Colouring Ginger hair. Help please

xxdeebeexx

Hi DS1 has ginger hair and hates it! He wants to put in a temporary dye so that he can see what he looks like. We have tried a couple of wash in types but they have had no effect.

Any suggestions please. Also should he go lighter or darker?

TIA

Dx

BitterAndTwisted

You can't go lighter with a hair dye, only a bleach will do that. I'd go for a semi-permanent one of a similar depth of colour to his natural shade. The main issue with dying red hair is that you can get a HUGE and unnatural contrast between hair and eyelash/eyebrow colour if they are both very pale which can give a very unconvincing look.

Please tell your DS1 that red hair is very, very attractive to lots of us out here.

xxdeebeexx

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Please tell your DS1 that red hair is very, very attractive to lots of us out here.

Thanks for that! He is a beautiful looking boy but is 14 years old! He wants to look the same as everyone else.

Dx

BitterAndTwisted

Looking exactly like everyone else is precisely what he won't want in a few years time, so maybe he'll go for the blue-haired goth look then. Hehe

My niece and nephew are red-heads and proud of it. It's a pity that theredandproud website doesn't appear to be still active

princessamy86

My best friend is ginger and proud but when she fancies a change I am normally chief hair dye lady. It's been blonde, by using a bleaching kit and then a blonde colour 24 hours after the bleach. That worked fine, although did get a bit green before it needed dying again, but that could have been down to going swimming! Best result we've had so far was with a chestnut brown dye, think it was a L'oreal one but I'm really not sure. It came out a really nice glossy dark brown with just a hint of red in it. First rule: always patch test it because some dyes don't get on well with red hair!

oscarsmum

As an ex hairdresser, red hair is very difficult to colour unless you are sure of what you are doing. If you want to go lighter, as others have said you need to use a bleach, but you must use the correct strength otherwise it can go a horrid brassy colour, darker would be easier, but that depends on his skin tone and eyebrows, and how resistant his hair is. Always do a patch test to prevent an allergic reaction too.

xxdeebeexx

I think we will have to wait until the summer holidays and use something a little stronger than the semi-permanent dyes we have been using. They have had no affect what so ever.

Who knows, by the time the holidays arrive he may well be past that 'phase ' of his life.I seem to remember that 14 is a very tricky age to be.

Thanks

Dx

Penny_Watcher

DS1(15) is Ginger and Proud Occasionally he has a whinge about some idiot thinking it's clever to make a comment, but he gets over it. Last Hallowe'en him and his 3 friends decided they were going to temporarily dye their hair a different colour. The brunette unsurprisingly couldn't go temporarily blonde, the light brown guy went spectacularly ginger/red :j and DS1 went from strawberry blonde/ginger to copper pipe!

Best bit was it was annual school photo day the following Monday. :eek:

Remind your lad that many people find red hair very attractive. Some of the temporary wash-in/wash-out darker chestnut colours may work.

DS1 sometimes grows his hair longer over the Summer months as the natural sunlight bleaches the top of his hair and gives him highlights (something my eldest daughter with the same colouring pays lots of money to get the same effect).

Would a good haircut give him a boost?

xxdeebeexx

I bet the school photo looked great!

Most of the time DS1 is fine with his hair. At the moment he is getting a lot of stick from the other boys at school and it makes him feel insecure. He realises that, eventually, they will move on, and give someone else a hard time.

He has a great hair cut, which really suits him. We will give the colouring another bash a bit later on.

Thanks
Dx

Penny_Watcher

xxdeebeexx wrote: »

I bet the school photo looked great!

DS1's photo looks just slightly odd - you know something is different, but not sure what :think: Ah yes, slightly redder than usual.

His mate's was FABULOUS! As usual the school photos were given out to the aged relatives at Christmas. Dan's Granny asked who the red-headed boy was.:D

DS1 has used the foam/mouse type temporary colouring to put streaks in his hair for football etc. These took quite well - in fact too well - so well that when it came to haircut time for school he had London bus red polka dots patches for a week or two.

The only thing I would advise is that if he's being picked on for having ginger hair, then dying it could make him stand out even more as the ginger kid with dyed hair . DS1 gives the 'commenters' the clenched fist salute, bangs his hand on his chest, gives them a cheesy grin and says "Ginger and Proud" and walks away - never, ever looking back. He says if they didn't pick on him for his hair they'd find something else.

He's actually thought of as one of the cool kids now for his self confidence.