There are many factors involved in making the decision to dye or color your hair.
A quick look at the basic three types of haircolor. Which type fits into your lifestyle? Is haircoloring for you?
Some of the most common reasons to color your hair are to renew, brighten, cover gray, or change your natural hair color. Once you have decided why you want to change your hair color; the next step is to decide what type of hair color you’d like to use. There are several different types of hair color. We will take a look at the basic three types of haircolor. They are available at large department stores.
The first type is semi-permanent hair color. It does not contain peroxide, or ammonia. It doesn’t usually damage your hair. This type, ever so slightly, enhances your natural hair color. You can reasonably expect this type of product to cover up to 50% of your gray hair. The color lasts for 6-12 shampoos only.
The next type is demi-permanent hair coloring. It has a low peroxide level and no ammonia. So, it will not likely cause any damage to your hair. However, if it would happen to occur, it would be very minimal. It blends and covers your gray hair up to 80% approximately. It will last up to 24 shampoos. This type of hair coloring fades gradually all over.
The third type is permanent hair coloring. It usually contains both peroxide and ammonia. It covers gray hair the best. If you have resistant gray hair; treat those areas first. Leave it on as long as the manufacturer recommends for this particular problem. Permanent hair color can be used to lighten your natural hair color up to a couple of shades lighter. It does not wash out! The drawbacks to this type of coloring are that your hair can be damaged or you could be allergic to the harsh chemicals. Always read the precautions on the haircoloring kit or the enclosed instruction sheet precautions before using a product. It is very wise to do a strand test and an allergy test before coloring your hair.
I try to make sure the kit I’d like to purchase, (especially if it is a permanent hair coloring kit) has a conditioner included. It is worth paying alittle more extra money to have the special conditioner to apply to your hair immediately after using permanent hair coloring. You hair, most likely is damaged and needs the extra care. (Unless you like your hair to possibly feel like straw.) Permanent hair color grows out. You will definitely notice new hair growth signaling you to touch-up your roots. Touch-ups are recommended every 4-6 weeks. It depends on how quickly your hair grows.
There are panels or charts on most hair coloring kit boxes to help you imagine what color of hair your hair will be if using a particular shade. You must also take into account the color of your complexion. You want to choose an appropriate color to complement your features and coloring.
I have two final tidbits of advice. If you are pregnant or think that you are pregnant; ask your doctor if it is safe to color your hair. If you are a mature woman, remember to go a shade or two lighter as you gracefully age. It will make you look more youthful and elegant.
June 19th, 2006
Do your tresses deserve a bit of salon-friendly spoiling? Look no further…
Top treatment hits Rae Palmer Hairdressing
The fabulous salon of Rae Palmer became one of the first UK salons this month to offer the revolutionary Kérathermie treatment from Kérastase.
This unique in-salon service for weak, dry and rebellious hair provides an alternative to daily or chemical straightening. In the words of Rae herself, ‘I’ve noticed a lot of damage to client’s hair due to over-use of straighteners, some so extreme that they aren’t even able to have colour. This fantastic treatment gently straightens hair thanks to the thermo-heated plates that seal in the conditioner, and the effect lasts for three weeks, so there’s no need for daily straightening, and my client’s can have the beautiful colour they deserve.’ Amen to that. This top treatment involves three prescribed Kérastase treatments, including the delish Masque Oleo-Relax, and a blissful period with special warming gloves to pamper your hands whilst the treatment works it’s magic on your tresses.
For appointments, call 023 9242 6622
June 19th, 2006
Ok, so it’s not been the best British summer so far, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get better, and no matter how hot it is, it’s a fact that summer sun spells bad news for our tresses.
A good nourishment treatment for hair is a must-have for our favourite season and this year why not make it the gorgeous new Gelée de Monoï
from the super-desirable Dior Bronze collection. This Beautifying Moisturiser is formulated using exotic Monoï oil and Tiare flowers for tress-rescue and Kau Pe flowers for a scent-sational fragrance. What’s more, it’s enriched with Tephroline extracts, which actually promotes the release of happy hormones, and gold micro-particles to create a subtle golden sheen – it’s like Dior have captured the essence of summer and popped it in a chic silver and bronze tube! Use on your body too for silky-smooth lustrous skin as well as locks.
£21, Stockists: 01932 233909
June 19th, 2006
Hairdryers don’t come hotter than the new BEliss from BabyLiss, £30
Tooled up
We all love how smooth our hair looks after a professional blow-dry, but it’s no easy feat to achieve such salon-sleek tresses at home, right? Not any more.
Thanks to styling giants BaByliss a salon-perfect finish is just a home hair-wash away, and the days of grappling with your dryer, brush and spray are long gone. With its unique attachment, the fab new BEliss hairdryer straightens, smoothes and shines as it blow-dries, giving your locks the perfect, frizz-free, high-gloss finish. With ionic Tourmaline-Ceramic plates and four different straightening settings to suit your hair type, it looks like we can all look forward to a sleek, fuzz-free summer.
£30 Stockists: 08705 133 191 or www.beliss.co.uk
June 19th, 2006
Hair coloring, a step by step guide to coloring your hair at home , to achieve natural and professional looking results at a fraction of the cost.
With the advanced home hair color products available today, achieving a result that is natural looking and flattering is easy to do.
Follow these simple steps and save yourself time and money without sacrificing great results.
Please note: The following directions do not apply to taking your natural hair color from dark to blonde. Coloring your hair blonde, especially if your natural color is brown or black, is best done by a professional because it is a much more complicated procedure than that described below.
Coloring Materials
First assemble your materials. You will need these items:
Hair color You can use either the kit that is sold in drug and grocery stores, such as Clairol or Loreal brands, or you can make your own hair color kit. I have found that you get longer lasting color by choosing your own components at a beauty supply store. You will need the coloring liquid and crème bleach, which is called developer. Choose a 30 volume white developer for best results. You can save money by purchasing a large bottle of developer and only purchasing the liquid color each time you need to touch up your roots.
Measuring cup Use this to measure the crème developer.
· Bowl and brush. While at the beauty supply store, pick up a professional quality plastic bowl and brush for mixing the color. The bowl is deep and has a thumb notch on the side for easy pickup, and a rubber base to keep it from tipping. The brush is flat and has a rat-tail comb end. These two items are usually packaged together.
Towel or cape If desired, you can also get a salon type beauty cape at the beauty supply store. I use an old towel, which works just as well.
Plastic gloves I recommend the less rigid latex over plastic, although the boxed kits contain the plastic ones. The latex gloves give a greater degree of sensitivity and allow you to judge better where the color is by feel. This is helpful especially when working on the back of your head.
Clock All color processes must be precisely timed to avoid mistakes.
You may wish to do a strand test to preview your color. Mix together a drop or two of the liquid color and a drop or two of the developer. Snip a tiny amount of hair from the back and underneath area of your hair where it will not be noticed and tape it together on one end. Dip the un-taped end into the mixture and leave it for 25 minutes. Rinse, dry and compare the results to what you expected.
If the results from the strand test are acceptable, proceed to the coloring steps.
Coloring Procedure
1. Mix up the color solution Into the color mixing bowl pour the liquid color and 3 oz. of the crème developer. If you bought a kit, the developer is already measured for you. Using the color brush, mix well.
2. Apply the color mixture If this is the very first time you have colored your hair, or if your hair is completely grown out from the last time you colored and no previously color processed hair remains, apply the mixture to your hair is the same way as you would shampoo. If however you are touching up your roots, following the directions in step 3.
3. Begin with dry hair Starting at the top front of your hair, make a part with the tail of the color brush about an inch long and another part parallel to the first one and about ¼ inch to the side. Holding the parted section of hair up, brush the color mixture on the root area of the parted section and the adjacent un-parted section. Pull the parted section up so that it stands on its own and out of the way to the side. Make another part ¼ inch to the side of the un-parted section to whose roots you previously applied the color mixture and hold the section up. Brush the color mixture onto the roots of the held section and the roots of the adjacent section as you just did with the last section. Continue this procedure until you have applied color mixture to the all the roots.
Important: Avoid getting the color mixture on the ends. The ends are extremely porous if they were previously colored and will soak up too much of the color mixture, making them darker that the rest of your hair. If you get any color mixture on the ends, wipe it off immediately. After applying color to all your roots, wipe any color from your skin using a towel and warm water. Be sure to remove excess color from your hairline and in back of your ears.
4. Wait the prescribed amount of time in the directions, or 20 minutes.
5. After 20 minutes have elapsed, apply any leftover color to the ends. Use a wide toothed comb to pull the color through the entire hair shaft, from the roots to the ends.
6. Leave color on the ends no more than five minutes. After time is up, add a little water to your hair and lather the color mixture through it like a shampoo.
7. Rinse your hair thoroughly in tepid water until the rinse water runs clear and absolutely no color mixture remains in the hair.
8. If your kit contained a conditioner, apply it now. Leave it on for two minutes and rinse thoroughly in tepid water. You may use a deep conditioning treatment instead of the boxed kit conditioner.
Some women prefer to shampoo their hair after rinsing out the color and before conditioning. I don’t recommend this. Waiting at least 24 hours to shampoo allows the color to “set” in your hair and helps to prevent the color from fading.
To help preserve the vibrancy of your color, subsequent shampooing and conditioning should be done using cool water. Hot water will strip color from your hair. This is especially true for reds, which can fade or become brassy in a matter of a week to ten days.
By using the above method, I get salon quality results with my hair coloring. Most people assume my hair color is natural, and who am I to say they are wrong?
June 19th, 2006