4 Things To Know Before Having Your Hair Colored
You've had natural locks for most of your life, but now you've decided to start dying your hair. Coloring your hair can be a fun way to transform your look, but for the inexperienced, it can also be a bit intimidating. Here are four things to know about hair coloring before you set out for the salon.
1. Bleaching your hair is different from coloring it.
If you want your hair a lighter shade than it is currently, your salon professional will have to bleach it. Bleaching involves removing color from the hair, whereas dying adds color. Bleaching is a bit harsher on your hair. It can make your locks dry and cause damage if done too often. Because of this, it's not often recommended to go from very dark natural hair to very light hair. For example, if you have dark brown hair, your salon professional will recommend against going light blonde because doing so will be too damaging.
2. There are permanent and temporary colors.
Not all hair dye is permanent. If you are not sure whether you'll like a color and you just want to experiment a little, you can have your stylist apply temporary color first. This will rinse away over the course of about 20 shampoos. If you like the color, you can then have your stylist apply permanent color, which will fade somewhat over time, but will more or less last.
3. You'll need to use special shampoo.
Some general purpose shampoos will wash the dye out of your hair. So you'll need to use a shampoo formulated especially for color-treated hair. Your stylist can recommend one that they sell at the salon, or you can buy one at the pharmacy. If you have blonde hair, your stylist will probably recommend using a purple-tinted shampoo, which will help brighten your locks and keep them from looking brassy.
4. You'll need touch-ups every 6 to 8 weeks.
Your roots will keep growing in your natural color, and they won't look attractive. So to keep yourself from having a stripe of differently colored hair across the top, you will need to have your hair touched up every 6 to 8 weeks. Most stylists charge less for a color touch-up than for the initial dye job.
To learn more about dying hair, talk to your stylist. They should be able to answer all of your questions before they begin working on your hair. Companies like Divine Hair Design can help.