dye. I have used Rusk Scream in Electric Blue. I would fully recommend using this product as there are NO damaging ingredients in it and it is very easy to mix. (If your hair is more yellowish than orangey, use drops of purple instead).
• Stir the mixture using a tint brush (available from Sally's or online!) and you're ready to roll.

Step 3 - Applying the foils

 This can be a little tricky at first, but once you have put two or three in you get the hang of it! Starting from the bottom layers of hair, paint the dye onto the bits you would like to keep blonde and wrap in the foil. Try to do this in thin layers (lots of foil parcels!) as this will make it much, much easier when applying the root colour later. Don't worry about how long this takes you, the dye/conditioner can stay on the hair for as long as you like and will not cause any damage or intensify the blue tones. I have also wrapped up extra sections around my face for a more multi-tonal finish! Be creative and confident at this stage, why not try varying the lengths of the blonde sections? 

Step 4 - Applying the root colour

Now for the final colour! I have used John Frieda Precision Foam Hair Colour in 6NBG Light Amber Brown (£9.99 Boots) but feel free to use your own dye. If you do opt for a John Frieda colour, be wary that the shade will often turn out considerably darker than planned (speaking from experience!) Apply your colour as instructed in the box, rubbing the colour through the lengths of your hair until hitting the foiled sections. 

Step 5 - Rinse and Style!

Styled for the evening

Allow 5-10 minutes of your developing time to remove the foils before rinsing your hair. Because of the formulation with the conditioner, the foils should slide out with ease. Once they are all removed, rinse thoroughly. Do not panic if the ends of your hair look a little green at first, this will wash out! Dry and style as normal.

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Easy day time look!