Hair 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: Hair coloring can add spice and enhance many hair styles. It's fun and rewarding when it comes out dazzling, yet it can be devastating when it works out wrong. A great hair color should look as natural as possible. A good hair color can add shine, drama and fun to your hair style. It can make some hair types easier to style. Although the majority of women color their hair to cover gray hair, many women color for the fun of having a new look, and the pizzazz it can add to your hair style. If you decide to add hair color to your hair it would be wise to first educate yourself. You can save yourself some tears and unwanted disastrous results. 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. With a permanent hair color you can minimize long-term damage by being extra careful with your daily hair care regimen. This is the most effective way to cover gray 100%.

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.

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. 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.