Customer Reviews

The Hair Color Mix Book: More Than 150 Recipes for Salon-Perfect Color at Home

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As a non-professional who has nonetheless colored her hair at home for many years, I didn't feel as if I got anything new out of this. Tips like, "prepare your area" and "use a protective cream around the hairline" are so basic, you'd have to be completely new to hair color not to know that. On the other hand, I've never been bold enough to attempt my own highlighting so I read through those sections to see if it was doable.

Unfortunately, the directions for various techniques were unclear and there weren't enough pictures to show what she meant. I still feel completely in the dark about how to highlight my own hair. The colors that you have to choose from are only a few for each shade range (dark brown, light brown, dark blonde, light blonde). If the color you want is not in the book, she won't show you how to achieve it. Also, your hair has to be virgin (not already colored) to follow her recipes. She does not even go into different options for coloring hair such as semi-permanent, demi-permanent, etc.. All recipes are for permanent hair color. I've actually learned quite a bit more about hair color reading and researching on the internet than by reading this book.

Overall, I am disappointed. At least the book makes a nice coffee table book for your girlfriend's to look through and I would recommend it to anyone who is completely new to coloring hair as it is definitely meant for the novice (except for the highlighting and advanced techniques which are suited only to professional stylists). Don't expect to find even a very basic explanation of the color wheel or underlying pigments. Overall, not what I expected. I was really hoping to find insider secrets but did not find them here.

I bought this book with high hopes of learning how to color my hair at home. Read it from cover to cover, then went back to identify what I wanted, and how to do it. I cannot for the life of me understand how to do my "tab 4" hair in a "Milk Chocolate" color with the "Foil out" technique! I have read and re-read these two sets of instructions to try to bring them together into instructions that make sense, but they don't, so I won't attempt it. If any other readers of this book have any advice about this, I'd love to hear it! At this point, I don't know that this book will be useful to me at all, unless I decide to settle on some other recipe that actually makes sense. I'm disappointed.

I have never written a review in my life - but there's a first time for everything. I agree that this is a beautifully presented book. The photos look great and it all sounds so easy. It took me 3 days and visits to several stores to get all the equipment. Now, I am sitting here with the most obscene orange hair. I have an appointment tomorrow with a color correction specialist. Who knows what that will cost or how long it will take. So much for saving money doing it yourself. Take this book with a grain of salt. Be very careful as you proceed with her "recipes". I knew something didn't feel right when she said to buy Feria #100 "very light blond" in order to get "caramel" brown. I've learned my lesson. I will stick with the salon.

As a professional hairdresser, I find this book a bit over the top for a person who is used to getting 'boxed' color OTC. I tried to read it from a consumers perspective and found it confusing. Although the author jumps through hoops trying to explain, it is not easy.Too many formulas for different color hair types. If one is alone with no help, it will be very difficult to apply the products. Although if one is experimental, perhaps she'll get something out of it.

The bad reviews for this book are surprising, because I thought it was fantastic. I've been destroying my hair for years trying to get it the shades I've fancied, or spending entirely too much money on results I was unhappy with. This book gave me the freedom to alter my hair on a whim (and I do get those often), without completely frying it. I've successfully gone from black-black hair to white-white hair (although the author does not recommend that) and had my hair every color in between. I'm extraordinarily happy with this book. It's easy to use, the directions are clear and concise, and if you follow the directions, you'll be happy with your results.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I am mixed race (1/2 black, 1/2 white)with tab 3 hair (dark brown). I've used this book 3 times. Once to get the caramel color. Even though it wasn't recommended for my tab, I followed the directions *exactly* and got a beautiful color, soft and warm. Now it's winter, so I went darker, and did the milk chocolate with vanilla threads recipe. Once again, a beautiful result. Tonight I did my husband's hair, using the "Frosted Secret Sauce" on his tab 7 hair. He looks amazing, and perfectly natural. To achieve good results, this book absolutely *must* be read all the way through first. No turning straight to the recipes and jumping in headfirst. Successful hair coloring and insistence on instant gratification do not go hand in hand.

first, i wanted to reply to Elle, who said that she got orange hair from using the 'light blonde' dye reccomended to get 'caramel'. i also did the same thing, but with different results. though my hair didn't end up a perfect caramel, it did lighten it up nicely to a color that i've been getting lots of compliments on. i never would have used that store-bought color otherwise, as my hair is too dark to go 'light blonde'. but, since my tab was in the right section, i did. perhaps your hair was too dark or you left the color in for too long?

so, while it worked alright for me, i did find the book less than thrilling. again with the protecting your hairline, etc... very basic. i wanted insider tips, not the ABC's.

that being said, i liked all the different color options and will certainly experiment with other recipes in the book.

overall, it's a good thing to look at in the bookstore if you want new ideas, but i wouldn't exactly run out to buy it.

I am amazed at the bad reviews, as I found this book to be a godsend. After 25 years of horrible colors by many different stylists, the last one just before an important engagement, I was so mad at every stylist who has ever given me orange hilights that I researched and found this book. I was very nervous,as I have only used semiperm haircolor myself in the past, but it washes out and leaves your hair slightly lighter. I decided I need to do the permanent haircolor. I did as she said, and read the book first. then I went back and reread sections I was unsure of. Yes, she says "virgin" haircolor but defines that as your own native, virgin color, not that you can't use her recipes on hair that has already been colored. My hair had already been colored, and it was that horrible caramel orange color that all styelists want to give to 50 year old woman, they either make us blonde or orange. You have to use some common sense and for the person who ended up with an orange mess you obviously did not do the test strip as she advises. Anyway, I was unsure if my native color was a 3 4 or 5, (it's a dark brown that pulls a lot of red) and my hair had been colored and highlighted to a caramel in various areas. I also have quite a bit of gray on the crown. After carefully reading the recipes for the milk chocalate I chose the the tab 5, thinking my native color was a 3 or 4, but with my gray she recommended using the recipe for tab 5. I did the foils to keep my some of my caramel highlights like she suggested (foil out) and the results are just amazing. I have never been happier with a result. It is very natural, and soft. Next time I am going to try the highlights, but first of course on a test area. YOu can always cover a small test area if you end up not liking it. Yes, there are limited colors but come on, how many colors are there actually for hair? She covers the basics and that's what I need.
I don't want some weird color combination that only an "insider" tip would give me. No thanks, been there, done that and paid a lot of money for it and came home and colored over it. This book is awesome. You have to use your brains, think through what it is you have and what it is you want, and if you follow her basic recipes you will get it. Just be sure and do your test strip. As far as all the stuff she recommends you get before set up, I only got the stuff I needed for my particular recipe.

I found this book informative in helping me to achieve the look I want for my hair. Without getting into the specifics of my own hair, I chose the recipe that corresponds with Jennifer Aniston's color, which seems to be one of the less complicated ones. Like some of the other reviewers, I found the list of items to purchase a little much and some of the instructions somewhat vague. However, having had some bad experiences at salons and at the time sporting a color I couldn't stand (from a salon) that I had been letting grow out, I took the plunge and just tried it out. I thought the dark blonde she recommended came out too light for my base color, which I would say I correctly evaluated. While the color was okay, it was not what I had envisioned (which was the picture). I also didn't care for the highlight brand -- even boosted with the additional developer. They came out too golden for me and I chose this recipe because it was for cool coloring. Overall, I came away from the experience with not totally goofed hair and I was able to then tweak the recipe to come up with what I believe looks more like what I wanted. My review of this book is based totally on my own coloring experience. I give it four stars because I was able to build a foundation on which to create my own color recipe. However, it seems I could have just as easily ended up with a disaster as a couple of reviewers seem to have experienced, which would have prompted me to give it a 1-star rating. In fairness to the author, this book tries to bring knowledge of professional colorists to the average person. I can only imagine that it's a Herculean feat and I guess the best advice for this book: "Caveat emptor" -- Let the buyer beware.

The book is easy to read and easy to understand. Author makes a point of trying to make you feel at ease and uses terms anyone can understand. Author sounds as if she truly wants to share her secrets and make you successful. Products used and recommended are for the most part readily available at local stores like Walgreens, etc. Book includes color photos of haircolor shown on celebrities. I was a little disapointed that the book gives "recipes" for only a limited number of hair colors that she has created. Nevertheless, I recommend the book and think you will find the information useful and it will save you money by allowing you to color your hair at home with professional results.