Changing Hair Colour

somegem

Hi all,

I am toying with the idea of changing my hair colour, I have been having highlights (with the odd low lights thrown in) for the past 20 years ! <gulp>
& am now considering going red !
I would really like to see how this would look on myself first, does anyone know of a website where you can upload a picture of yourself & change the hair colour ?

many thanks.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Just a word of warning...red is high maintenance. It fades really quickly even when using a shampoo specifically for coloured hair.

samuela66

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Just a word of warning...red is high maintenance. It fades really quickly even when using a shampoo specifically for coloured hair.

Yes that is so true, I would love to go red, but am soooooooooooooooooooo grey couldnt bear the routage!!!!
So blonde it is!:p

VioletBaudelaire

There's a site called Taaz.com where you can do this - you can also "try on" different types of makeup, it's pretty cool!

As for the red hair, I'm growing out henna at the moment, that's a very permanent way to color your hair red that will not fade - but it IS permanent. It has to be 100% pure henna, what's called body art quality - not the dodgy stuff with added ingredients, some of which could be "natural" but still best avoided, like Indigo - you can't lighten your hair after using Indigo, it goes green!

You maybe don't want a red dye so permanent though, it's a big commitment!

Sagz_2

I was bright red for around 5 years and have to agree it is a high maintenance colour and it's taken me 18 months to grow it out completley (shoulder length hair). Oh and Colour B4 didn't work either.

I did like the red, but I just don't have the time (or money) to keep it looking good.

Fire_Fox

I have been red for over a decade now - first I went auburn because I have green eyes and freckles and it was horrific, then cool burgundy now pink-red. Try a wig shop or holding up fabric against your skin, photos won't show you how your skin tone changes just roughly how you will look in the mirror.

Yes permanent red can be high maintenance, but how much it fades is very much dependent on how you treat your hair. IMO colour preserving/ specialist red shampoos are absolutely rubbish, I got far better results with using a super gentle shampoo, leave-on conditioner and cool water, dry shampoo between washes. Touching up the lengths every six weeks for the last ten minutes of processing time is damaging.

Currently I am using a pigment dense semi permanent (La Riche Directions) which actually lasts far longer and is gentler than any permanent box dye I ever tried - I haven't had to retouch the lengths since April! :T I do however now conditioner only wash, still use leave in conditioner and cool water so unless you were prepared to do that you would likely not get such long lasting results.

Basically you are trying to limit the things that are known to open the cuticle to preserve colour - water, heat, neutral to alkaline conditions (hair is acidic).

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Firefox..don't you find that hair colourants like La Riche have a tendency to run when the hair is wet?

I love the idea of those types of hair dye, however when I have tried them I have had to avoid getting my hair wet as the colour runs & it's not pleasant.

glitter_fairy

Im a hairdresser so here a few tips

Dont use live xl
how blonde are you?
if your pretty blonde use a semi
Even if you use a perminant colour refresh is with a semi x

System

Also, add some of your dye (if you end up using directions) to your conditioner to keep it lasting for longer.

Fire_Fox

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Firefox..don't you find that hair colourants like La Riche have a tendency to run when the hair is wet?

I love the idea of those types of hair dye, however when I have tried them I have had to avoid getting my hair wet as the colour runs & it's not pleasant.

First few weeks when washing yes definitely and I wore gloves with hair elastics on my wrists for washing, but no issues since. I didn't get the level of rub off I was warned about by some either, a bit of pink on the pillowcases at the start. Pale pink tinged water now if I use shampoo. I honestly believe it is partly or wholly how I wash and condition because I definitely have porous damaged hair on the lower half.

Putting together all the reading I did on both science and people's experiences, it seems to me some of the colour molecules will absorb deep into the shaft of the hair (longer lasting) and some will sit on the surface (rub off/ wash out). Once you clean any excess off the surface you want to avoid opening the cuticle and losing the remaining colour molecules and in fact damaging the hair. Before dying I was advised to ensure the hair was squeaky clean - no oils or silicones - totally ignore the timings and leave the product on ages for longevity. I did four hours the first time and got too much colour! :rotfl:

Note to readers DO NOT ignore the instructions with permanent dye you will destroy your hair it WILL NOT give you long lasting colour.

notanewuser

glitter_fairy wrote: »

Im a hairdresser so here a few tips

Dont use live xl
how blonde are you?
if your pretty blonde use a semi
Even if you use a perminant colour refresh is with a semi x

Why not live xl?