To dye or not to dye

[Blondie]

My hair is bleached blonde and i am thinking of using a toner to either achieve a "champagne" blonde or maybe a "pale pale pink/oyster" colour,
any suggestions ???

 

[bgltexas]

Not red enough

I have tried and tried to get my hairdresser to color my hair a rich deep red and when he colors it I end up with something medium light that looks faintly orange, especially as it grows out. I took him a picture last time and he did a dark brown he swore was dark red. I love Ohairas' color. My hair is naturally a light brown with gray mixed it at the crown (at least that's what the roots look like...I haven't seen the natural color in 20 years!) Anybody got any suggestions on how to get a rich deep red (that won't completely wash out?) I am being very careful with the color, only washing it every other day, one lathering, with cool water, with Redkin color shampoo. I held up an auburn hairpiece at a store yesterday and my hair doesn't even look red next to it! I am new to the forum, I just discovered you recently. I told my daughter and we both say there so many great tips from everyone here.

Brenda

 

[pretty faythe]

A friend of mine who is a hair designer was telling us to use Paul Mitchell, since thats more readily available to everyone for color/chemicallly treated hair. It doesnt have to harsh detergants in it that most store bought shampoos have.
Right now my hair is in icky shape because of a bad perm, but I have noticed the difference in my daughters hair, she has a straightened perm.

But for reds, I usually go some shade of auburn, I like the intense auburns. Unfortunately the last box I bought had the wrong colors in it so its just golden brown at the moment. Maybe try some henna until you find the color you want? Its natural and healthy for you hair. I need to do that myself. Bought some powdered stuff, but I cant get it mixed right and I wind up with leaves in my hair, I need to get the one that comes in a cream.

 

[The Shirt]

I went insane this weekend and decided that I wanted platinum hair. Thanks Smuterella! Anywho - my hair will never get that light so I ended up with a bright orangey thing going on. I had to covertly put on a hat and slink into the nearest drugstore to remedy the situtation.

This is the before shot. Tomorrow I will post the after.

 

[TheSwingingBee]

That's funny I had a permanent black in my hair that just washed out after time. [huh]

Black in my hair no matter how permanent it's supposed to be always washes out after about 6 weeks. But I'm with the camp in here that's had every color under the sun. Right now I'm pretty natural dark brown with highlights, I'm thinking I may have to add some super bright highlights though, I miss the weird colors. I dunno though, it's nice to have it all one color while it's growing out. That's just my 2 cents.

 

[olive bleu]

I went insane this weekend and decided that I wanted platinum hair. Thanks Smuterella! Anywho - my hair will never get that light so I ended up with a bright orangey thing going on. I had to covertly put on a hat and slink into the nearest drugstore to remedy the situtation.

This is the before shot. Tomorrow I will post the after.

i tried going blonde only once. It looked good for approximately 1 day, and then went really brassy.I would love to try it again, but i shudder to think of the damage it would do to my hair. I am thinking that when i go completely white, that's when i will become the platinum blonde i have always wanted to be

 

[The Shirt]

Yeah - that sounds like a good plan. In actuality I have very dark hair with a ton of grey now. I thought the blond would hide the grey much better. But I just got nervous after stripping my hair for 90 minutes without much success. I dyed it a very light red. It's quite a change and not what I had originally intended. But I figure I'll channel Ann Margaret for a few months and give it another go.

Surprisingly my hair feels fine - I'd thought it would dry up like hay. I think the products available now are sooo much better than they used to be.

 

[Last_Chael]

So I'm contemplating a BIIIIG change for my hair. In the past I've done it black; red black, blue black, even purple black. I've had bright red foils, and a bright red fringe. I've also done dark brown. But I'm itching for the two colours that I've always wanted but never been brave enough to do.... Blonde and orange (as in copper/strawberry blonde).

In April I dyed my hair black, but I think a lot of that has come out as my hair is now a kind of brown/black mix. I'm intending to get it cut short first, so I can get used to styling it, and then go for the colour.

Basically I want Marilyn hair (like the wig I'm wearing in my ID)!! Ok, well I either want Marilyn hair, or I want hair the colour of Amy Adams' hair in Enchanted.

My natural hair colour is a darkish brown. I know that taking it platinum blonde or even strawberry blonde will damage it, but I'm thinking that I should do it whilst it's short as it will be easier to care for, and cheaper! It's quite thick and naturally curly, so I'm hoping it's slightly more resilient!

But yes, first I have to get up the courage to cut it off, and then I need to decide on a colour!!

 

[goldwyn girl]

Let me say Blonde is addictive but it is a lot of maintenance and it will to some degree damage the hair. I have curly hair and in no way is it more resilient. I would cut it short first, especially as you have other dye in it or it will most likely break, I've been down that road too.

 

[ohairas]

Shirt, you poor dear. Oh well, at least you tried, eh?

Brenda, I'm sorry I'm just seeing this. I haven't been around in quite some time.
I use a level 7 RR (red-red) on my hair, but it sounds like your natural color is lighter than mine so I'd go with a 6 RR. Reds are incredibly hard to keep vibrant. Be sure you are just doing a demi permanant, (permanant color will fade also), if not, do 20 or 10 vol. at the roots and 10 vol. or demi perm on the ends.

However, if it isn't red enough yet, they may have been using demi this whole time and you do need some lift on those ends to get it red in the beginning. Hard to say unless I could see it myself!
Best,
Nikki

 

[The Shirt]

Thanks O'Hairas. I really should leave these changes up to the professionals - but I've had such rotten experiences for years that when it coms to dyeing - I usually am happier with my own efforts. Now that I've colored over it to even it out - it looks way better. I feel a new sense of sassy - so I'll keep it for a while despite it not being my perfect shade. It's just color - I can always throw on a darker shade if need be.

 

[bgltexas]

Red Hair

Nikki,

Thank you so much for the advice. I'll print it out and take it to my hairdresser. I even took a picture of you from the website to show him and to tell him I wanted my color just like yours the last time I went in. I took him a picture of a chin length style to show him how I would like it to look as I grew it out (from a pixie..at the moment it looks the style Lady Bird Johnson wore in the 60's...not the era I would choose...growing out hair is not easy or pretty...) I ended up with something kind of dark brown. I think he was trying to match the color from the style picture, which was a dark auburn. I will be very specific with him when I go back in. Your hair is really beautiful.

Brenda

 

[Last_Chael]

Let me say Blonde is addictive but it is a lot of maintenance and it will to some degree damage the hair. I have curly hair and in no way is it more resilient. I would cut it short first, especially as you have other dye in it or it will most likely break, I've been down that road too.

Thanks Goldwyn girl! I just had my hair cut today actually! I'm going to take some time to get used to styling it, and then consider a colour. I had a bit of a chat to the hairdresser today, and she said that it would be difficult but doable. I just don't know if I'm quite ready to go that far yet. I'll just leave it a few months and see what I feel like doing then.

 

[goldwyn girl]

That's a good idea, going that blonde requires commitment .

 

[Smuterella]

it certainly does, it costs me £100 (about $200) a month to keep my hair that colour and in good condition!

 

[Smuterella]

I went insane this weekend and decided that I wanted platinum hair. Thanks Smuterella! Anywho - my hair will never get that light so I ended up with a bright orangey thing going on. I had to covertly put on a hat and slink into the nearest drugstore to remedy the situtation.

This is the before shot. Tomorrow I will post the after.

I love it!

I'd love to go red but I've got too many pink/yellow tones in my skin

 

[Last_Chael]

So after today, I'm even more convinced that blonde is not the way to go for me. I really do love the blonde wig on me, but I really do suit the dark hair better. Now that it's shorter, I can actually wear it out (before I'd always have at least the sides pinned up) so I have more hair around my face. I noticed today that with it framing my face, it actually looks really striking against my pale skin. Especially in conjunction with my bright red lippie and the bright red cardi I was wearing. VERY Snow White

Plus, I really do love my natural curls, and I'm seriously worried that the bleaching process will destroy them. I'm really excited because my natural hair is actually pretty Marilyn-esque without any styling! I just need to train my fringe to do the flip that hers does, and then I shouldn't need to do much more than adding curling creme to my damp hair and allowing it to dry naturally. Though I'll still have a bit of a play with pincurls and see how they change the do.

But I had so many compliments today on how much the shorter hair suits me, and how healthy and shiny it is (and strangely enough it looks darker, even though the black is now 3 months old and pretty faded). So right now, I think I'm happy enough to keep my pale, Snow White (some have even called me exotic ) looks and leave the blonde Bombshelling to you gals who know how to work it!

But I might still consider red in the not too distant future!

 

[TessTrueheart]

Can we see a picture of the new hairstyle, Last Chael? *curious*

 

[Last_Chael]

Can we see a picture of the new hairstyle, Last Chael? *curious*

I will definitely post photos as soon as I find my camera cable!! I wanted to post photos the very evening I got it done (and washed out the hairdressers AWFUL attempt at curling), but my camera cable has gone walkies Though I might see if my other half can take some photos of my hair on his new fandangled camera phone. Though will have to be tomorrow as it is in awful need of a wash

Oh and I'm totally considering dyeing it black again... I really do love my dark hair!!

 

[cherry lips]

I noticed today that with it framing my face, it actually looks really striking against my pale skin. Especially in conjunction with my bright red lippie and the bright red cardi I was wearing. VERY Snow White

Ooo this sounds dreamy! Please post pics!