Dyeing hair red

[chryssy83]

I am a natural blonde thinking about dyeing my hair red to mark the transition into my "new life" without the long term relationship...

 

Has anyone done this? How often do you have to redo the roots? What if I hate it, can I change back?

 

I'm also getting ready to graduate from professional school and I'm looking for a job. I intend for the hair color to be natural, but is it a bad idea to dye it during this process?

 

Any other thoughts on what I should be considering here? I was born a redhead (then it turned blonde when I was a baby still) and I think it would go with my skin tone. It would just be a big deal. Thoughts?

[riobikini]

Nearly any blonde can easily go red.

 

Or vice versa.

 

I was a redhead for many years and loved it!

 

My height helped to complete the whole idea.

 

It was w-a-a-y back many years ago when I was a young nurse and the only drawback then was circumstantial: I worked in a hospital and it seemed to draw alot of attention from the opposite gender that wound up making me sound like the hottie nurse who could be easily "had".

 

Years later, when I was older and had my first daughter, I went red again.

 

It was a different story: the reaction was toned down a bit because I looked a bit more mature. The color made me look healthier, more vibrant, and happy.

 

Red, in the right shade for your skin tone and personality, as well as the right cut- is deliciously gorgeous!

 

You'll enjoy it, I'm sure!

 

(Smile)

 

Good luck!

 

-Rio

[norajane]

Go to a good salon - you don't want to end up with Bozo the Clown orange hair. They'll be able to pick a red that looks natural with your skin tone and eyebrows...maybe try a strawberry blonde if you're nervous. You can always go deeper red if you like the strawberry blonde. You might also consider getting red highlights instead, to test out the look.

 

You'll need to touch up the roots when they start showing - probably every six weeks or so, just like a haircut.

 

It's great fun being a redhead - enjoy!!

[KittenMoon]

I'm a natural strawberry blonde and it's fun! Especially when people ask "what kind of hair dye I use to get that color cause that's the color they were trying to get blah blah blah..." and I tell them it's 100% natural.

 

I think being a redhead would be even more fun, I have done a deep punk red before but never a natural red.

 

I say go for it!

[ash519]

I do agree with the other ladies but my best friend is also a hairdresser. Red comes out of hair very quickly so you have to keep up with it and use the right shampoo's etc. As for roots, depending on how blonde you are you may need a touch up once a month or it'll look really bad.

 

Red is tough, but also VERY fun. I have medium brown hair and I sometimes add red to my hair, it comes out quick though. Be careful you dont go pink or orange, nothing worse.

 

My recommendation is if you decide to go ahead with this, go to a professional.

[princessa]

I'm a readhead and I love it My natural color is dark blonde though.

I'd say you'd have to redo the roots about once in 1-2 months with any dye job. There are 2 types of dye you could use: permanent, and semi-permanent.

Permanent dye is very chemical, there's a risk of damaging your hair but if you go to a good salong it should be fine. Because permanent dies are so vibrant, there will be a clear demarcation between your died hair and natural roots..

 

Semi-permanent dye is less damaging to hair, and fades off throughout the month. This is the type that I use. Because my hair is naturally light the red color adheres well to it. The good part about this type of dye is that since it fades off a bit, you obtain a very natural result. Most people think that I actually have red hair! Also (and this is a personal preference), I like the variety that it gives me between the deep-red hair that I have right after I dye it, and the light-reddish blonde with blonde roots that I end up with after 2 months. Also I love how my blonde roots look with the rest of the locks being reddish... The downside of this is that it does fade, so your color won't be vibrant all the time. The semi-permanent dyes also end up being a bit too bright during the first 2 days after you've died your hair, so I would make sure to schedule the dye job at least a week before the interview.

 

If you hate the result and want your natural hair color back, I think you're supposed to wait a couple of weeks before dying your hair again after using either types of hair dye. This is to give hair the time to heal after it's been damaged by the chemicals from your first dye job.

 

With permanent dies it's easy to go back to your original color, just remember to keep some photos of your original hair color to remember what it looks like if you're doing it at the salon. If you're gonna do it at home go beforehand and pick the right color that matches exactly your natural color for your plan B.

 

If you died your hair red with a semi-permanent dye, you'd still have to use a permanent dye to go back to the original color. Semi-permanent only layers additional color on top of your hair, and red is not easy to cover with additional layers of color. On top of that you can't go lighter with a semi-permanent dye because again it's layers of other color on top of your natural color, so you can only end up with either the same hue or a darker one, and you can't reverse back.

 

Also you'll find some dyes that say they "wash off within a month". This is what most semi-permanent dyes claim. For blonde hair this is not true, because blonde being very light, the red molecules get caught up in it very easily, and they will never completely wash off, no matter what the box says. They will fade a lot, yes, but the reddish tint will always be there.

 

And lastly, if you care about looking professional, I do not recommend trying henna. Its results are very unpredictable and it's generally hard to manage.

 

Hope this helps.

[chryssy83]

I'm very encouraged that your responses were all positive. I'm such a fraidy-cat, I don't know if I could go through with it. I've considered this before, but I'm not really the type to spend a lot of money on my appearance. Right now I have long (well past shoulders) medium blonde hair with lighter blonde highlights. But I don't get the highlights redone often at all (maybe every 3 months) because it's so close to my natural color. I think I'll need to call my hair guy--thanks for your help!

[LN99]

I go an Auburn color w/ a box kit. But my natural hair color is dark brown. I have gotten so many compliments on it in the past few yrs and it looks great with my green eyes.

 

Since you are blonde and afraid of change, I would suggest going to a hairstylist to decide what shade you want to go and what kind of results you want. Also, to give your stylist a better idea of what you want, see if you can find a picture of a shade of red you like. Then maybe your stylist can match it. That usually helps because what you may be envisioning as a nice look in your mind might be opposite of what your stylist is picturing. This way at least you will be on the same page when it comes to what results you want to achieve with your hair. Also, ask your stylist about the maintainence of keeping the color. I know my friend is a really light blonde and went red. It looked great for about 2 weeks and then faded drastically. Her hair just doesn't hold color for very long. So, see if there is something you can do to preserve the color.

 

If you don't like it, you can always go back. My friend did after her medium red color faded to a really light red. We just bought a box of blonde and within a few hrs, she was back to her original hair color.

Also, keep in mind at salons, if you don't like the immediate results, they SHOULD fix it! I mean after all you are paying for their service. So keep this in mind. Let us know how it turns out!