Some people are a bit frightened to dye human tape hair extensions at home. So I have made this tutorial on dying tape hair extensions at home. It’s easy to do and the semi permanent dyes give you a host of amazing colours. These are easy to apply and usually wash out by themselves.
My Advice
If you want to Dye Human Tape Hair Extensions at Home, I would mention some of my advices. If you are using semi permanent dyes, and your hair extensions are HUMAN HAIR, then it should be no problem. I have also dyed my roots with permanent hair dye when I have had tape and keratin tip hair extensions in before, with no problems.
The only thing is that I recommend you have the actual hair extensions put in and removed by a hairdresser. Just because you don’t want to put any more pressure on the hair follicle in case you damage it.
Most semi permanent colours do no damage to your hair and can be easily applied at home. I don’t like to take work away from hairdressers. But when money is tight and you want to look good, doing some of the hairdressing work at home is a good way to save some coins.
Note that for this tutorial you will need to have had your hair extensions removed already, as I dye mine flat. Follow these steps to Dye Human Tape Hair Extensions at Home:
STEP ONE– Preparing the hair extensions to be dyed
First step is to wash the hair extensions. Use a good shampoo and lather them up. You can wash twice if you want to, I did it only once because they weren’t that dirty. Do not condition or the dyes don’t stay in as well. Hair shampoo opens up the pores in the hair and makes it more receptive to receiving colour.
Dry the hair extensions flat with the taps flat against a towel until they are no longer dripping.
Remove the towel and lay the tape extensions flat on some pieces of aluminum foil.
Make sure there are no gaps between the hair and your bench tops as the aluminum foil is going to hold all the dye in and keep the moisture out while the colour is absorbed by the hair.
STEP TWO– Preparing the Dye
Mixing the semi permanent hair to get the colour you want. It is OK to mix up commercial semi permanent hair dyes to get a different colour. In fact you can mix two or more colours to achieve your signature colour without a worry. But you must be sensible and don’t mix permanent hair dyes. Unless you know what you are doing and you understand the chemicals you are using.
Semi permanent hair dyes are easy to mix but my advice is to ONLY MIX DYES FROM THE SAME BRAND.
This way you can be pretty sure you won’t have some kind of crazy chemical reaction going on. For this tutorial, I have used the dyes called Crazy Colour which I purchased from our local hairdressing supply store here in Newcastle, NSW. You can get these types of dyes in heaps of places, or online.
I mix all my hair dyes in this plastic bowl which is from a hairdressing supply store again. I also apply with a brush and I always wear gloves so my hands don’t get dyed.
In this case I used CRAZY COLOUR brand, Capri Blue and Sky Blue are the names of the colours I used. I wanted a blue that was a little unusual, not too dark and not too light. I mixed about 70% Capri Blue and 30% Sky Blue. No water or anything else. Mix with the brush and you are ready to apply the dye to your hair extensions.
STEP THREE– Applying the dye to the hair extensions
Applying the dye is the fun part. Since the tape makes the hair extensions lay flat on the aluminium foil, it’s easy to apply the colour with the brush. It’s just like painting a picture.
As you can see I have painted all the hair extensions, making sure that each one is soaked in the semi permanent hair dye. Make sure you paint the hair extensions laying flat on the aluminium foil. Fold the edges of the foil inwards.
Roll the aluminum foil up and fold all edges, to make a seal. You want the hair extensions with the semi permanent dye on them to stay moist inside so make it air tight as much as you can. I then placed the entire package into an air tight container as I leave my coloured hair dye in overnight whenever possible to ensure the colour is vibrant, but this is optional.
Seal up the container and leave it in a dark and cool place. The container is optional and you can easily leave the extensions out as long as they are wrapped well in the air tight foil. Bright coloured hair dye seems to look more vibrant and last longer the longer you leave it in.
Usually the label says leave in for half an hour and after this time the colour has taken but it isn’t as deep as I like. I usually leave it in for at least 2 hours, and overnight if possible. Yes, even when it is on my head. If the semi permanent dye is on my head I wrap it in foils like you see the hairdresser do, then wrap my entire head in plastic cling wrap (like glad wrap, or saran wrap). Usually I put a scarf on top of this to secure everything and just in case I have to go out.
STEP FOUR– Washing out the dye
Once you have decided the dye has been in long enough, it’s time to wash it out. Wash with shampoo once only and rinse until the water runs clear. You can condition if you want to but stick to the ends if you must put conditioner in.
Once you have washed your tape extensions, lay them flat on a towel. Let them air dry as much as possible. Once they have dried and no longer drip you can gather them up by the tape end and use the blow dryer on a low setting. Blow dry from the tapes down the hair shaft so you don’t mess them up any more than you have to. Once the hair is dry, you can brush gently. Grip the tape end and hold just below the tape so that you are not pulling the hair out of the glue.
As you can see the hair turned out a stunning mix of light and dark blues. I am thrilled with it and get so many comments.
It doesn’t matter if the tape part of the hair extensions look a bit ratty. The hairdresser will change that when you go back to have them reapplied. I hope you enjoy this tutorial and I am also making it into a video for those who prefer that format.
There is a comments section below this blog post that you can use to leave me a message or comment. I appreciate all of your comments.