Ladies: how do I color my hair?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This really doesn’t rise to the level of a general question, since there’s no one right answer, so I’m putting it here. It’s not just for the ladies to answer, so jump right in if you have answers. :slight_smile:

I’m about to dye my hair a darker shade for a play. Dark as in Mediterranean. The play opens September 7th and goes for 10 performances through the 17th.

After the play is over, I’m wondering if I might like to try coloring my hair to, I dunno, blonde. For a while. Someone from the SDMB is already going to be helping me with the dye parts, but I’m still curious how it all works.

My natural hair has never been colored, and it’s a sort of medium-dark brown. (Think Charles Grodin.)

I’ve been told the options are pretty much permanent — the dye doesn’t fade, so you can either re-dye it back to normal, or cut it — or semi-permanent, which washes out after 16-30 shampoos. If I’m going to try re-coloring my hair to blonde afterward I wouldn’t mind so much if the first one’s permanent.

So… I went to the supermarket this afternoon and saw there were dozens of dye options, most of which touted their ability to disguise gray hairs. Do they also dye the other hairs, or just the gray ones?

If I go blonde after I have dark hair, do I have to wait a certain length of time so the two dyes don’t… uh… fight? React? Turn orange?

Does it matter if you mix brands or stick to the same one?

What do you think of men who color their hair?

2

I go to an upper end beauty college to get my hair colored. For me, it’s well worth it, as the student will make sure to get every single strand of hair tinted, and give me the proper highlights, too. I’ve tried dying my hair at home with the box kits, and they are messy and time consuming. However, my hair is usuallyl below my shoulders, and sometimes I grow it out to waist length, so working with shorter hair is probably much easier. I do have grey hair, and the dye simply is brighter on the grey strands. My natural color is a very deep brown with red highlights, and I get a very deep auburn dye, with lighter red highlights. I’d prefer to be strawberry blonde, but it just doesn’t look right on me.

I’ve heard that grey hair is the hardest to color, which is one reason why so many of the products will say that they cover the grey. Also, many people start dying their hair because their natural color is turning white, or getting dull. My own natural color used to be a lighter, redder shade of brown, and had a much richer color to it. When my roots aren’t showing, I pass for a twenty-something, and I’m 48!

If I were in your shoes, I’d probably get a semi-permanent dye, not a permanent. Dying hair can stress it, especially the home box kits. Switching from dark to light will really stress your hair, you might want to let the darker dye grow out before you go blonde.

I am not a beautician, this is just stuff I’ve learned from talking to my stylists, and reading.

3

Dude! It is very likely that you will NOT be able to come all the way back up to blonde after dying your hair dark brown or black w/ permanent dye!!

I dyed my hair black for several years, then put on bleach & booster & 40-weight peroxide for a long time, and the only things that got bleached were my non-black-dyed-yet roots, and the shirt I was wearing!!

While it’s true that a single dark dye application won’t be so entrenched, I suggest you go with the temporary dyes for the dark color so that you will not have a problem or disaster trying to bleach it blonde later. Note that, unless you are a blonde who simply wants to change to another shade of blonde, what you are doing when you “go blonde” is not adding color with dye, but removing it with bleach. (in some cases, you remove all color w/ bleach, then put the shade you want back in.)

There are several really excellent brands of temporary dyes such as Adore and Via that not only have REALLY vivid, shiny colors, but also are very economical. (around here, about $3.50) They all have at least two or three dark colors that should achieve your Mediterranean effect nicely. (I had good luck with Adore’s “Siena” shade)

The one caveat is that, because temporary dyes contain metallic pigments which can behave unpredictably when overdyed with other kinds of dye, it is typically recommended that you let the temp dye wash out before you color again. (3-4 weeks) I often blissfully ignore this advice myself.

Last question: I think bleached-blonde guys can be hecka sexy. Like Spike. Mmmmm, Spike. I think black-dyed-hair guys can be hecka sexy. Like punk rockers. Mmmmm, punk rockers. As long as they’re not, like, a poodle about it.

Hope this helps!

4

I just had my highlights done a couple weeks ago, and there was a woman there who had a home color fashion disaster. She had my hairdresser “fix” it, which required three additional dye jobs. She was Freaked. Out.

While it is cheaper to try to do it yourself, I recommend coughing up the cash and having it done. You’ll be glad you did.

When going blonde afterward, you might want to consider highlights first, and then gradually going “all blonde”. By the way, though I’ve never been a brunette, I hear the dark colors are easier on your hair than the blonde. Less evil stuff in the chemicals. In case you care. (I don’t…blonde highlights all the way for me, baby!)

5

It’s true that you can’t just bleach over a darker dye. Light cannot lift dark; it just deposits more color on the already dyed parts. You need a product like Color Fix to lift the darker dye before making your hair lighter. This is true for permanent, semi-permanent, and demi-permanent dyes. Non permanent you can just let wash out and then bleach.

I’d suggest doing the strand test reciommended on the product box in order to determine how, exactly, your hair is going to turn out.

6

Is it possible to use a hair spray, instead of dye for the performances? I know at our local beauty supply stores (and probably at any mall Spencers store) there are color sprays (green, blue, pink, etc.) that wash out and don’t leave any color deposited on the hair after shampooing. That would seem like a much better solution to dye. You’d have to spray it for each performance, but at least you wouldn’t be stuck with the damage of dying it. (Dyes can be harsh on the hair–I’ve been dying mine for about 25 years.)

Bleaching one’s hair, or going blonde, is a whole 'nuther story from dying one’s hair. I’m not a beautician, so I can’t speak completely about how the process is done, but from what I do know, it’s different from dying hair, and definately NOT something one wants to do on his/her own from a box. It would look cheap, tacky and just down right not good. For that, I’d suggest going to a hair dresser.

7

You might want to just invest in a wig for the play. As others have said, there is no way you will be able to go back after a permanent dye and lighten your hair considerably. You might get a shade or two lighter, but there’s no way you’ll achieve blonde. I’ve bleached and dyed my hair every color under the sun, and I’m here to tell you that nobody looks good with hair the consistency of brittle straw. I’ve damaged my hair to the point it was so fragile it broke off when I washed it. It’s not hard to do, either, when you’re using bleach.

Dying adds color to the hair, but in order to lighten it you have to take color out and strip the hair. It’s not recommended that you color or chemically treat hair that has been dyed for at least 6 months to avoid damaging the hair further. Your hair is just dead cuticle material. Once the damage is done, it really can’t be undone. You can use conditioners and treatments that glue the hair scales back together, but the effect is temporary.

8

FYI, the darker the color of the “semi-permanent” dyes, the longer they last. You could safely go with Natural Instincts, which is semi-permanent, and it would be easier to get out if you wanted to go blond afterwards. But I would highly recommend going to a hairstylist for the blonding…

9

Ditto. I don’t know of a single “do-it-yourself” blonde who doesn’t look brassy and damaged.

10

Darkening your hair is pretty easy. You just shampoo in the color, rinse and voila! You’ll have to leave it on longer if you’re grey, but that’s all explained in the directions. IMO single shade dyes are easy but they look phony (think Elvis), which is why a lot of people highlight in addition to dying. Highlighting is a a bit trickier because you only want to highlight select strands of hair. Hair caps work okay, but timing is critical. Leave it on too long and you’ll end up with brassy orange highlights. Leave it on too short and you’ll still end up with that phony mono-color.

And like others have said, if there’s one time in your life to spring for a professional, it’s when you are trying to lighten your hair. Not only can you end up with bright orange hair, but the peroxide can also seriously damage your hair. And, of course, once you lighten you’ll end up with roots which means that you’ll have to retouch the roots every 4-6 weeks. It’s a major pain.

11

For the play: for a 10 day run you will be just fine with a semi-permanent black dye from the drugstore. They dye all your hairs, not just grays. I agree with the Natural Instincts recommendation – it’s widely available. I will note that when you’re at the drug store, the boxes of permanent and semi-permanent dye look very much the same, so get a good look at the individual box in your hand to make sure it says semi-permanent. They are supposed to be in separated by section, but I think some drugstores don’t stock the shelves very carefully, or people pick up a box and then put it down in the wrong place.

It will not look as natural as having it done at a salon, but for the purposes of being in a play, it will get the job done nicely.

Even though drugstore semis do wash out, they do so gradually and you still get roots which can look a little odd. How long is your hair, btw? If it is a traditional men’s short style, you could very well end up cutting all the hair that has been dyed in a fairly short time anyway.

For the blond: this is one of those things where it really is worth it to go to a professional. Go to a professional. I think the suggestion to start with highlights is excellent.

12

Just be forewarned, with a lot of the semi-permanent and demi-permanent (perhaps with all, I don’t know) dyes, if you use a shade darker than your hair, it may not wash out in the time it’s supposed to.

13

One of the primary reasons for doing highlights as opposed to whole-head blonde is that you won’t have the root issues as quickly. Whole head has to be dealt with regularly or you’ll look really dorky. With highlights, you don’t notice the new growth nearly as quickly. You can go every 2.5 to 3 months, no prob. You might also want to look into the 2 or 3 color highlights. They rock.

14

Well, everyone’s right. Never, ever try to dye your hair to blonde if you previously dyed it anything other than blonde. You’ll end up with very, very dead hair, and the best colour you can expect is a highlighter-neon yellow. That is, until it all frizzes out and breaks off. Even going to a salon to get this done will result in dead hair.

As far as the dark colour goes. I also agree with everyone else. It’s always better to get the first colouring done at the salon. They’ll know exactly what shade to colour it; they have access to mixing shades and such, and they know what will go best with your skin tone as far as undertones in the dye.

However, I think once the first dye application is done, you can then experiment the following month or so with doing the job yourself from the box.

JUST REMEMBER: Give it about 5 weeks between dye jobs. Otherwise, your hair will be too damaged. And make sure you RESEARCH before you do a new colour on top of an old one. One shade of black on top of another shade isn’t so bad. But it’s nearly impossible to change your shade from black or deep red to anything else lighter; those two colours permeate the hair and are stubborn as hell to remove. Dyed-blonde to brown turns green. You’re better to go from blonde to red to brown.

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. But ask the stylist when you go to the salon for tips.

15

I can’t even remember what my natural hair color is anymore. I think I’m a medium blonde underneath and then the top is sun-bleached. I used to try to darken the hair to match the underneath hair. The dye would darken the outer “bleached” hair less than the rest of my hair. Even permanent colors washed out and faded after a few weeks and there was my light hair again.

Since the start of this year I’ve been much more adventurous with my hair. I don’t have the constraints of an office job and have enjoyed trying new colors. I went red, which on me was brilliantly brightly red and made me look like a clown. Then I tried platinum, which I liked, but was clearly unreal. Now I’m using a extra-light ash/natural blonde that I like pretty well. I’m not particularly brand-conscious, I’ll try just about anything other than the bottom-price-rung products. I DO like a cream (Excellence) over a liquid, but it’s sometimes hard to find.

I’ve only had my hair professionally colored once. It didn’t make a lasting impression since I’ve not be driven to have it done again. If I can do it with a half an hour and $8 I’m happy. My hair comes a bit past the shoulders and there are places on my head that I’ve missed in the past. An example would be lifting up part of my hair for a ponytail and noticing that a 2" area near the scalp is not colored. It’s hidden underneath though.

I have fun coloring my hair - I guess I’m a color-junkie. I color frequently and my hair condition is great. Be sure to condition well and often.

16

My only advice that doesn’t seem to have been mentioned, is to comb the dye through.

17

I’ve only started with the highlighting in the last 8 years or so, and I love it! It really brightens up my whole look. I do want to try some not-natural-hair-color highlights mixed in with what I’ve got (maybe red or pink). Just a little, because I’m bored.

18

I don’t know that a wig, or a spray-color, is going to work. The character I’m asked to play is Muslim, which means I’ll be growing out a beard as well. And given the setting of the play (it’s about the World Trade Center) I’ll have to use additional makeup on top of that to show injuries and soot and owies. What’s worse, I’ll be on stage when the plane is supposed to hit the towers, and on stage directly after… I have to go off-stage for about 30 seconds and apply makeup in the dark. A fake glue-on beard won’t do.

The play doesn’t open for 4 more weeks, so I’m leaning toward a semi-permanent color right now — it’ll be easier to show the director what it looks like without making any irreversible changes. It would probably need to be re-done right before we opened.

I rather figured that you’d have to get rid of the existing color before you could lighten your hair — thanks for the confirmation. I don’t want to do anything strange to my hair if I can help it, as I work in a billing office and deal with patients all day.

19

OK, let me tell you my horror story about wash-out temporary color. Now granted, this was over 30 years ago, so things may have changed.

Our high school was doing The King and I as our musical that year, and I was very much involved both as a chorus member onstage and assistant to the director off stage. I knew that for the three days of the performance, I was going to be very busy. I have very light blonde hair naturally, and they were going to be spraying the folks in the chorus with black, but I figured I’d be smart, and bought Clairol’s Loving Care [sup]TM[/sup] in black, which was supposed to wash out in 4-6 washings. Perfect!

I used it at home; it was trivially easy, just as the box said - shampoo in, let it sit for a few minutes, and rinse! Except that it didn’t quite take everywhere, so I had what looked like a few grey streaks. OK, fine, so I was one of the older “wives,” no problem. But they still sprayed me a little to fully darken it up enough. Hmmmn.

The next morning, I washed my hair first thing. It didn’t really quite look black anymore. In fact, it looked, well, kind-of …olive drab? Not green enough to be GREEN, but definitely not black, or even quite brown.

For the next couple of weeks, I must have washed my hair four to five times a day. I continued blow-drying my hair and styling it nicely, but it was this weird color, the closest description of which I can give you is army green. School was still in session, and I could hear people whispering behind me in the halls. So finally, I decided to take action. I marched into the store, and bought some blonde hair color, to get me back to my natural shade, or at least as close as I could. The result: *light * Olive Drab.

My mom finally took me to the local beauty parlor (it was a small town, so there really was only one), and they, working from memory of my original hair color, were able to give me something close to my natural color again. It took over five hours of bleaching to get that color out. Apparently, as they put it, I had “porous ends.”

Now, the chances of this happening to you are slim. But NOT non-existent. I know the idea of coloring your hair for the performance is appealing, but I recommend you stick to the absolutely temporary stuff, that’s sprayed on and is simply a coating that will wash right off. If you want to go blonde, do that as a completely separate event, with no association with this performance or the dye for it. And yeah, you’re probably best off going to a pro. I don’t think you need to go to a high end place; you’re talking highlights for fairly short hair here - there’s not a lot of potential disaster that can’t be grown out pretty fast in the absolute worst case.

But dying over black dye is a very different thing; your greatest probability is that some component part of the color will come out more readily than the others, leaving you with red or green hair. And not good red or green, and not necessarily consistent across your head. You just don’t want to go there. I’ve been there; trust me on this one!

20

I’m not worried about waiting six months to try it — that doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t have to do it immediately. After this show is over, I might try out for “The Gazebo,” so if I got in that, that’d be another 10 weeks before I did anything else drastic to my hair.

It’s really short, not hard to grow out and cut off the dyed parts, and if it’ll make things easier, I can wait. :slight_smile: