Well, I think I'll give it a try this week. Might talk to a stylist first. Might even end up getting it done professionally - which I never usually do. I like to do these things on my own.

Have you ever tried Henna to dye your hair? My girlfriend used it, it was also a reddish color, but it had a lot of the natural variations of hair visible through the color, which looked great , I thought.

It isn't permanant, either.

NDRU said:

You're not supposed to use permanent colour over henna. So if it fucks up I won't be able to fix it permanently. And I don't think you can use henna over dyed hair to begin with....I think.

JustErin said:

I think you can use henna over dyed hair, but I'm just a dumb meterosexual, so don't quote me!

If you have pigments in your hair that are of a green/blue base (usually artificial darkest browns or black) these dyes are very hard to strip out of the hair.

The hair has to be stripped repeatedly then given protein treatments so it doesn't get too weak.

If the hair is re-dyed a red (red dyes have the largest molecules so they "bleed", {fade} much quicker) the color will not hold too well. You will have to get it touched up with semi-permanents often and glossy overlays do help.

The gray roots will be a different color, but any good colorist will match it very closely, so that its virtually undetectable.

* A red semi-perm will fade to pink on gray hair if not done right.

go to a professional, don't chance walking around with demarkations on your head.

.
[Edited 8/18/08 0:36am]

Ocean said:

Damn, I'm loving this color AND hairstyle!

I like the hair you got. As I am really thick and all, when it comes to female maintainance, is the colour you have now your natural color?

To get a really bright red result you have to bleach it first, thats the only way. I have had all types of different red colours over the years and they all fade away in a couple of weeks, especially if you wash your hair a lot. Currently I get it bleached, then they dye it and then they tint it so that the result is more bright and shiny. After about 4-6 weeks, the colour of the tinge is pretty much gone (everytime I wash it it fades away more and the water looks totally red )and the hair is still red because of the dying done, but it doesn't look nearly as beautitiful and bright. As I luckily don't have white roots I don't have experiences with these, but if you just tinge it which is possible without getting blonde first the result is even diffirent if your roots are a bit darker then the rest of the hair as a result of sun exposure etc., so I am quite sure the roots won't have the exact same red tone as the rest of the hair. If it's dyed it shouldn't be a problem IMO.

JustErin said:

It might sound silly but why don't you try a wig on first? It would allow you to find the perfect shade before doing the real thing.

MarySharon said:

And you can use them in kinky role playing later on.

Erin I used to dye my hair red for years and in my experience it is very hard to maintain and discolours really easily... just wanted to throw that in there

HamsterHuey said:

It's still your imagination...

ack!

I'm out the door but I'll respond when I can.

It's totally possible and would look great on you, I think.

Alright, here are my thoughts…

You may be able to go bright red without bleaching first. I would have a professional do it, no question, for that drastic of a change. Depending on what they’re mixing, they can get the color to lift along with adding the red. But they may say it’s too dark anyway. A professional will also know how best to touch up your roots, I wouldn’t even attempt that on your own. If you’re not bleaching first, you’re going to have two very different shades going on to cover and a stylist will know how best to work with that.
Also – reds fade fast. That’s just the way it is. I can tell a difference in my shade on almost a weekly basis. There are all kinds of things you can do to combat that – washing only when absolutely necessary (I use baby powder to soak up oil on days I don’t wash), using cool water to wash, etc. but it’s going to happen. For me the trick has been finding a color that fades WELL – I actually get more compliments on my color from strangers the more washed out I think it is. And in my experience, you’re not going to find that in a drugstore color.
All that said, I only have it done every 6-8 weeks or so. So bright red hair does take a bit of maintenance. But it’s totally do-able.

CarrieMpls said:

JustErin said:

I've had platinum to black and all have looked good on me too. If you have the right skin-tone, you can rock any color.

Serious said:

Not for everyone. Bleach hasn't touched my hair in years and I get bright, firey reds all the time.

Cloudbuster said:

I really wanna do it, but I'm scared!

I am used to washing my hair every day and the idea of it really fading fast is a total bummer.

Also, I'd also have to have all my hair (not just the roots) touched up cuz it fades, right? That's a huge undertaking in itself, not to mention very expensive since I need to use of some many units of colour.

HamsterHuey said:

Sooooo?

HamsterHuey said:

Oh, sorry. I missed that.

No, my natural colour is blonde...well, mostly grey now. It's coloured dark and a bitch to maintain actually.

JustErin said:

Well, I would suggest two things then; first, get a somewhat different 'do'; maybe shorten it and thin it out, so you have less to colour.

Then go for red, sexy!

JustErin said:

Don’t be scared!

Just be aware of the maintenance involved. If you’re not willing to give it the extra care, it’s not going to be worth it for you.
And you CAN wash your hair every day, just know that will cause it to fade just a little bit faster.
And as I said – you just have to accept it will fade. It’s a matter of it fading nicely.

And yes, when I get my hair re-done, we put color on my roots first and let that process for a while, then we run it through the whole rest of my hair and let it process for 15 minutes, then wash it all out.

HamsterHuey said:

I thought of this. I am just absolutely too attached to my hair to go shorter. I am very happy with my hair style as is.

CarrieMpls said:

What to do? What to do??

I loved being a redhead. The brighter the better. But it was so hard to maintain, especially since my hair is mostly gray at this point. I always did my hair on my own and since I have light hair, it took the bright red really well.

Red is a son of a bitch to get out. I'm still trying to get it out after 3 professional color sessions.

I think red will look good on you. Your skin tone can definitely support it. And if you don't like it, it's just hair. It will grow back.

JuliePurplehead said:

I'll just go back dark if I hate it. But I am a little worried about the colour on the regrowth.

Don't do it.

Red won't get out easily and you will look silly for months, or you will be running to your hair stylist every week and lose a fortune.

Unless you have reddisch brown hair yourself:

DON'T DO IT.

JustErin said:

Uhm no more like orange.

Tremolina said:

Wait, why would I be stuck with it? I would just colour it really dark again if I hate it.