slightly darker color?

[juliaxena]

I'm toying around with thinking about getting slightly and I do mean only slightly darker color than I do have now. Reason being unfortunately in my proffession women are still not equal where I live. No matter how smart I am, some people still see me as just a woman and blonde too. It is only stupid prejudice and stereotype I know, but lately I am also frustrated because my dark roots show very much very quickly. My color is golden blonde. I'd just like it to be light golden brown. Any idea how to achieve that? I know what to dye roots with, but I need an idea what to dye lenght with and not harm it in the proccess. Ideas please?

[Pallas]

I guess you could try a henna/indigo treatment. I don't know much about it, though, just heard of it.

[JenniferNoel]

I don't know too much about natural coloring other than henna at the moment, but I second about the henndigo, except that just may make it way too dark.
I don't think you'd have too much damage with a semi-permanent ammonia free brown dye about one or two levels darker than your color, but if you must stay chemical free, there are treatments and I hope someone posts them up here for ya! :)

[jaine]

Henna & indigo won't be subtle on blonde hair ... I personally would not go down that path if I were blonde. I'm not even sure I should have gone down that path with dark brown hair!

[juliaxena]

My hair is already chemicaly dyed with semi permanent but I only want to do each part of my hair once with that. I don't want to go over it with chemical dye again. I'm abit worried about mixing other things with henna because I heard other pigments wash off and then only the red stays...

[FrannyG]

If you're dying your hair more than a shade darker than your current colour, you may need to use a filler. I filler is deposit only colour that you apply before using the darker colour.

To choose which filler you need, you should really talk to a knowledgeable cosmetician at a good quality drugstore that sells hair dye.

For example, to get a light brown colour, you may have to fill your hair with Dark Golden Blonde. You would buy the box of Dark Golden Blonde, and instead of mixing it with the peroxide, you would just apply the colour only to damp hair. Then you would apply the brown colour you're planning to use.

Please talk to a cosmetician to find out just what shade of filler you need to use. If you don't use the right one, your brown shade will not stick. The cosmetician would be able to judge exactly what shade your hair is now.

Alternatively, just for the first dyeing, you may want to go to a professional salon.

To dye your whole head and not have it turn out right would not be a good thing.

Please use your coconut oil. :)

And maybe, just maybe, you can leave it as it is. It's so pretty now. :blossom:

I wish you luck, and I'm sorry that you're dealing with prejudice at work about your hair colour. I find that to be very frustrating and out-dated thinking. :grouphug:

[jaine]

I wonder if you could stain it with coffee, tea, walnut husks, or something similar. It would be difficult getting the roots & ends to match though. That's the trouble I had using natural methods to darken my highlights ... I got it to the right level, but it's a very different tone compared to my natural color.

[JenniferNoel]

I was recently reading something about coffee and black tea on hair, it sounds a tiny bit drying though, but I've never tried it myself so I can't say. This article may be your cup of tea (pun not intended at first, wow)... http://www.ehow.com/how_2087118_darken-hair-naturally.html
Like I said, I'm not that familiar with it so trust someone who knows more. :p
And also, sorry to hear about the prejudice at work. That's awful... :blossom:

[trillcat]

If you are wanting to dye your hair only because of the stereotype of blondes being dumb, I would say to keep your hair as YOU like it!
Don't give in to them!
Prove them wrong!
Don't change to suit them, be who you are and if that is blonde, even chemical, be blonde!
It really gets my ire up to think we, as women, in this day and age, have to change what we want to be to fit into some cookie cutter mold of what is considered "Normal" "Smart" "Brainy"

[jaine]

If you are wanting to dye your hair only because of the stereotype of blondes being dumb, I would say to keep your hair as YOU like it!
Don't give in to them!
Prove them wrong!
Don't change to suit them, be who you are and if that is blonde, even chemical, be blonde!
It really gets my ire up to think we, as women, in this day and age, have to change what we want to be to fit into some cookie cutter mold of what is considered "Normal" "Smart" "Brainy"

Very good point!!

[juliaxena]

It is not just the prejudice. Like I said, I really hate how my roots show right away.

FrannyG I think I want a dark golden blonde color in fact. But I woulg rather not use chemical dyes. My lenght went through enough. I still want to have hair that is considered light, just not quite as light as it is now. I also want a golden tone in it.

[jaine]

I also want a golden tone in it.

I think this pretty much rules out henna & indigo. The undertone would be red, not gold.

[trillcat]

What is your natural color?
Golden tones, like red, will show roots a plenty about 2 weeks after the fact.

[UltraBella]

I am going to have to respectfully disagree with FrannyG, there should be no reason for you to need to use a filler color. We only use fillers on super bleached blonde hair that is so stripped of protein and color that it will no longer hold pigment. Fillers are for terribly damaged hair and I don't think you fall into this category by any means. You said your hair is dyed with a semi-color already, so you should be able to go several shades darker just fine. However, my understanding is that you only want to go slightly darker anyway. I can't help you with natural ways to do it, but I can tell you that you could achieve lovely results with a Demi color and your hair would not suffer from any damage associated with permanent dyes.
Good luck !

[sibiryachka]

Hmmm... maybe a blend of amla and cassia?

[Fractalsofhair]

You can lighten your roots(what is your natural color?) and use cassia over it.

If your natural hair is a light brown(guessing it's fairly light if you can lighten it to a very lovely natural looking blond with a box dye!), growing it out and using cassia might get you the color you want actually.

[Fiferstone]

Seconding, enthusiastically, what TrillCat says. You then have to MAINTAIN that color change, indefinitely, and if you are not doing it because it's pleasing to you to have that color, it will get very, very old, very very fast, and you will resent it.

I say your hair looks gorgeous the way it is now, haters are going to hate no matter what, and if it takes a change of hair color to convince some ignoramus that you have active brain cells that are firing quite nicely on all cylinders thank you very much, that is THEIR problem, it is in no way yours.

I'm going to share one of my favorite grad-school stories. My roomie was an electrical engingeering grad student working on her masters (which would be followed by the PhD.). She was reading S.M. Zse's "Physics of Semiconductor Devices" as part of her work on her master's thesis (whiskerless schottky-barrier diode prototype), while we were doing laundry.

A bunch of frat-boy types walked in when she'd gone out for a bit to get more change for the driers. One of them notices the book on the table next to her empty chair and starts joking with his buddies about what the pencil-necked four-eyed geek reading THAT thing must look like, and he's really getting into it, picking up the book and saying "I'll bet the poor guy comes complete with plastic pocket protector and calculator clipped to a belt loop."

Then, my roomie walked back in.

She marched up to him, batted her baby blue eyes at him, tossed back her lovely, waist-length, honey colored, gold-streaked hair, and said, "May I have my book back please?"

It was PRICELESS.

The look on his face...

Do NOT change your haircolor to suit the ignoramuses of the world.

[dropinthebucket]

As a former chemical blonde who dyed her hair for years, and THEN tried to go back to her own hair colour, I can definitely tell you that if you have your hair dyed a darker colour, it will not last indefinitely.

The first time I tried this, I had it done at the salon, with my hair stylist who had done my hair for years. He was an excellent stylist and colorist, and he did warn me that although my hair was not very damaged at all, as he'd been taking excellent care of it all the time he'd been coloring it -- only doing the roots, lots of pre-colour conditioning, etc. -- the brown dye would wear off. And it did. It faded in the first three months to an unattractive muddy brownish-orange colour, though when he first did it, it was a lovely medium brown. He actually did it a bit darker than I wanted because he was anticipating some fading. The second time, he did the entire length again, and it took about five months to fade off. It stuck to the virgin roots quite well, but the length - no. Not gonna happen. And the colour it faded too was, like I said, not so attractive, and not really a good match for my roots.

So.... I'd say your best bet is to expect that you'll have to re-do the length every few months to top up the colour. For this reason, something gentle enough to keep re-doing the length would be the best bet. You might even want to just check into a colour gloss (a light demi-permanent or deposit only dye) because although it will have to be re-done way more often, it will damage the length a lot less when reapplied. Elumen is another option (though I don't have any experience with it - there's a long thread about it here on LHC). Hendigo will *always* have a strong red undertone, so if you don't want that, it's probably not your best bet - and hendigo is *very* permanent! Hope this is of help.

[FrannyG]

I am going to have to respectfully disagree with FrannyG, there should be no reason for you to need to use a filler color. We only use fillers on super bleached blonde hair that is so stripped of protein and color that it will no longer hold pigment. Fillers are for terribly damaged hair and I don't think you fall into this category by any means. You said your hair is dyed with a semi-color already, so you should be able to go several shades darker just fine. However, my understanding is that you only want to go slightly darker anyway. I can't help you with natural ways to do it, but I can tell you that you could achieve lovely results with a Demi color and your hair would not suffer from any damage associated with permanent dyes.
Good luck !

UltraBella, you are the expert here and I am not. Of course you are correct that not everyone needs a filler to go darker and I thank you for pointing it out. However, I do know people with virgin pale blonde hair who have had to do it when dyeing at home. I've seen natural blondes with patchy brown hair that had to be redyed. In a salon, that likely wouldn't have happened.

Also, it's really difficult to tell just how dark or light juliaxena's hair is in her photo, and at first she said that she wanted to go to a brown shade. Even at that I only said that she may need a filler, and should seek professional advice before doing anything at all.

I really hope it didn't sound as though I thought that juliaxena's hair was damaged. It truly is the picture of health. It's just hard to know how much pigment has been removed.

juliaxena, UltraBella's idea of a non damaging demi sounds like the best idea I've heard. If you really don't want to use chemicals, I honestly don't know what to suggest. You may find better responses in the Recipes, Henna and Herbal Hair Care Forum. I hope you can find what you're looking for. :blossom:

[juliaxena]

I have a bad camera-only phone one. My hair is not as light as it may seem. If I put cassia on it, there is no difference in color. It's not a light golden blonde, it really is a golden blonde. My natural color is medium brown.

What is the difference between demi permanent and semi? Does demi have any peroxide? Can someone name some drugstore demi permanents? I'm afraid it might be difficult to find where I am.

I'm all for principles-when one has them. I have no particular reason to have this color. It looks good on me I suppose, but one or two shades darker would not be a big change, it would still look good and light enough. I don't have a problem with people who know me, it's people who I only see for a short time. First impressions count in my proffession, and sad as it is, there are many stupid people around. So I see no harm in going just a bit darker. I'm not changing my color for them, I'm changing it for my career and because I want to focus my strenght into something else in the few minutes I have with clients instead of trying to convince people that I'm blonde but smart so please trust my decisions... I don't see this particular color as a very important part of me, so why not make my life a bit easier? I only ever went blonde when I broke up with one of my exs long ago and because my mother thought dark brown did not look good on me. That was years ago.

[FrannyG]

I hate to see you just hanging here, juliaxena. Why don't you start a thread about Demi dyes in the Conventional Hair Products forum? There will be people there who know about Demi colour, and who know all of the best and safest brands.

I do know that Demis don't contain harmful ammonia, but they do usually have a small amount of peroxide (not enough to lighten your hair), in order to lift the cuticle on the hair shaft and deposit colour.

It is a longer lasting option than a Semi, but it's far gentler than permanent colour. Having only used them about 20 years ago, before my hair started turning very silver, I personally don't know much else about them.

I also don't know of natural methods to get the colour you seek. I agree with you that you ought to be wary of any henna blend, unless you want to have a reddish tint, which it doesn't sound as though you want.

You are right; if you don't feel that your current shade is a part of who you are, then you're wise to go with a colour that makes you feel more business like.

And you're not the only one whose hair is a different colour in photos. My hair is much darker than it looks in my signature photo.

Good luck, juliaxena!

[juliaxena]

Thanks FrannyG, I think I will start a thread. You know I always thought that what you defined as demi is semi. Maybe I already use demi. My color has no ammonia and is gentle but the results are in fact permanent. They would be if my hair gets lighter right?

[BritishBraider]

maybe if you got hold of some all natural hair dye? I know my local health-food shop sells it, its not cheap though.....