At-home hair color can do magical things -- but that doesn't mean it can take a dark brunette to a platinum blonde in a matter of minutes. "When coloring at home, it's important to stay within two shades of your natural color," says Corbett. If you're looking to go significantly lighter than your natural color, you'll need bleach -- and bleach should be left to a professional.

While it's tempting to slap some hair color on your head and spread it with your (gloved) fingers in the interest of time, Corbett's motto is "section for success." It will ensure that you do a thorough job and don't miss any spots. Because the speckled look isn't cute.

Any time you use boxed hair color you should read the directions -- or else your hair may end up like your lopsided Ikea dresser. Even if you've used a particular hair color before, check the insert -- you never know if the formula or processing time has been updated. "When in doubt, pay attention to the manufacturer's instructions," urges Corbett.

If your roots are full-on gray and the rest of your hair is chocolate brown, you're going to need to treat the roots and ends differently. "When your hair has been colored previously, it's important to focus your touch-up on regrowth only," says Corbett. This is the time to turn to a root touch-up kit -- not a regular box of color. Corbett recommends Clairol Root Touch-Up, $6.99, which covers regrowth and grays for up to three weeks. Anderson's pick is dpHue At-Home Root Touch Up Kit, $30, which he says provides multidimentional color and is extremely gentle on the hair.

"Hair color, Netflix and chill" is not the ideal combination. You want to be careful to rinse when the time is up (which is different for different types of color -- remember what we said about reading the directions?). So set a timer, and pay attention. If you leave the hair color on too long, you'll end up with flat, over-processed color and fried hair warns Anderson.