How much does it cost to dye your hair? It depends on a variety of factors—whether you’re doing it yourself or going to a salon, what quality of dye you want to use, whether you’re bleaching your hair first, whether you want temporary or permanent dye, etc.
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Costs of Dyeing Your Hair
Below, we’ll break down how much it typically costs to dye your hair no matter which option you choose.
How Much Does It Cost to Dye Your Hair at Home?
If you’re willing to get your hands colorful, the cost of dyeing your hair is as low as the price of the dye itself. Let’s look at a range of dyes in all the common colors and how much they cost.
Brown dyes
There are a wide range of dyes in brown, so you have a lot of brands and shades to choose from at a reasonable price.
- Cheap: Garnier Nutrisse Medium Natural Brown (approx. $7)
- Medium: Clairol Nice’n Easy Perfect 10 Light Chocolate Brown (approx. $14)
- More expensive: L’Oréal Paris Feria Multi-Faceted Shimmering Permanent Hair Color (approx. $24)
Red dyes
With red dyes, you’ll have a choice between permanent and semi-permanent dyes. If you want bright red, you might have to do a round of hair bleaching first if your hair is naturally on the darker side.
- Cheap: Nisha Cream Flame Red (approx. $6)
- Medium: Clairol Nice’n Easy Light Auburn (approx. $13)
- Most expensive: Celeb Luxury Viral Colorditioner (a color-depositing conditioner, approx. $40)
Black dyes
Black can be a tricky color to dye and maintain in your hair. It can also be more damaging and harder to get rid of if it comes out badly. This is one color I’d probably not attempt myself, but if you want to give it a shot, the dyes are affordable.
- Cheap: L’Oreal Paris Feria Natural Black (approx. $9)
- Medium: PRAVANA ChromaSilk Black (approx. $14)
- Most expensive: Jet Black Henna Hair Color (approx. $19)
Blonde dye/hair bleach
Blonde is another color that can be hard to DIY, since you’ll have to rely on bleach to lighten your hair instead of just adding a dye. You’ll want to be careful with bleach, since overdoing it can make your hair brittle or even burn your scalp. If you’re up for the challenge, just do your research so you know what you’re doing before you start!
- Cheap: L’Oreal Paris Feria Extreme Platinum (approx. $9)
- Medium: L’Oreal Paris Couleur Toasted Coconut (approx. $14)
- Most expensive: Schwarzkopf Professional Blond Me bundle (approx. $46)
More bright/uncommon colors
Most brightly colored dyes (e.g. blue, pink, green) are semi-permanent, meaning they’ll fade more quickly. Be aware that they’re also more prone to bleeding and staining, so don’t sleep on pillowcases you care about.
- Cheap: Adore Semi-Permanent Haircolor in various shades of red, green, purple, blue, pink, and more (approx. $6)
- Medium: Keracolor Color Depositing Conditioner in green, blue, red, pink, silver, and more (approx. $15)
- More expensive: Arctic Fox Hair Dye in purple, pink, green, red, and blue (approx. $19)
Costs of Getting Your Hair Dyed at a Salon
Want to leave your dye job up to the professionals? It’ll cost a decent amount more than the $10-$20 you’ll pay with DIY dyes, but if you’re new to hair dye or want a trickier hair color, you might decide it’s worth the expense.
Your price is going to depend on a couple of factors:
- The hair salon you choose (high-end places will obviously cost more than cheaper chains)
- The brand of hair dye they use
- The length of your hair
- The complexity of the dye style you want (e.g. a single color will be cheaper than an ombré style)
To give you a general idea of the range to expect, though, the nationwide average for hair coloring or highlights is $60-$150.
No matter which option you choose, remember to plan ahead and factor in maintenance costs. If you’re doing a drastic color change like blonde to red, roots will be more noticeable as your hair grows, so you’ll need frequent touch-ups. Going back to a salon every month or two will cost you a lot more than just buying a new box of dye to touch up color on your own. You can also ask your stylist which dye they’re using so you can buy it to maintain your hair at home.
How much do you pay to dye your hair? What’s your color of choice?
Kate is a writer and editor who runs her content and editorial businesses remotely while globetrotting as a digital nomad. So far, her laptop has accompanied her to New Zealand, Asia, and around the U.S. (mostly thanks to credit card points). Years of research and ghostwriting on personal finance led her to the FI community and co-founding DollarSanity. In addition to traveling and outdoor adventure, Kate is passionate about financial literacy, compound interest, and pristine grammar.