A Hair Coloring Tale (advice wanted)

[Snowflake]

Paging Wendybeth!

[bewitched]

I have dark brown hair that was blond for a bit (same process as your daughter's). I ended up having to cut my hair super short when I went dark again because I found the color wouldn't "stick" to the older, longer parts of my hair. Don't know if that's the case w/your daughter but you may be stuck having to apply semi-permanent color for several months until it grows out (or cutting it off).

[wendybeth]

Bewitched, you are hired!

Betty, your daughter's hair sounds like it's been overprocessed. There is a point of no return with regards to what hair can take in coloring, and with all the processes you've described it would be a minor miracle if it weren't too porous to hold color. When that happens, your best course of action is a semi-permanent color- the trick is determining what hue to go with to counteract any unwanted color qualities. (Brassy, too ashy, etc). What color pudding are we talking about? If memory serves, her hair is on the normal to fine scale in strand thickness, right? Anyway, you want to go with semi-permanent color because it sits on the hair- you don't have to worry about it getting into and staying within the cortical structure. (Over processed hair is very porous, and the cuticle does not lay back down and hold the color molecules in.)

[bewitched]

Originally Posted by wendybeth

Bewitched, you are hired!

Betty, your daughter's hair sounds like it's been overprocessed. There is a point of no return with regards to what hair can take in coloring, and with all the processes you've described it would be a minor miracle if it weren't too porous to hold color. When that happens, your best course of action is a semi-permanent color- the trick is determining what hue to go with to counteract any unwanted color qualities. (Brassy, too ashy, etc). What color pudding are we talking about? If memory serves, her hair is on the normal to fine scale in strand thickness, right? Anyway, you want to go with semi-permanent color because it sits on the hair- you don't have to worry about it getting into and staying within the cortical structure. (Over processed hair is very porous, and the cuticle does not lay back down and hold the color molecules in.)

I know this only because I have had fab hair stylists.

I found I could extend my semi-permanent color a bit if I used a color rinse (like my grandma used) as the color started to fade. I tried to keep my long hair but it just became too much upkeep.