Hair Dye Question for Hairdressers!

[Mesmerise]

So, I'm a henna user and have sworn off chemical dye...but I AM curious about one thing...

Why do dyes fade so much more nowadays than they did 20 years ago? You'd think the dye making technology would be BETTER not WORSE.

I dyed my hair black some years ago (it was probably 19 years or so ago now) and it stayed BLACK... yes BLACK...and I don't have particularly easy to dye hair either! But it didn't fade at all...it had to grow out. If I were to dye my hair black or a dark colour using today's box dyes, it would fade out within weeks.

I really wanna know WHY? Is it just so that we go back and buy more or what??

Now I don't want to go dyeing my hair again with chemical colour, but it used to frustrate the heck out of me how fast colour always faded even though the colour was "permanent" because I REMEMBER the days when colour really WAS permanent!!

[HairFaerie]

I am not a hairdresser, however I did go to cosmetology school back in the day. Also, I can speak from my experiences with hair dye.

In my opinion, the reason they fade faster might not have anything to do with the quality of the product....a lot of it might have to do with your hair. When I used dye on my hair when I was younger (virgin hair), the dyes lasted so much longer. As years went on and I continued dyeing, it seems the color faded more easily. I think it had to do with the porosity of my hair. I also know that we learned in school that hormones and chemicals (such as medications) can affect how the dye takes. So, as I get older, the dye fades quicker. My hair has also been bleached several times. It seems like the dye only lasts a few weeks. I think it's because the molecular structure of my hair hair has changed so much from all of the bleaching and coloring.

Also, something to consider...if you do frequent oiling, moisture and protein treatments, those can actually affect the way the dye takes on your hair. It seems to me that it actually repels the dye! Also, it fades faster.

So, when you first started dyeing, the colors probably seemed richer and lasted longer because your hair was virgin. Now, after time, the molecular structure of your hair has changed and affects the way the dye takes and stays.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!:p

[UltraBella]

There is a difference between box dye and professional color, I think box dye is pretty awful, but that's just my opinion.
HairFaerie has a very good point. Your hair is not the same as it was 20 years ago ;)

[Mesmerise]

Hmm well you've made some good points. However, the hair I had back in those days was, if anything, in worse condition than my hair now (for example the first time I dyed my hair black it was over fairly healthy hair, but I did it again later over incredibly damaged hair that had been bleached to almost destruction, and yet both times it stayed black as black...not even a fadey black but BLACK haha).

The colour I used was described as "hair dye for hard to colour hair" (can't remember the brand... it was called "oil colour" though) because my hair never took dye all that well (for example, I couldn't use semi permanent dyes as they did virtually nothing... at least on virgin hair...on my bleached hair they probably would have).

I do know the type I used to use is now unavailable even though it worked so darn well! I can't say much for other brands though, or whether they were better/worse. I found one that worked for me and sort of stuck with it ;).

[spidermom]

They've probably changed formulas over the years, too. Hopefully they've removed or reduced the concentration of chemicals known to be harmful.

[Mesmerise]

They've probably changed formulas over the years, too. Hopefully they've removed or reduced the concentration of chemicals known to be harmful.

Well that's one thing I wonder... maybe the "really permanent permanent hair colour" I used to use was just soooo darn toxic that they can't legally sell it anymore!