The hair thread

HowlAtTheMoon

Winter said:

So I got tired of the grow out stage and went back my fun short cut (not all the way back to a pixie - this is a long angled bob) and I LOVE it (as does H). 

So, now that the grey is popping up more - just strands in the front here and there - I want to keep the color nice and fresh but don't want to spend so much at the salon. I usually box dye at home a couple times a year and hit the salon a couple times a year. After some googling a bit I went and ordered some home dye from esalon.com. It had good reviews. 

Is anyone familiar with it? 

This is the cut I have and I'm going with a coppery red/brown color. 

I bet it looks fab!
I sported this hairdo several times over the years and my husband always loved it. 

forestleaf

All these ladies with red!!  Yay!  I have been thinking of re-doing my red to something else.  It was SO red to me when I dyed it about a month ago that I now use super-cheap Suave clarifying shampoo on purpose to try and wash it out.  I think this has happened some, and the red is less red and more brown.  But I still like it overall.  I also use Suave Moroccan Infusion with Argan oil conditioner and it ROCKS!!  I HATE body and frizz and this stuff is so greasy it makes me slip on the shower floor after I use it.    But it doesn't leave my hair greasy, just shiny and really pretty.  I should post pics of how much the red came out (comparing my hair just after dye job to a few weeks after using the shampoo).  It's kind of insane how much the color changed.

telyni

HildaCorners said:

First, try not to get conditioner on your scalp. You don't need any there, or maybe just a tiny amount. Keep the conditioner near your ends.

For static between shampoos, I take the smallest possible drop of conditioner (your usual conditioner will do), rub it in both palms, then smooth my hands over the lower part of my dry hair. The hair will pick up the tiny bit of conditioner, but won't look greasy because you used so little.

I've heard this so often, but I've always had to use a lot of conditioner all throughout my hair to get my perfectly straight, super-thin, super-dry hair to feel right. This way, it feels smooth and slick when wet and soft and fluffy once dry. If I don't, it feels rough and almost sticky when wet (after shampoo, before conditioner) and super dry like straw when dry (probably a bit staticky too, but I don't really remember because it only happens if I'm traveling, forget toiletries, and have to make do with hotel shampoo). I've never colored my hair and almost never blow-dry it.

Thoughts? I'm pretty content with my hair as-is, although it could use more volume. As an early teen, I felt like my hair was untamably thin and wispy because I could barely get it to stay in a braid. Then there was a haircut where the stylist mentioned I needed conditioner, and my hair's been nicer ever since. It's still thin, but I can do braids and tails and even temporary curls. I've been having it cut shoulder-length with subtle layers every two or three years. I donate the cut length, and in between I just grow it out with occasional trims. One stylist has said he enjoyed working with my healthy hair (that was a few years ago now, but aside from a pregnancy, I haven't done anything substantially different since then.

I'd post a picture, but my phone camera is really terrible. I tried, but the pictures came out so dark and blurry that they wouldn't help.

HildaCorners

What type of shampoo do you normally use?

A lot of shampoos have conditioning agents built in ... I can't use those or my almost straight very fine hair looks greasy as soon as it dries. I use that "super-cheap Suave clarifying shampoo" (thanks, @forestleaf ; ) to clean my hair, then condition.

If your scalp is dry too, you might want to try a "no poo" method ... don't use shampoo, wash your hair with conditioner only. I've never done this, it doesn't suit my type of hair, but I think @JellyBean has tried this.

In any case, the tiny bit of conditioner trick should help with static.

telyni

@HildaCorners I use super-cheap Suave too, actually. It's not a clarifying kind, it's just the ordinary "Shine" kind. I use the matching conditioner also.

Winter

After trying the new box color and being very disappointed I said screw it and went to the salon today.

LOVE it!  

growingafamily

I've just started doing the conditioner only wash. It's working for me, but mine is dry/frizzy/curly so I have the type of hair that you can't do much washing with anyway.

SallyMander

@telyni, I have fine, stick-straight, baby-soft hair too, and I find fault with all hair products, but I've repurchased...(copy and pasting ridiculously long name):

L'Oréal® Paris Advanced Haircare Volume Filler Thickening Shampoo

It's in a purple bottle. I've heard that slimy conditioned texture described as "snotty". Disgusting, but pretty accurate. My favorite conditioner is the stuff that comes with Natural Instincts semi-perm hair color -- that doesn't work if you don't color, however. Very slick in the shower, but gives my hair the nicest fluffy texture when dry.

Beatrice

@telyni. I have fine hair too. I recently started using Nixon products and find that they really make a difference. I might eventually change shampoo and conditioner, but the scalp treatment and blow out spray will be on my counter for years to come.

I love my stylist. She dyed my hair a deep dark brown - around my favorite silver streaks!!  I kept one on top and 2 underneath.  I love it!!

forestleaf

Colored my hair a few days ago, kind of a caramel color (with natural blonde and red highlights since my hair was red before).  Tonight I had my H put in some store-bought highlights.  Major oops.  Big blonde chunk on the side.  No time off work ever, so no chance to go somewhere and fix it.  So I get to deal with more lovely coworker comments tomorrow.

Today I feel like I just. can't. win.

frillyfun

Oh hon!  My H did something similar to me years ago.  I lived with it, but when I went in for a trim the girl asked "did you H do this to you?"  She said she could spot a husband highlight a mile away!  

A semi permanent color should help hide it.

Elise

Oh man @forestleaf. If I remember right your Disney trip is coming up soon. Can you make an appt while you are in Orlando before you come home?

Roses

I have that baby-fine thin hair. Dark blond and waist length. I've got about four grey hairs now. Instead of being stick-straight like the rest, they're curly! My experience in college with highlights and perm left me with broken off short hair. My hair does not do chemicals well. Oh, and my source for shampoo has been out since January so I've been using bar soap. I still have conditioner. I'm allergic to SLS so shampoo is impossible to find.
I air dry only, never use heat-maybe a curling iron once a decade.  My husband doesn't seem to care about my hair, he gives me that blah no opinion thing when I ask. But it was at it's shortest when we met in college.  It took me six years to get it back to its full length.  I like having long hair, wear it up so it doesn't get little fingers in it.
I wish I could get it colored, it would be fun, and a strawberry blond color would work for me, or a lighter blond, but I'm pretty sure it would grow half an inch and break again.
Any suggestions? Just keep doing what I'm doing and be grateful I have hair?

HildaCorners

@Roses, your hair sounds a bit like mine ... mine is fine and almost stick straight, resistant to curling, and the one perm I've had turned my hair to frizz (even with the $$$ products the stylist sold me).

My grays (a lot more than 4, now!) also are a different texture, coarser and wavy and shorter. Before I began coloring my hair, I looked like I had a white hair halo surrounding my normal hair.

I get my hair professionally colored about once a year, dark blonde with a touch of red. I then color my roots with professional demi-permanent color from Sally Beauty. The demi-permanent fades out over time, so when my roots come in they blend with the rest of my hair.

You might want to try a demi or temporary color. The temp won't go lighter, but it doesn't have the harsh developer that can cause damage. The demi uses standard developer, but the weakest strength.

maverick

Alright, I need help gals.  I have a lot of grey for 34.  I bought Clairol semi permanent a shade lighter than my hair.  Kept it in 10 minutes... Nothing.  25 minutes... Very little.  Last time one hour.... Maybe a quarter to half of the grey covered.  Do I need to get something else or am I just screwed with healthy coarse hair?

SallyMander

What is your original color, and what % grey do you have?

I use that same dye, but my hair is strawberry blonde with ~10% grey. Friends with darker hair and more grey have told me it doesn't work for them, at all. Others with more experience will weigh in, but you may need something more permanent.

(Also, it isn't a bad idea to go to a pro the first time.)

forestleaf

@maverick I think the best hair coloring is made by Loreal, called supreme preference or similar?  It's supposed to cover grays well.  I think it gets higher customer rankings than Clairol.  Oh wait, I just read that you used semi-permanent.  There's your problem.  Use permanent.

maverick

Mid brown with maybe 5-10 % grey except the temples which might be as much as 50%.  I'll try the Loreal permanent.  I was going to try something that doesn't show roots, but my hair is so short I could probably use a quarter application and apply weekly.

HildaCorners

Going pro the first time is the best solution. If you find a good stylist, they'll tell you what they suggest you use when you do it yourself (pro coloring is expensive, stylists are used to people like me who get pro color 1-2 times a year and do our own touch-ups in between).

After doing some research (I am a 5w4, after all!) I use professional color from Sally Beauty. You buy a tube of color and a bottle of developer, mix them correctly, and apply. They make demi-permanent and permanent color (demi is a bit more permanent than semi), and you can mix colors within a line. Developer comes in different strengths; I use a weak one.

You feel a bit like you're playing junior chemist, but the color is much better than drug store box color. And it lasts longer ... you only mix as much as you need, the rest can sit for a year if necessary.

Gray hair is resistant to color ... in the instructions for my tubes, if you're covering gray you mix the dye with more color and let it sit on your hair twice as long.

Winter

Personally I think salt and pepper on a man is sexy. So I wouldn't color it at all. But if you do, go to a pro and do a blended color to look more natural.