Should I color
|
|
Nothing can lift your looks and your sprit like a new hair color! A sassy new hair color lets you look at yourself in a whole new way. There are many, many ways to add hair coloring:
If you decide to add hair color your hair it would be wise to first educate yourself. You can save yourself some tears and unwanted disastrous results. (Read some of the hair coloring horror stories) Remember, if your hair is in a damaged condition before hair coloring, it may very well become worse afterward. Make sure you have your hair condition in the best possible shape before adding hair coloring. For the best results, stay within two shades of your natural hair color.
Semi-permanent hair color
Want a gentle boost of color with no "roots"? Semi-permanent hair coloring is great for you. Sometimes called glazing, color stains or washes, these can boost hair shine and texture by coating the hair with a non-peroxide hair color that washes out naturally over 4-6 weeks. Semi-permanent hair color can only darken the hair and it will cover gray hair temporarily. These hair color rinses can help tame hair frizzies and actually may look like you have a healthier hair appearance. I strongly recommend that you use semi-permanent hair coloring for as long as it can produce the results you want, before going on to permanent hair color. It is by far the most gentle on your hair, and a low risk way to "try out" a new hair color.
Permanent hair color
Permanent hair coloring breaks down the hair cuticle and deposits pigment into the hair shaft. Unlike semi-permanent hair color, permanent hair color can lighten your hair. It accomplishes this by bleaching hair and depositing color in a one-step process. Permanent hair color can cover gray hair more extensively. Permanent hair color can be damaging to hair, and long-term usage can result in permanent irreversible harm to your hair. With a permanent hair color you can minimize long-term damage by being extra careful with your daily hair care regimen.
Hair highlighting, streaking, weaving and foiling
Highlights can be added to the hair by any of these methods. Any hair can be highlighted and is usually given more depth and texture by this process. You can add lighter, brighter strands of hair overall or just in specific areas. This is a great process for the timid or first time blondes. I should also mention "hair low lights" here. The same processes are used, however, instead of lightening the hair, this is adding darker shades of blondes or warmer browns. Hair coloring has come a long way recently and a talented hair colorist can weave two, sometimes three different natural looking hair colors into your hair creating beautiful effects.
Hair bleaching
Hair bleaching had a big resurgence in popularity after Marilyn Monroe became a cultural icon. Usually this is a two-step process. First the hair is bleached and then a hair toner is applied. This is quite rough on the hair. It is also a time-consuming process. Expect to spend at least an hour in the hair salon every 2-3 weeks for hair color touch-ups. On brunette hair, it is particularly hard to keep up as well as being hard on the hair. If your skin tone is olive or dark it will look very unnatural.
After the process the hair is so fragile that extra care needs to be taken in blow drying or curling with a curling iron. Keeping it short is probably the best way to go, as you can cut off damaged or split ends often.
At home or in the hair salon?
You will get consistently better results leaving hair coloring to professional colorist. A good hair stylist will be able to pick out the hair colors that work best with your skin tones. Application can be tricky also. Your hair porosity will determine how long colors should be left on. Even touching up roots can be tricky. Almost all hair will benefit by using a clarifying shampoo before coloring.
I realize some of you just don't have the time or money to spend at a hair style salon and will decide to hair color at home. If you do decide to color your at home by yourself with a store bought hair product , remember that the actual hair shade you will achieve will vary from the picture on the box. I would recommend following the directions exactly, and taking the time to do a test to determine if you will get the result you expect before any damage is done.
The perfect hair color for you
Whatever type of hair color you opt for, choosing the proper range of shades—warm or cool—is the key. The right hair color shade will brighten up your hair style . . . and your life.
What is the most basic principle of color theory applied to hair? It's choosing between warm and cool shades—and with the dizzying variety of hair colors available, choosing can sometimes be confusing. The best way to make pleasing hair color choices is to determine whether natural coloring—hair, eye, and skin tones—is in the warm or cool range of colors. Answer these questions, or better yet, have your best friend give you her opinion, which is likely to be more accurate:
My eyes are:
- Deep brown or black-brown (Cool)
- Golden brown (Warm)
- Gray blue or dark blue (Cool)
- Green, green blue or turquoise (Warm)
- Hazel with gold or brown flecks (Warm)
- Hazel with white, gray or blue flecks (Cool)
My skin is:
- Very dark brown (Cool)
- Brown with pink undertone (Warm)
- Brown with golden undertone (Warm)
- True olive (most Asians and Latinos) (Cool)
- Medium with no color in cheeks (Cool)
- Medium with faint pink cheeks (Cool)
- Medium with golden undertones (Cool)
- Pale with no color in cheeks (Cool)
- Pale with pink undertones (Cool)
- Pale with peach or gold undertones (Warm)
- Freckled (Warm)
- Ruddy (Warm)
- Brown or bronze when I tan (Cool)
- Golden brown, when I tan (Warm)
My hair color is:
- Blue black (Cool)
- Deepest coffee brown (Cool)
- Medium ash brown (Cool)
- Deep brown with gold or red highlights (Warm)
- Medium golden brown (Cool)
- Red (Warm)
- Strawberry blond (Warm)
- Dishwater blond (Cool)
- Golden blond (Cool)
- Salt and pepper (Cool)
- White (Cool)
- Gray with a yellow cast (Warm)
What were your answers
Did you check mostly cools? If so, your natural tones are in the cool spectrum. Mostly warms? Then you're naturally "warm."
Cool
Naturally cool people should avoid gold, yellow, red and bronze tones, which have a tendency to make you look sallow and drawn. The best hair color shades, depending on your skin tone, are shiny raven-wing blacks, cool ash browns, and cool blondes in shades ranging from mink to platinum and icy white. You're fortunate to be able to wear many exciting "unnatural" colors . . . lipstick reds, burgundies, and orchids, for a more daring look.
Warm
Naturally warm people should avoid blue, violet, white and jet-black hair, which will seem to "wash out" your natural high hair color. Depending on your skin tone and your preference, you'll find that deep chocolate, rich golden browns, auburn, warm gold, red highlights, and golden blond shades enhance your "sunny" look. Hair weaving and hair highlighting are great ways to add warm tones to your hair color—and natural-looking corals, oranges and reds are dazzling on you!
Covering gray hair
Make sure you don't look incongruent. What do I mean? We age as a unit. If your hair color (or any other feature, for that matter) is out of sync with the aging process, it may look unnatural. When our eyes see a 60-year-old woman with jet black hair, our sensory acuity will begin screaming "what's wrong with this picture."
Think of the "comb-over guy." The guy who is nearly bald, and lets a few strands grow to three feet long and then plasters them over the bald spot. Believe it or not, he goes to the mirror each morning and says, "This works . . . look how young and virile I look." Don't be the female version of the comb-over guy!
The bottom line on hair coloring
Go slowly with full head color, and certainly get lots of advice and consultation with a professional before you start. Never, ever, make this decision by yourself. It will almost always be a mistake. This is the time to call on your best friend for advice and counsel.
Fixing a hair color mistake
No single area of the hairstyling business brought me more heartache than to see the horrible results that occurred from attempts to correct hair coloring mistakes. Never, ever, try to fix or adjust hair color by yourself—this is the time for a professional colorist. Even as a hairstylist with over 20 years of experience, I always passed these clients on to a professional colorist. I knew that all I would likely do, was make matters worse.
The earlier you get the professional colorist involved, the better chance they will get you back to normal, with little cost or hassle. The more you attempt on your own, the less likely the hair colorist can help, and if the hair colorist can do it, it will be expensive.
To find a professional colorist, just call any hair salon and ask for a referral. Believe me, you are not alone. Hairs salons get several of these type calls a month. When its time for the appointment with the professional colorist, bring everything you can to the appointment, most importantly the product containers and documentation of the hair coloring product you used. It will help a professional colorist greatly if they know what chemical brew went into your hair color attempts. Fess up and be honest and tell the colorist exactly what steps you took, even if they were really, really dumb.
| Related Articles |