I Dyed My Hair in My Dorm Room

With the arrival of October 1st a few days ago, it finally feels like fall. To mark the season of pumpkin spice lattes and fuzzy sweaters, I figured I should swap my summer highlights for autumnal dark brown. 

So, I reached for my laptop and ordered up Overtone, a conditioner that deposits dye in your hair. I’d seen ads for it countless times on my Instagram feed, so why not try it out? The way it works is simple: you just apply it like any other conditioner on your clean, dry hair. Then you let it sit for 15 minutes, rinse thoroughly, and voilà you’re done! Instant color!

My roommate and I tried colors from Overtone’s natural tones collection. I went for espresso brown, and she opted for rich black. They also come in crazy colors like, rose gold, magenta, red, blue, teal, and green to name a few.

The entire process was fairly easy. I made makeshift hairdresser gowns out of trash bags for each of us, and we applied the conditioner in our dorm. Pro tip: don’t try and pick up the Overtone container with your wet gloves, it’s very slippery and you’ll spill it on your roommate’s jacket (I felt so bad!). 

After waiting 15 minutes to let the dye soak in, the next step was rinsing out the conditioner. We headed to the showers and washed our hair until the water ran clear. The dye does stain the shower tiles a bit, but it’s nothing a little dish soap can’t fix. 

Overall, I am very happy with the final, blow-dried product. The espresso brown conditioner dyed my hair several shades darker brown with hints of a red undertone and the rich black conditioner turned my roommate’s hair raven black. I’m not sure how long the dye will last, but you can always reapply. The conditioner is much less damaging than traditional hair dye and for a price of $29 a container, it’s more cost effective than dying professionally at a salon. 

If you’ve always wanted to dye your hair or just ready to change it up, I’d recommend giving Overtone a try. I’m glad I did! 

• beauty
• brunette
• dye
• hair