Should You Color at home, or should you leave it to a salon professional? There's no one answer that fits all situations. I, for instance, have done both. When I was in high school, I enlivened my dark-blonde hair with a permanent medium-gold hair color, which I bought in a local drugstore and applied in my bathroom. Today, I prefer to go to the salon for highlights and lowlights. My experience of hair color has shaped my personal philosophy: The easier a technique is and the less harsh the formula, the more likely I'll try it at home. The more complicated a technique is and the harsher the formula, the more likely I'll go to my stylist.

Choosing a shade

When you go to a salon for hair color, you have a color specialist - someone familiar with skin tones and what hair colors flatter them - at your disposal. This expertise is essential if you crave a big change, whether you're a dark brunette and want to be strawberry-blonde or have deep auburn hair and want to be platinum. A color technician can tell you whether you can carry off such a change; if you can't, she'll steer you toward a more realistic (but no less exciting) choice.

If you're coloring at home, however, you've got to choose a shade yourself. It's best to choose something that is no more than 1 to 3 levels different from your own - and try to stay in the same color family. Mother Nature provides us with natural hair colors that flatter our skin and eyes: make things easy on yourself and stay near what she's given you. For instance, if your hair is golden in tone, choose another golden shade. If your hair is red, look for something in the red family; if it is ashy, choose an ashy, choose an ashy shade. If your hair has none of these tones, it is neutral- choose a shade in the neutral family. For example, if you have auburn hair and crave something lighter, go for a dark strawberry blonde; if you have medium-brown hair and want something darker, go with an ashy deep brunette.

If your hair is below shoulder length or very thick, you may need to use two boxes of calorina product to fully saturate your hair.