Hair dye help!!

[pushingdaisys]

hello all. im pretty new to TLHC and i tryed searching but have had some trouble finding what i need. okay so heres the deal. i have narutally dark brown hair but i want to go red.... and im not talking red like ive seen some of the henna threads turned up but a slightly brighter red sort of like this one http://www.hji.co.uk/hjimages/images/qhs167/hji/medium/2006-red-fringe.jpg
or even this one
http://www.marshu.com/articles/images-website/articles/americas-next-top-model/antm-americas-next-top-model-7-caridee/caridee-photo-wild-red-hair-and-dress.jpg

so my problem is how to get a color like that without doing too much damage to my hair with regular dyes. any help would be extremely appreciated so please throw your two cents in... thanks

[marajade]

I think the second one has quite a few colors in it, so I am not sure of what you mean, but I know henna reacts with the hair color underneath, Cassia is supposed to help lighten the henna up and give your color a way to be brighter if your natural color underneath isn't light enough for what you want. . . that being said, I don't really know much about chemical color. and only a little about henna. Are you wanting to do a box dye or professional color? I would suggest you go in for a consultation and take hair with you, and pictures. The colorist maybe could do strand tests?

I hope others chime in with their expertise. :)

I think if you are going to do chemical dye you need to think about the dryness of your hair now and think about how that would change your routine. Deep conditioning at least once a week I think is good place to start.

[CindyLea1]

Check out this page. http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes/index.html

Now, as I understand it henna is cumulative. Meaning that the more you apply it the stronger your color. And the color also depends on your natural, starting hair color.

I agree with Marajade, You may want to schedule a consultation with a salon, if you think you want to go that route. Take in your pictures, and ask them if they can do this to your hair. I think the strand test is a good idea, too. That way you can see the color on YOUR hair. Also, be sure to ask them what damage may be caused and what you can do about it.

Then apply the 2 week rule and go for it if you really want to.

[ravenreed]

I have naturally dark brown hair and dye it burgundy. I had to give up the permanent dye because I never found any way to avoid damage. Red fades so quickly, at least for me, that I have to redo it quite frequently. I switched to demi-permanent, but there is no lift, so it is really dark. The plus side is not so much damage. Perhaps a professional might be able to offer some guidance.

[Roseate]

You might want to take a look at this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=22704). They are discussing lightening hair first and then henna-ing over it, which is what you would need to do to get a red like that on your dark hair with henna/cassia.

And, whatever you do, STRAND TEST! Good luck, and welcome to LHC!;)

[Ash]

Something I do to help counter dye damage is to do a diluted vinegar rinse (1/4 cup apple cider vinegar to 2 cups distilled water) immediately after rinsing out the dye. It seems to help. This is just a guess, but I think you could mix Feria 67 Cardinal with 74 Copper Shimmer to get that color. Clairol Nice and Easy Natural Light Auburn is similar but not as vivid. The problem with reds though is that chemical reds fade very quickly. There are some professional deposit only colors but I am not very familliar with those, only things like Manic Panic and that will only tint darker hair. If you want to go the henna route, this page has some different mixes that could turn out the color you want, just remember everyone's hair is different so it may not work. http://www.hennaforhair.com/mixes/index.html
Hopefully you will be able to find something, that color is very nice.


Edit - Just saw CindyLea1 posted the same link, sorry.

[pushingdaisys]

does anyone know anything about some stuff called ELUMEN?? i read that this is deposit only but didnt really get what that means or if it would even turn up a nice bright red on my dark brown hair.

[Omens]

You should definitely check out henna before trying a boxed sort of dye, because most of them, unfortunately, do cause damage in the long term.

My mom has a color similar to this: http://www.colormecontacts.com/images/redhair.jpg

Her hair is a very dark brown, nearly black. She uses a permanent dye to get that color, and it takes surprisingly well. She does have undertones of red to her hair though, which might impact the color. I usually am the one who dyes her hair. Certain brands and colors gave her the red you are looking for, but she likes more of an auburn/brown sort of hue, so we usually redye it if the result isn't what she likes.

I don't know if you've dyed it before. Some people have really tough hair ( my mom is one of those people) that does just fine with dye, others end up with tons of breakage. Be very cautious if you do go with a boxed dye. You will be stuck in a routine of dyeing every month or two, and you will likely have to condition a lot.

Again, I would say go for henna if you're willing to try it, because it's not going to fry your hair like some other things might. Also, if you can afford it, like others have said, try to get a consultation at a salon with someone who knows their dyes. That could be really helpful and informative. They might have a better idea of what your color would turn out like with certain products.

[pushingdaisys]

i have dyed it before but i guess my major dilemma is that ive decided this year to start taking better care of my hair because it was very damaged and ive started to take better care of it now and its starting to show so i dont want to undo any of the healing by damaging it with box dye from the store so im wondering what my other options for a bright red might be because when i saw the henna results on the different threads they always look much darker than what im going for and i figured if my hair is dark brown then it would most likely only add red tones to it but not be bright like the first picture i posted which is really the ideal color i wish i could have.

[pushingdaisys]

errr sorry here i go with the questions again... but i followed one of the links that was posted the one by roseate to exact and now im a bit more confused... on there some one said that they would try to lighten their hair with either 30 , or 40 vol peroxide, uhhh i thought you had to add bleach to the peroxide to get a bright looking color? is there something im missing, sorry all and thanks in advance for the help and patience to he honest i was never taught any kind of hair care other than to shampoo and condition daily which just now through this community im finding out isnt even a good practice .

[ravenreed]

Bleaching means the peroxide... (PLEASE don't add clorox to your hair!!!) That is the main thing that is so damaging. Deposit only means you will not get a lighter color. Period. You can darker, not lighter with deposit only. I haven't tried henna yet because my hair is so dark. I may when I get more greys in. I would rather henna if I can get a consistent burgundy. Makes me look forward to more grey hair!

Now the problem I had when the permanent dye is that the ends kept getting lighter and lighter than what was on my scalp. That was one reason I switched to the demi-permanent. However, the main reason was that I wanted to get from waist to tb and that wasn't happening with the damage I was causing.

[brok3nwings]

Hmmm...
first of all, are you absolutly sure you want to go that colour? That colour dont go well with most people so please think about it first.

In chemical colours from what i know are the ones the fade faster but also red is a hard colour to completly take out of hair once you done it. Henna is a different kind of colour of course, its not chemical but in my opinion is even a bigger compromise than chemical cause most of the hairdressers wont get near your hair colour if you have it (there are reactions between henna and chemicals..dont ask me i dont know more than this about henna). But once you get your hair lighter (you have to if you have brown hair and want that colour) you can either use henna or chemical cause the wierd reaction comes only if you put chemicals in hair with henna, but you can lighten and then add henna and get bright red (there are different hennas so if this is an option you have to look for it). Again, only go for this direction if you are ABSOLUTLY SURE you want to have this colour for a long long time...

I really do think you should do this at your hairdresser, the haircolour you buy and you see in the box is not the colour you will end up. For sure, haircolour has lots of rules and its almost impossible to get it right if you try it with box colour and dont know anything about it. I would go to the hairdresser and get it done, ask them the colours they are using and everything, you will have to lighten your hair about 2 or 3 shades at least and that will probably cause some damage and the damage will make the red fade faster.

Good luck!