I'm thinking of coloring my hair. Need advice.

[Kyla]

Well, I’ve read all the responses, and listened to the podcast gallows fodder recommended, and I think I’m going to go to a salon. I am just afraid I would screw up and I think I need some professional advice. I was thinking that if I could save money and do it myself, that would be cool, but it seems like it’s a good idea to go to the salon at least once and see how the professional does it.

Thank you!

[toodlepip]

Sounds like your hair is the same colour as mine, and I’ve done blonde, red and just about every shade of brown. When I go lighter, I go through a LOT of conditioner, and my hair is a tangled mess. On the plus side, people are much nicer to you when you’re blonde, and blondes do indeed have more fun. Darker hair is much easier to keep in good condition, but be careful not to go too dark for your skintone, or you’ll just look ill.

Semi-permanents don’t wash off, ever, they just fade. They always end up looking more orange than you think, and even the cooler browns have a lot of red in them. Auburn looks great when the colour goes in, but if your natural colour is sort of mousy light brown, by contrast your roots will look grey, and will constantly need touching up. Cooler shades of brown are more forgiving. Start off close to your own shade, or just go for dark streaks to break up your natural colour.

[Cat_Whisperer]

My solution for fried dyed hair is a short haircut.

I like Nice and Easy for their brown shades, too - I don’t find it comes out to be a flat brown.

[Shirley_Ujest]

@Kyla

@Alice_The_Goon

I’ve always found brown hair color to be just uck. Flat, dull, then in just a few days, brassy. It’s hard to get a good rich brown, IME. I’d suggest going lighter- it’s brighter, prettier, and easier to maintain and highlight than brown. If you’re dirty blond/light brown and/or were blond as a child, it should look natural with your skin. I like a golden/slightly reddish blonde. Gray roots just kind of blend in until you can get a touchup. One caveat- make sure you follow the box’s recommendations regarding regrowth on subsequent dyeings. Just do the roots for the first however many minutes and then just at the end comb it through. If you color it all every time full-speed, that causes damage and brassiness and overprocessing.

Well, part of the reason I want to go darker is that I understand that social scientists have found that brunettes are taken more seriously than blondes. I’m…honestly kind of curious to see if that’s true. I’m looking for work right now and if it is true, that could be helpful.

BTW, I don’t have any gray hair, so that’s not really a concern for me. Yet.

I’ve been coloring my hair for 30 years. (I’m 43.) Most of that time by myself with very little mistakes. (Most of my mistakes involved teenage years, highlights and letting my mom help.) If you go too dark, you can do a wash with dish soap to get more of the color out. The detergent action strips color better than shampoo.

1. Stay within two or three shades of your own natural color. Easier maintence and when your roots grow in it isn’t as noticeable.

2. Brunettes are smarter.

3. Red heads are smarterer.

4. If you want to be taken seriously, you act seriously. ( I never act serious, srsly, but I am the go-to person for everyone.)

I advise going to a salon for your first foray into the world real hair color. After a few times, when you are comfortable and tired of seeing how much money is really spent on a $10-20 product, you can saunter down the hair color aisle for fun, fun, fun.

**Product Endorsement: ** I prefer Feria over all the other brands and I’ve tried them all. The conditioner is Da Bomb for my fine, straightfloss hair. ( John Frieda’s Brunette conditioner is a very close second.)