What I did to find exact color dye to match my bio hair

[TEG]

When my new system came, I cut a few inches off and secured it together with tape on the end; they always come much longer.

went to Sallys and said " I need a dye to match the color of the hair that is on my head so it will match the lock of hair here" and she took the taped lock of hair and looked at that and my real hair for a few seconds

she then went to the wella charm section and knew exactly what to choose. It is called "Medium smokey ash blonde" told me they were buy 1 get 1 half off. I said I will take 2.

I then asked her what else I needed. She explained to me I needed the developer. Bought a bottle of that too. She was really nice. Said something that I had very ashy hair or something of that sort. I maybe spent $20

Went home and read directions. Simple enough. Did a test on an old unit. It was an exact match!

The best thing is I can go on Sally's website and buy this color. I even found it on eBay and Amazon. Never went back to the drugstore again and played guessing games picking out the dye, plus the kind from Sallys is MUCH better than those crummy box kits they sell in Walgreens, etc. Those last maybe a couple weeks and then you have to color them again. The professional dye does not do this. Any dye and developer you dont use just put the cap on and use next time, but the mixed stuff you have to throw out.

I also purchased a kit that has this plastic bowl, brushes, etc

I bought a big package of this dye really cheap in case they are discontinued; that sort of thing seems to happen a lot with things i like lol. The developer you can get online or even in some chain stores. also very cheap

I did this years ago.

so, if you are having problems finding your exact shade, suck up your pride and do what I did. Who cares what they think; you will never have to see them again.

 

[RunsWithScissors]

Good tip, thanks. Does the system you order not come with a perfect match to your bio hair? Why is that? If you are ordering custom they should be able to do it. I found one vendor that has a color that is a perfect match for me, however, the systems do fade over time. So i'd have to go into Sally's with a lock of hair and ask how do I get THIS color. Fading systems is a real problem with me, the current ones i am buying seem to only last a few months even though the system is otherwise fine. I started using back2natural "hydrobalance leave in conditioner", which is supposed to preserve the color so i will see how that goes.

 

[TEG]

Good tip, thanks. Does the system you order not come with a perfect match to your bio hair? Why is that? If you are ordering custom they should be able to do it. I found one vendor that has a color that is a perfect match for me, however, the systems do fade over time. So i'd have to go into Sally's with a lock of hair and ask how do I get THIS color. Fading systems is a real problem with me, the current ones i am buying seem to only last a few months even though the system is otherwise fine. I started using back2natural "hydrobalance leave in conditioner", which is supposed to preserve the color so i will see how that goes.

they do come with the color matched, but like yours it fades easy. Back2Natural does help, but I have to keep using it every week. Good Luck!

 

[Hair2019]

Speaking of fading, since I started using Esse Wigs in China for my hair systems, I have not had any issues with fading. I am not sure why, but the colour on their systems doesn't noticeably fade much at all (I use a medium brown colour). I used to use Back2Natural to correct fading when I was ordering systems from my previous supplier, but now I don't even need to.

 

[RunsWithScissors]

When my new system came, I cut a few inches off and secured it together with tape on the end; they always come much longer.

went to Sallys and said " I need a dye to match the color of the hair that is on my head so it will match the lock of hair here" and she took the taped lock of hair and looked at that and my real hair for a few seconds

she then went to the wella charm section and knew exactly what to choose. It is called "Medium smokey ash blonde" told me they were buy 1 get 1 half off. I said I will take 2.

I then asked her what else I needed. She explained to me I needed the developer. Bought a bottle of that too. She was really nice. Said something that I had very ashy hair or something of that sort. I maybe spent $20

Went home and read directions. Simple enough. Did a test on an old unit. It was an exact match!

The best thing is I can go on Sally's website and buy this color. I even found it on eBay and Amazon. Never went back to the drugstore again and played guessing games picking out the dye, plus the kind from Sallys is MUCH better than those crummy box kits they sell in Walgreens, etc. Those last maybe a couple weeks and then you have to color them again. The professional dye does not do this. Any dye and developer you dont use just put the cap on and use next time, but the mixed stuff you have to throw out.

I also purchased a kit that has this plastic bowl, brushes, etc

I bought a big package of this dye really cheap in case they are discontinued; that sort of thing seems to happen a lot with things i like lol. The developer you can get online or even in some chain stores. also very cheap

I did this years ago.

so, if you are having problems finding your exact shade, suck up your pride and do what I did. Who cares what they think; you will never have to see them again.

I finally went to Sallys to deal with fading hair. I did the same thing you did, brought a lock of hair and told the chick I wanted to match that color. The only wrinkle is I forgot hairpieces tend to suck up the color aggressively and it comes out darker than planned, and that is what happened. No worries, I went back and bought the next lighter shade (which I figured out on their website), got the new dye and wallah! a perfect color match. For me I used the Clairol Professional Soy4plex in case anyone is looking but I imagine any brand would be fine. I used an old hair system I had discarded for fading and now it's back in my supply of hairpieces I can wear. For the one that was dyed too dark, there is stuff you can buy (Color Oops and other brands) that will remove the color so I will do that and then use the new dye. All of a sudden I have too many hairpieces. Would probably not have thought of this had I not seen your post, so I tip my hat to you, Sir! These boards are indispensable!