How to keep hair healthy when coloring grey hair.

[newport]

I choose not to go grey- so I have to color my roots every three weeks. coloring damages hair- my hair is to my waist long- but no amount of conditioning- using CO wash only - and no heat seems to help keep it from feeling dry and snarly. Any suggestions for a great conditioner?

[misstwist]

First off, are you using a deposit only color or are you using a permanent or demi-permanent product?

Second, are you using any sort of a protein product on your hair?

Third, you will want to find the thread on SMT, Snowy's Moisture Treatment. A homemade deep treatment that is a favorite here.

I'm sure others will be along to offer some more specific input.

[Amara]

I second the SMT option - it does so much good for hair.

[prittykitty]

Hair coloring is simply bad news and will cause hair to dry. I use to use semi permanent color and even that dried my hair out. There are many on here that use Henna for coloring hair and many have said that it seems to make their hair feel healthy and strong. This might be an option for you if you like red hair. As far as conditioners, there are many out there but damaged hair is damaged hair. I am still trying to fix my damage and conditioning is just not enough. Caring for the hair and not using chemicals and heat styling is what I have noticed works best. Coconut oil is also great on dry hair but again, the damage is still there that needs to be corrected. I understand you not wanting to go gray. There are many people who don't. I never use to want to go gray myself. I was in a store a few months ago and saw an older woman with very long silver hair. It was beautiful. This is what inspired me to let my silver grow.

[ravenreed]

I have mostly dark hair, but a fair amount of silver going. I use semi-permanent on my hair because it is less damaging than what I was doing before , but it also doesn't take as well on the greys as on the rest of the hair. The thread below discusses how to lessen peroxide damage by doing a coconut oil treatment before dyeing, and I find that somewhat helpful.

Anyway, I CO with Suave Wild Cherry and I use the Fake Biolage Matrix from Sally's both on my ends and as a leave in, because the slip is awesome. Also, because I live in a really dry area, I took some of the fake biolage stuff, added some castor oil, some coconut oil and a lot of distilled water and I coat my ends with it every night to try to add some moisture. My hair goes nuts with protein- I end up trimming it because it gets stiff and nasty, and the SMT wasn't much better. But your hair, of course, may love either or both.

Now, I got from waist to tailbone doing this, with a lot of trimming because my hair is splitty and tangly... I am switching to henna because I am interested in the color and it may work better, not because this method isn't working well. I would be further along if I wore my hair up more and trimmed less... but I am happy with my progression.

About the going grey thing. If I could go grey overnight, I would go for it, but this patchy look isn't for me, so I understand why people want to continue to color.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495&highlight=peroxide+damage+coconut+oil

[deko]

I choose not to go grey- so I have to color my roots every three weeks... What is your goal color? Can you do it with herbal coloring? (henna, indigo, cassia).

If you only do your roots every 3-6 weeks you should be fine. Just add some protein treatment to your weekly routine and keep your hair well moisturesed in between.

[halo_tightens]

What is your goal color? Can you do it with herbal coloring? (henna, indigo, cassia).

This!

If you can achieve a color you like with a non-damaging method, so much the better!

[Shermie Girl]

Do you only do your roots? Pulling colour down through your hair every time you touch up really takes it's toll on your tresses. If you can avoid doing that unless your length really needs a freshening up, that can help. I have read about some people using their regular dye mixed with conditioner to freshen up their length and ends, when they do have to run the dye all the way through.

Using coconut oil in your hair before your colour; apply it, thoroughly coating all of your hair and leave it in at least an hour before you colour, it will help to protect your hair and won't inhibit dye uptake. People who do this report softer, smoother hair after colour. Check out the thread on coconut oil being protective against peroxide damage in the Henna and Herbal Haircare forum.

Deep conditioning treatments, Using a good, moisturising leave in, avoiding too much heat, protecting and pampering your hair can help you to have coloured, beautiful, long hair. Just ask any of the longhairs here who chemical colour. :D

[Curlsgirl]

Okay gray hair is not for me either so I understand exactly how you feel. Not sure if it ever will be. Soooooooooo that being said, I think if you have hair this is fairly strong anyway and take extra good care of it in other ways you can have healthy looking long hair and color. My advice is to NEVER pull it through the length, only apply it to new growth, use hardly any heat otherwise (this is a hard one for me especially in the winter), comb very gently and if possible get the color done in a good salon using the least damaging color you can to get the color you want to achieve. I used to color my own and it was okay until I got toward BSL and then I began getting a lot of damage. So I have been going to a salon ever since with just highlights on the new growth. I still have some gray at the roots some but I don't mind it and my hair is not noticeably damaged and waist length now. Sure it's going to be healthier not coloring but what good is long hair if you aren't happy with it?

Oh and I use a heavy rinse out conditioner and a heavy moisturizing leave-in conditioner. You need a LOT of moisture when you color.