What Kind of Hair Dye is Right for You?

Let's face it, most woman at one time or anything in their lives want to change their hair color. Some do, some don't. But dying your hair can be a quick and easy way to change your appearance. I want to add in here though, that while dying your hair at home can leave you with wonderful results, from personal experience you can also have some mishaps. Like your light brown going black, or your going for blond ends up orange. It doesn't always happen that way and i will touch more on this in a later paragraph. The best results usually yield from a professional salon.

Lets talk about types of dyes. No matter where you get your hair done, an expensive salon, a middle end salon, your kitchen or your friends. There are 3 basic types of dye. Those are Permanent, Semi-permanent and temporary.

We will start with temporary. Temporary hair dyes are good for people who want a quick change, a touch up, are pregnant, or who want to see what a color might look like on them. There are two types of temporary dyes, Chemical, such as what you see in your local drugstore, and a natural dye called Henna. Temporary dye is just that, it washes out in 7-10 washes usually and you can expect it to fade with each wash. Sometimes dark colors turn a bit purplish or grayish and lighter colors can turn brassy. It is also the least damaging to your hair.

Semi-permanent is a hair dye that often lasts 1-3 months depending on the brand you buy. The dye is deposited to cling to your hair shaft and you can see your natural hair growing out from under the dyes. If you have dark hair and want to go lighter, this will not work well for you. This hair dye is best for people wanting to go to darker shades or add a color to their hair, such as red on brown. While it might not come out vibrant red, you can be left with some highlights that look lovely. The hair dye fades slowly with washing, sunlight exposure can speed up the process as well.

Permanent hair dye does not fade, in some cases, as in dark colors such as black or very dark blown/purples the only way to get the dye out of your hair is to cut it or bleach over it. This wont effect people going for blonde shades or light brown shades. They can be dyed over. Permanent hair dye is best for people who want an extreme change, who are going to lighter shades and who want to bleach their hair blond.

Now for personal experiences, I have been dying my hair for nearly 10 years. Sometimes i go lighter, sometimes i go darker. Its all about how I'm feeling.When i was younger, i liked to go lighter, now i prefer darker shades. And I've had a few mishaps along the way. One time, i decided to try for blonde hair. Is naturally a middle brown shade so i figured it shouldn't be an issue. I bought a bleaching kit which is best for trying to go blond. I like L'Oreal Feria bleaching for this. However i underestimated the time it would take to turn my darker brown hair to blonde. While my roots were platinum, the rest of my locks were orangy near the top and almost red at bottom. Not one of my favorite looks. Which leads into my next mistake. I waited a few days to color my hair, this helps protect the hair and let it regain some of its natural oils. But I chose a shade of brown too dark. My hair ended up black. 1 because of the weakened hair due to the bleaching process, and 2, it was left on too long for such light hair. Lesson learned is if you want to go platinum or any shade of blonde from a brown or black. Go to a salon. Your best bet is to only choose a shade in the same family as your current hair color. You should choose a shade that is within 2 shades of your own for best results, but up to 5 for good results.

A few pointers for those DIY-ers. And kind of dye that is darker then your skin will stain it. Take some of your regular conditioner and apply it to exposed skin. Neck, ears, and around your face line. Do wear gloves and use the conditioner they provide. Do the strand test they talk about in the instructions, at the very least, the first time you dye your hair. You CAN have a reaction such as hives. Do use shampoo and conditioners for dyed hair. The shampoos are gentler and the conditioners thicker. They are formulated for dyed hair and will help your hair keep its new color longer. One box of dye will safely color hair about to shoulder length depending on if its super thick or not. Super thick hair might need a second box at shorter lengths. If your hair is past your shoulders, even an inch or two, get two boxes of dye. Having someone run out to get a second box in the middle of dying leads to uneven hair coloring, and patches that did not get any dye at all.IF you find you run out and you only need a tiny bit more. you can add a tablespoon of water and a dot of conditioner to the bottle of dye. Mix it around and apply. This will ONLY get you a few drops more though and will not make up for you needing a second box. My personal favorite for Permanent hair dye is Feria by L'Oriel, If you finish your hair and find it a shade to dark, or even black, immediately get back in the shower and wash your hair several times with hot water as hot as you can stand and dish washing soap. While it will NOT remove the color entirely, dark hair can take up to 48 hours to really set into your hair. You can wash some of the color out in that time. The soap however will damage your hair quite a bit and you will need to deep condition it many times to get it feeling healthy again.

Personal preference for hair dye is L'Oriel Feria, i also like to use Garnier Nutrisse. Both hair colors provide rich colors, a good scent to help cover the harsh smell of dye and are relatively inexpensive. I recommend against a hairdo and highlight kit. While they look perfectly matched on the box, your hair probably wont be the exact shade as on the box, and the highlights don't always match so well.

Remember each type of dye has a help line you can call if you run into trouble. And if your shade turns out off the wall, don't hesitate to go to a salon and get it fixed. While it might run as high as $200, you will feel miles better about yourself then trying to fix it at home. Fixing it at home doesn't work as often as you would like it to. So remember, dying your hair is an easy way to change your look, it can be fun, flirty, something new, or give you an entirely new feel. Just remember to read the entire instructions, follow the directions, and if you don't like it, give it a few days and it can always be fixed again.