Tired of two toned hair!!!Color Questions.

[RitaCeleste]

Okay I use to color my hair red with chemical dyes. It would wash out but the developer had lightened my dark ashy brown hair and my treated hair would go a brassy orange color. I did two henna treatments last year and even the henna faded. But I'm tired of two toned hair. I put a semi-permanent mahogany on it and it all blends and looks like one color, the henna treated hair has great highlights in the sun but the hair with no henna doesn't glow. I wanted to use a permanent red-brown on my hair and then henna over that so when I get roots they are not noticeable and I don't have two toned hair. My question is will a red-brown chemical dye wash out like a red and leave me with pale brassy hair on bottom no matter what anyway?

[woolyleprechaun]

In my experience, nothing chemical and reddish stays well. Henna has the best staying power I've ever seen for a red :) Perhaps you could just henna the lighter bits to even out the colour? Sorry if I misunderstood your dilemma.

[RitaCeleste]

Good point! That's exactly what I was thinking about the chemical dye. I just need a more even brown base to henna. I was shopping for henna a moment ago. I know the darker colors fade faster than the red hennas with natural products. The problem seems to be color sticking and staying on the chemically treated hair. I like chemical dyes because they do make my natural hair less coarse, they actually soften it and its the developer not the conditioner pack. But I need to stick some color to the chemically treated hair or else I'm stuck with two toned hair. Now that I have the semi-permanent coating my hair, shouldn't I wait for it to wash out to try henna or anything else on it since it coats the hair? I could try dyeing it back a regular plain brown that will match up with the roots better and start doing henna from there? The problem is what is most likely to stick to my old treated hair best and longest. I don't think Henna alone is ever going to make the dark brown and the brassy orange blend that well. It blends better at first but then it fades to two toned again.

[RitaCeleste]

Well, darn. I went and read the reviews for the permanent dyes I was looking at. They all fade, so none of them except maybe an impossible to remove black will stick around for long. Why damage it more if the effects are only temporary? UG!!!! I'm going to do the semi-permanents and henna. I like how good my hair is looking with these. I don't have to do deep conditioning treatments or use tons of products anymore. hmmmm. I'm good! Thanks for pointing out that permanent really isn't anyway.

[Firefox7275]

Red tones always fade due to the size of the molecules, if you are losing brown molecules as well that suggests your hair is overly porous. Use a high pigment semi permanent in a colour lighter than you want and leave to process for longer than the instructions. Then a super gentle wash method (conditioner only or pH appropriate anionic surfactant free shampoo) with cool water, avoid the sun because that bleaches out the dye and increases the porosity. Overnight coconut oil soaks on dry hair can reduce porosity over time.

[AnnaB]

Red tones always fade due to the size of the molecules, if you are losing brown molecules as well that suggests your hair is overly porous. Use a high pigment semi permanent in a colour lighter than you want and leave to process for longer than the instructions. Then a super gentle wash method (conditioner only or pH appropriate anionic surfactant free shampoo) with cool water, avoid the sun because that bleaches out the dye and increases the porosity. Overnight coconut oil soaks on dry hair can reduce porosity over time.

I second this. Very accurate advise.

[massivecnqstdr]

I have a kind of strange suggestion. I use this colored protein filler in "Gold" from Sally's on my ends sometimes because they aren't holding henna glosses as well as less chemically altered parts of my hair. I put it on my ends, leave it on for maybe 10 minutes minimum, and then CO wash or shampoo as usual. For your hair color, you could use the one labeled "red red." I like this option better than semi-permanent dyes because the color is not so opaque that the ends look darker, just brighter in color and healthier. The fact that the formula is almost entirely protein helps even out the texture of the hair as well, so my hair is looking much more uniform. Just a thought! By the way, I am totally aware that this isn't what the product was designed for.
Here's the product:
http://www.sallybeauty.com/professional-protein-filler/CLRFUL2,default,pd.html

[Tattersail]

just to check that i get you right; you still want mahogany hair, but an even tone?

if you just want to counteract brassiness you could try this:
maybe you could use a purple or blue shampoo? Like a toning shampoo that is designed for blondes to counteract brass. It works by depositing blue/purple molecules in your hair - purple is on the opposite side of yellow on the colour wheel; blue is the opposite of orange- maybe that would help?

if you still want to colour; have you tried henna and indigo together? it would give you more of a brown/red than pure henna. from what i've read, those plant-based colours stick a lot better to hair than chemical ones.

i also agree with firefox; maybe your hair really porous, in which case you should probably try to keep doing the henna and anything in your power to close your hair cuticle (wash/rinse with cold water, do acv rinses, only co-wash or wo).