Home haircoloring is a fantastic bargain. You can save hundreds of dollars each year DIY-ing your haircolor, but you are going to have to work at it. It's messy and there's definitely some effort involved. That's why it's so important to use a high-quality hair color. It's simply too labor intensive to get mediocre results once it's all over with. Ion Color Brilliance Permanent Creme Haircolor will make the trouble worth your while.

What Makes a Good Haircolor?

Good haircolor covers grays completely, adds shine, is multi-tonal, and moisturizing. It resists fading, is uniform and pigmented enough to achieve true results with deep brunette colors. Among permanent hair dye options, Sally Beauty Supply's Ion Color Brilliance Permanent Creme Haircolor stands apart as a superior choice.

Home Haircolor Basics: How to Mix

Any haircolor has to be mixed with a peroxide developer to activate. Once haircolor is activated, it can penetrate the hair cuticle to lay down the desired color. A haircolor kit from the drugstore has the haircolor, peroxide developer and after-color conditioner all together in one package. When you go to Sally's, the haircolor and developer are sold separately. Each brand has hair color/developer choices that are grouped together. Haircolor is on the upper shelves and developer is below.

Developer comes in different strengths or volumes. Volume 10 is gentle and useful for processing fragile, damaged hair. Volume 20 is known as "standard lift," and is used to cover gray and color permanently. Volumes 30 and 40 contain higher levels of peroxide and are used when extra lightening is desired.

Follow the directions on the hair color to find out how much developer should be mixed with that particular hair color. (For instance, you may have a 2 oz. hair color that mixes with 2 oz. of developer.) For Ion Color Brilliance Permanent Creme Haircolor, you mix one tube of haircolor with 2 oz. of 20 volume Ion Color Brilliance Sensitive Scalp Creme Developer.

Home Haircolor Basics: Patch Test Required

You must always test for an allergic reaction to a haircolor/developer combination 2 days before coloring your hair. Mix the correct ratio of developer and haircolor, then apply it with a q tip to your inner elbow or behind your ear to see if any signs of a reaction occur. If any do, don't use this haircolor on your head! Allergic reactions to hair color are notoriously dramatic, with severe swelling and hospital stays being the norm. Protect yourself by testing your color and peroxide combo every time you color, regardless of how many times you have used a particular product with success. You can develop an allergic reaction to a mixture you have used many times before.

Sensitive Scalps, Rejoice!

Ion Color Brilliance Sensitive Scalp Creme Developer is designed to calm irritation and will give you the kind of haircoloring experience you wish you were having all along! No itching or burning here, just much-appreciated comfort!

Ion Hair Color Delivers Salon Quality

What makes Ion hair color better than the others starts during mixing. The color and developer combine to form a thick, spreadable mixture that stays white during application, so you can easily see what's done and what needs more attention. This haircolor is super-moist, drenching strands for beautiful, fully-processed color. And it smells...drum roll...pleasant!!

What about results? Ion haircolor covers gray completely, which is something that every permanent hair color should be able to do. But there's more--your white hairs won't rear their ugly heads three shampoos later, which is something that happens with a lot of permanent haircolors.

Ion haircolor will give your hair dimension. Haircolor with dimension--areas of lighter and darker color and shine--looks healthier and more natural. Ion's color is translucent so the color result is truly multi-tonal.

Another thing for brunettes to love? Ion haircolor will saturate your hair with dimensional color that lasts and lasts (and lasts). You don't have to put up with haircolor that looks black for a week and then looks like it was done at home. Ion uses micro-pigments that produce deep, not overly dark browns that look good enough to eat.

Another wonderful thing about this haircolor is that it spreads out and settles, creating glossy, uniform color. It is a forgiving mixture that melds your newly colored roots with the rest of your hair to create a gorgeous, even effect. When you use this haircolor, your hair will look like it was colored in the salon!

Take Care Of Your Hair

Be sure to use a gentle, moisturizing shampoo for color-treated hair. Two non-stripping shampoos that work well are Aussie Moist Shampoo and Garnier Fructis Fortifying Color Shield Shampoo.

Two good conditioners for color-treated hair are Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Masque (a deep conditioner) and Garnier Fructis Strength and Repair Melting Masque for daily use.

You Will Love This Haircolor!

Ion Color Brilliance Permanent Creme Haircolor does it all--it covers gray and lasts; it is moisturizing and pleasant to use; color results are luxurious and shining; brunettes are dense and delicious and it's a great bargain! This haircolor is everything it should be--try it once and you'll be a believer!