Seeing Red

My new color-well new in December. It's Aveda intense red/red (r/r) red/orange. Thoughts?

Haircolor at Home-Part 2

I've said it before and I will say it again-I think haircolor should be left to a professional. There is a reason we go to cosmetology school and have to get a license to do hair. A lot can happen to your hair when you color it and if you don't know color theory there is a great potential for disaster. With that said, I totally understand that getting haircolor done professionally isn't always an option for everyone and you need to do it at home. Here is my advice take it or leave it.

First, if you are going more than a few levels darker or going lighter you really should see a professional because going lighter at home usually results in an orange color and going more than 2 levels darker gets tricky because you need to add back or "fill" the hair with the missing colors. So, if you are sticking around the same level or going a bit darker you should be fine.

Next, please, please, please don't use box color from the grocery store or drug store. You can get professional color from places like Sally's Beauty Supply. The results with professional color are going to be so much better and you aren't putting crap-like metallic salts on your hair. Also, if you decide to go see a professional hairstylist the professional haircolor is so much easier to work with than box color. Some box colors you cannot color over or remove because what is in them will make your hair BREAK OFF!

Last, don't be fooled by the highlighting kits. They might look easy to use, but I've yet to see someone do a good job with them. Most people end up with polka dot hair. Happy coloring!

Your friendly Hair Girl,
Shareena

Fun Haircolor-No Commitment Required

If you've ever wanted to try a fun haircolor (like pink or blue), but don't want to commit to it, then today's post is for you! The down side is that you have to already have light hair (sorry dark haired girls). You just need some pigment eye shadow (even regular eyeshadow will work).

If you have long hair like me then I suggest you put the pigment eyeshadow right on your hair (beware its kinda messy) and just rub it in. If you have short hair then you can mix it into your styling product. I liked the way it mixed into Being Rubber by Rusk and Sticky Business by Kevin Murphy. I tried the mixed into product stuff on my hair and it didn't really work on long hair. There you go fun haircolor that washes out the next time you shampoo!

Here is the pigment eyeshadow I mixed into different products

Home Haircolor

I've been asked the question about home haircolor, so here is my answer. Don't do it! I don't say this because I'm afraid I will be out of job; that will never happen because someone will always botch up a home haircolor job and I will be there to fix it. I do make a lot of money off home haircolor corrections so maybe I should say do it so I can charge you lots of money to fix it! I kid, I kid. My reasons for not liking box color are many. First and foremost, the stuff they put in there is junk. For example, metallic salts: they work by coating the outer surface and take away the shine from the hair. Many companies get around this by adding other chemicals with light reflective properties. If you decided to go to a professional for say, highlights, some of chemicals in the box colors can react badly with the professional colors (i.e. hair falling off) so buyer beware there. Next, you get what you get color wise with a box color. There is no custom formulation like you get in a salon. Rarely do I ever put just one color on someones head. I usually mix 2 to 3 colors to get my custom color. Finally, the developer is usually only 10 or 20 volume which might be OK for going really close the natural color but not if you are hoping to go a couple of shades lighter. It will usually come out very warm or even orange. If you must do some sort of touch up in between I'm cool with the root touch up kits like this one from Nice & Easy

Just touch up the front of hair and your part. You should be able to get a couple more weeks out of your color job.

try a glaze like this from Frederic Fekkai (sephora or macy's carry it)

or a hair powder spray like this one from Bumble & Bumble (bumbleandbumble.com)

If you have dark brown or black hair you can always use mascara to cover up those greys in between color it's another form of temporary haircolor.