Have you always wanted to be blond? Thinking of just a few highlights? Lose your inhibitions and follow this coloring advice from hair doctor Susan Craig Scott, author of The Hair Bible.
Letting people know you color your hair used to be almost as much of a taboo as talking about your sex life. Women only colored their hair if they wanted to completely change the color, or if they wanted to cover their gray. In the 21st century, however, with more than 50 percent of women in the United States coloring their hair, it’s not only acceptable, it’s a sign of being fashion forward and up with the trends. What’s more, it’s easy to do and less damaging to your hair than it was a couple of decades ago.
Finding a professional colorist is the key to soft, richly hued hair. Those colorists who have honed their skills are being well rewarded financially and raised to celebrity status. Therefore appointments often fill up months in advance. “A reputable colorist provides a very detailed consultation, taking the time to explain the techniques involved in the process,” says Bob Siebert, national director of education for Hans Schwarzkopf Professional. “A good colorist will also give you a road map for maintenance, explaining what you can do to maintain your color at home and make it last until you come in for your next visit, about five to six weeks later.”
It’s best to color your hair at a salon where experts use high-quality color and are experienced enough to know how to do it right — especially if you want a major change. For smaller jobs, like touching up your roots or covering gray, you can probably pull it off at home by reading the directions that come with the product.
Color Maintenance
Since bleach and dyes can dry out hair and damage the cuticle, color-processed hair needs a little extra TLC. Avoid shampoos that contain Castille soaps or oil or glycerin, which may fade the color, or clarifying shampoos, which may strip the color. Your best bet is to choose a shampoo with extra conditioning properties. Companies such as Thermasilk, Aveda, Revlon, Vidal Sassoon, and Artec offer these specialized formulas, and more and more color-maintenance lines are popping up regularly.
Permanent hair color is the most popular because it lasts the longest, delivers all-over, even color, and creates the most dramatic change. How it works: In a single process, peroxide and ammonia are mixed. “The ammonia opens up the cuticle and allows the pigment to penetrate into the cortex where the natural pigment is,” says Siebert. “The melanin in your hair is oxidized and loses its natural color.” According to Siebert, this single process procedure is ideal for women who want to cover gray or lighten their hair a couple of shades from their natural color. Permanent color, however, is the most damaging to your hair, and can make it look flat and unnatural, requiring frequent touchups. Although the formulations vary in potency, most ammonia-containing brands dry out hair and cause it to frizz.
“Double processing — the most aggressive form of coloring hair — requires two steps,” explains Siebert. “First, hair is pre-lightened with lightening powder or bleach, then the color or highlights are applied afterward.”
MYTH: Highlights and color need to be refreshed every three weeks.
FACT: Hair grows at different rates, and this affects how long color and highlights last. The color itself, and its difference from hair’s natural shade, plays a part in how frequently it needs revitalizing. Some women find they need roots “done” every two weeks; some can go a month.
Highlighting involves coloring or lightening selected strands, leaving sections of natural color in between. Typically, a comb or brush is used to isolate pieces of hair with color. These pieces are then wrapped in foil so that the colorist can get really close to the roots without touching the scalp. Sometimes a freehand technique is used to paint the color onto the hair.
Salon Shades vs. Home Hues
“Everything from cell phones to cars to communication has taken an edge toward fashion. Hair color is the opposite; we have always had the artistic edge, but now we have the technology behind it,” says Deborah Gavin, a stylist and colorist at High Tech salon in Philadelphia. “For many women, hair color is an important expression of who they are and how they want the world to see them.” Here, she shares her top reasons for having hair professionally colored:
- Professional color is more advanced and more durable.
- With professional color, you’re not just paying for the hair color itself, but also for a colorist’s technical and application skills.
- You are also getting the colorist’s ability to choose the right shade for your skin tone. When you do it yourself at home, what you see on the box isn’t exactly what you end up with.
- “Most women aren’t skilled enough to apply their own color, especially because the angle is difficult. The only time it works is when you get lucky with it. Otherwise, it can look uneven and may deliver the message that you don’t care as much about how you look,” she says.
- Professional hair color can be strategically placed. “Techniques for applying hair color are constantly evolving. Transformation color, one such method, involves using different shades of the same color on different sections of hair, depending on how you part your hair. “You can part your hair on one side and have the color there done in a natural shade of red, which may appear more conservative for work. Then, you can part your hair on the other side and color that section with a brighter shade for post-office hours.”
- Some experts argue that at-home brands contain lesser percentages of color so that you need to buy more to achieve the color you desire. Others say it is dangerous for women to do their own color because most at-home versions come in shampoo form and, except for the first application, you really just need to touch up the roots. It is more damaging to shampoo over previously colored hair.
“Highlighting and low-lighting give hair more dimension,” says Siebert. “Highlights brighten hair by adding light, while lowlights use darker tones to add depth to the hair.” The end result is a beautiful, subtly brighter head of hair, but the time-consuming process means you may not get to see it until you’ve been worked on for a couple of hours.
“Long-lasting semi-permanent or demi-permanent color is the quickest-growing color segment in the market for professional and retail color,” explains Siebert. “The benefit is that in most cases they are ammonia-free, so they are a little more gentle on hair. This is a great way for clients to try on color if they’re not ready to make a commitment; they fade out in 15 to 30 shampoos.” Semi-permanent color penetrates the hair shaft and stains the cuticle, so it isn’t as dense as permanent color and it’s less noticeable when it fades. Semi-permanent color can be used on permed hair and is applied in liquid, gel, or aerosol form. Demi-permanent color is used to enhance your natural color and cover 75 percent of gray. But since it only deposits color without lifting your hair’s natural pigment, it won’t lighten your hair. So while that means you won’t have roots to contend with, it will probably fade within six weeks. If you have a fear of commitment, try a temporary color or a rinse, which washes out in three to seven shampoos. “These are made of 100 percent pre-oxidized pigments that are not mixed with developer or peroxide,” explains Siebert. “They stain the outer layer of hair, then wash away.” Often made of a vegetable dye base, temporary colors are applied directly from the tube or bottle in the form of a rinse, gel, mousse, or spray. Funkier versions, such as hair mascara, are now available on the market, and can be fun for a night when you dare to go bold with your hair color.
Natural hair color is ideal for women who are allergic to aniline, a colorless liquid obtained from coal tar from which many hair colors and dyes are made. Reactions to aniline include itchy red patches and welts on the scalp. Natural colors stain the hair instead of dyeing it and don’t penetrate the hair shaft. While several hair color companies sell natural, commercial hair color, only pure Egyptian henna is truly organic. Made from the leaves of the lawsonia inermis plant, henna colors by coating the hair shaft and staining the cuticle. The color is unpredictable and hard to control and not for women with permed hair, since it can clash with the perming chemicals and cause discoloration. If you’re using henna at home, be sure to wear gloves so you don’t stain your hands.
In the 1960s, a hair technique called tipping was extremely popular. Using this method, bleach is applied only to the ends of the hair to make them a lighter shade than the rest of the head. Today, this method is often done using color instead of bleach. “Bleaching can be used in two different ways,” adds Amanda George, a colorist at Prive salon in Los Angeles, “for an overall blond effect à la Marilyn Monroe, or as a double-blonding process by lifting hair all over then bringing it up a tone to beige blond or platinum blond. When you color hair blond, there’s a limit to how light you can go, because it depends on how dark your hair is to begin with. If someone wants a really light shade of blond, pre-lighten with bleach, then add color. For a softer, honey blond, skip the bleach and use tint plus highlights to get the right shade.” At-home color is premixed and geared to cover a more generic range of shades, as opposed to salon color, which is individually mixed for you. Look for low-ammonia or low-peroxide products, which are gentler on your hair.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Scott, M.D., author of The Hair Bible (Copyright © 2003 by TimeLife Media, Inc.), is a cosmetic and hair replacement surgeon who received her medical degree from Columbia University. Board certified in surgery and plastic surgery, she is an attending physician at Beth Israel Hospital; Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital; Lenox Hill Hospital; and the Hospital for Joint Diseases. She has appeared on such television programs as The Today Show and Eye to Eye and since 1996 she has been team physician to the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
MORE ARTICLES BY THE AUTHOR
LEARN MORE
- Read Chapter 1 of The Hair Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Healthy, Beautiful Hair Forever
- See the book’s Table of Contents
