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Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:18 am  |
I just want to air my thoughts...
Two months ago, I got a completely new haircut, complete with fresh funky colour. The base colour is black (actually suits me!) and in addition, I have "blocks" in two different bright redtones. So far, so good.
The problem is that it is very high maintenance! I accept frequent cuts and dyes, but in addition, I have to refresh the red once a week (with a non-permanent "glosser") and I also have to be careful about which shampoo to use, not wash my hair as often as I like, etc. etc.And it's quite expensive...
Therefore, I am considering going all black, because it's easy and convenient (and I can even keep it up myself if I like), but I am worried it may be boring....
Decisions, decisions....
Ideas and thoughts are welcome! |
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Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:38 am |
| Why not go a very deep plum/violet colour, almost black but with violet tones?? This is what I do but I also have a few highlights of a very shiny deep red....I have this done every 8 or 9 weeks and it costs me £34. |
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[img]http://pic13.picturetrail.com/VOL470/2390945/6177231/92912749.jpg[/img] |
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Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:51 am |
Part of the problem is, my hair won't keep colour well, no matter what I do. I've tried the violet tones, and the same thing happens: It literally slides out. And I only use colour-safe products.....
Let's see what my stylist says; she's normally full of ideas, and likes extreme hairstyles herself! (I also do). I was thinking, I could get a (even) more extreme cut to compensate....
My appointment is on the 26th, almost one week to go. |
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Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:16 pm |
Hey Nemi --
Please WAIT before you do anything drastic to change your hair color (it sounds way cool, BTW!)...you said it's high maintenance and you have to refresh the red once a week with semi-perm glosser....
My hair is also colored red (and brown, auburn, gold, amber, copper, etc.!!). Unfortunately, red hair dyes are the ones that fade the quickest so here's a few tips that I utilize to help keep my color to stay "true."
Note: these tips can be used for anyone with color-processed hair, but for those with dyed red hair, they are "mandatory" to help maintain your look:
• Use only cool or cold water to wet/rinse your hair when you're in the shower. This is vitally important! Warm or hot water helps to open up the hair cuticle and make it more phorus, and when the hair cuticle is opened/phorus, your red hair dye is going to leach right out of the hair shaft and straight down the drain. By using cool/cold water, the hair shaft will stay sealed and your color will remain inside the cuticle;
• Use only a shampoo and conditioner specifically designed for color-treated hair (let me know if you need brand recommendations). These products contain ingredients that are less harsh and so will help to protect the cuticle to prevent the dye from being stripped out of your hair;
• Add a tablespoon of cider vinegar to your bottle of shampoo. Hair dyes have a high alkaline level so your hair needs the acid in the vinegar to help maintain a normal PH level, which in turn helps ensure that the hair cuticles stay sealed so the color won't leach out. Another benefit of the vinegar is it acts as a (gentle) clarifier to help cut thru product buildup on your hair so you get shinier hair everytime...and in case your worried that your hair will end up smelling like vinegar or the inside of a Fish & Chips Shoppe, I can assure you it won't! Adding the vinegar to your shampoo is 2nd in importance only to using cool/cold water to rinse. Since I've been doing this, I no longer see pink water running down the drain when I rinse my hair!
• Use a color enhancing conditioner once or twice a week. Nothing will completely prevent your color processed hair from fading but by using the color enhancing conditioner, you are refreshing your hair color by depositing a temporary color to your hair (effects normally last for 2-3 shampoos) and this will help ensure your color looks as good as the day you walked out of the salon! Although many hair product brands offer color enhancing shampoos or conditioners, I have tried nearly all of them over the years and have found that the ones from Aveda or the Redken "Earth Tones" brand are the most effective. And you can control the intensity of the color deposited by the amount of time you leave the product in your hair, the longer you leave it, the more intense the results will be -- at a minimum, you should leave it in for at least five minutes. Be advised that when you rinse the color enhancing conditioner from your hair (using cool/cold water!!), you WILL see some pink water going down the drain...this is perfectly normal, so don't freak and think the above-mentioned vinegar trick didn't work! You're just seeing the excess pigment that couldn't be absorbed by your hair rinsing out;
• Use a color protectant leave-in spray/treatment containing SPF15 or higher before using any heat appliance to blowdry or style your hair. This is the final step to lock in your color. Most people (including hair stylists!!) don't realize it, but heat appliances (blow drier, straightening iron, curling iron, etc.) and exposure to the sun can also make your color-processed hair fade more quickly!! Therefore, if you're going to be spending a lot of time in the sun (i.e.: at the beach or by the pool), in addition to the SPF color protectant leave-in spray, it's also a good idea to wear a hat or scarf to cover your hair in during exposure to intense sunlight -- besides, have you ever gotten a sunburn on your scalp??? Definitely not fun!
If you follow the above advice, I guarantee you'll find your hair color will help stay looking fab until your next salon appointment to touch up those telltale roots -- please give them a try before your appt next week and see how it goes before you decide on a change in hair color.
HTH,
Carrie
P.S. In case you're wondering: No, I'm not a professional hair stylist. But I've been coloring my hair (sometimes DIY, and other times at the salon) since I was 14 and -- other than caring for my mouth/lips (see also "Best Lip Balm" thread) -- my hair is my single biggest beauty vanity and these are tricks that I've learned over the years to help keep my dyed hair looking it's best. |
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Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:02 am |
So what brand shampoos are the safest? I've tried everything, I think, but my personal favs. are Kerastase Resistance and Sebastian Color Saver. Redken is just too drying, and I haven't even got dry hair! (and I notice many people recommend Pureology, which I can't get here).
And what about color depositing conditioner when my hair is only partially red? (it's basically three big blocks; my fringe and around my ears); won't that be too messy, considering the rest of the hair is black?
As a leave-in, I'm using Redken Anti-Snap every other day, and have noticed that my hair really likes that. But which ones have SPF 15 (live in Norway, won't need that for winter?), and don't weigh hair down?
TIA!
My hair appointment is on Tuesday, and I'm very eager to see what the stylist says. She's great! |
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Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:44 am |
| Nemi wrote: |
| So what brand shampoos are the safest? I've tried everything, I think, but my personal favs. are Kerastase Resistance and Sebastian Color Saver. Redken is just too drying, and I haven't even got dry hair! (and I notice many people recommend Pureology, which I can't get here). |
IMHO, the holy grail shampoo to maintain color-treated hair is from Phyto called "Phytocitrus Vital Radiance Shampoo" (and the matching "Hair Masque" is awesome, too and they even have a color maintaining shampoo that already has the cider vinegar in it called "Phytocidre Shampoo"!) but the truth is so long as the shampoo you are using is specifically formulated to help maintain color-treated hair, the brand you choose really doesn't matter all that match whether its a "prestige" product (i.e.: Kerastase) or a drug-store brand (L'oreal ColorVive). Just make sure you add that all-important tablespoon of cider vinegar and you always rinse with cool/cold water.
| Nemi wrote: |
| And what about color depositing conditioner when my hair is only partially red? (it's basically three big blocks; my fringe and around my ears); won't that be too messy, considering the rest of the hair is black? |
My dear, you have really lucked out here!!  Because your "base" hair color is black, then you can just go ahead and slather the red color-enhancing/depositing conditioner all over your head. It'll go to work on your red panels to brighten them and punch-up the color, but your black hair won't be affected at all (because black hair is...well...black!! It's not going to be changed by a color-enhancing conditioner that is a lighter shade....Think of it this way: you're wearing a pair of black trousers. You accidentally spill a glass of red wine on the trousers. You're not gonna see the stain because the red wine is a lighter shade than the black fabric -- am I making any sense??
Now, if your hair were...say...platinum blond with three dark red panels, then you'd have to be very careful when using a red color enhancing conditioner to make sure you're only applying the product to your red hair panels and being super-careful not to allow any of the conditioner to bleed over onto the blond sections of hair. Get it?
Somehow I skimmed over this yesterday when I was formulating my original response to you, but you also said that your hair doesn't "take" color very well so I wondered what type of hairdye your stylist was using on you. There are permanent hair colors, semi-permanent hair colors, demi-permanent hair colors, temporary hair colors and hair color rinses. Depending on which formula your stylist is using on you, this might have something to do with why your hair isn't taking the color well. Regardless, the great thing about color enhancing/depositing conditioners is that you can use them as often as you want, meaning that you could apply it every time you wash your hair if necessary for you to be able to maintain the desired level of color pigmentation. Because I want my red hair to be VIBRANT, I use my color enhancing conditioner every other day. Just make sure that you use a good, moisturizing conditioner on the days when you're not using the color enhancing one, and be sure to perform a deep conditioning treatment twice per month (I understand Kerastase makes some great conditioners...that's the product line that I can't get here in my area!  )
| Nemi wrote: |
| As a leave-in, I'm using Redken Anti-Snap every other day, and have noticed that my hair really likes that. But which ones have SPF 15 (live in Norway, won't need that for winter?), and don't weigh hair down? |
Hmmm...I don't know which hair product lines are available in Norway so I'm just gonna name a bunch of color protectant leave-in sprays with SPF and which don't weigh the hair down that will fit the bill:
• Phytomist Instant Hydrator
• Joico Color Endurance Leave-In Protectant (this is actually a foam rather than a spray)
• Rusk Brilliance Leave-In Conditioner
• Paul Mitchell Color Protect Locking Spray
• Wella Color Preserve Detangler and Leave-in Conditioner
If none of these product lines are available in Norway, just give me the names of some hair-care lines that are, and I'll tell which color protectant leave-ins with SPF you should try from among them.
Anyway...HTH and keep us posted on your appointment next week!
Carrie |
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Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:08 am |
Hi CareKate! I was browsing Sephora.com on your recommended shampoo on Phytocitrus Vital Shampoo... was wondering if how is the scent on this shampoo? I was just in the City (San Francisco) earlier this week and was inside Sephora store looking thru their stuff - wish this thread came last week I could have check the shampoo and smelled it!
I went inside the LUSH store too...Goodness gracious! Lots of stuff!!!  I was so overwhelmed with their products couldn't even remember what I came in for... I have to control myself... then I came out nothing, I have to browse this thread again what I really wanted from that store... oh well!  |
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www.worldmarktheclub.com |
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Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:46 am |
| Dabawenya62 wrote: |
| I was browsing Sephora.com on your recommended shampoo on Phytocitrus Vital Shampoo... was wondering if how is the scent on this shampoo? |
The Phytocitrus shampoo and mask both smell like grapefruit with a slight note of orange. |
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Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:07 am |
You are right - the blocks of red will be high maintenance, not to mention severe damage to both hair and wallet 
If you intend to keep black, perhaps just a few strands of red will keep it edgy and interesting. The few strands should be easier to grow out without looking that you need to visit the hair salon. I once say a lady in Hong Kong with shoulder length layered cut and blue strands on the front - she looked cool!
My 2 cents worth
Jenny |
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Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:43 am |
Thanks a lot! I think I'll try it once more with the red, then. It looks really good.
Of the brands you mention, I can get all of them here, so I'll have to do some shopping soon (for a leave-in, I've got tons of products otherwise).
And my stylist is using permanent dye, don't know the brand, but suspect Wella or Sebastian (it's a Sebastian salon).
I'll report back after I've been to my appointment on Tuesday.  |
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Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:45 pm |
| Nemi wrote: |
I just want to air my thoughts...
Two months ago, I got a completely new haircut, complete with fresh funky colour. The base colour is black (actually suits me!) and in addition, I have "blocks" in two different bright redtones. So far, so good.
The problem is that it is very high maintenance! I accept frequent cuts and dyes, but in addition, I have to refresh the red once a week (with a non-permanent "glosser") and I also have to be careful about which shampoo to use, not wash my hair as often as I like, etc. etc.And it's quite expensive...
Therefore, I am considering going all black, because it's easy and convenient (and I can even keep it up myself if I like), but I am worried it may be boring....
Decisions, decisions....
Ideas and thoughts are welcome! |
Black is a pretty harsh color, but if it looks good on your..super! If you go to any kind of site that sells hair pieces you'll find clip on hair with fun colors. You can just clip it in and it'll cost a lot less than it sounds like you're doing now..: )) |
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