Choose The Right Way To Colour Your Hair

from bath and body

There are several different types of hair colour. Some simply lay colour on top of the hair strand like paint on a canvas; other require a chemical reaction that takes place inside the hair shaft. The amount of time the colour lasts depends on the complexity og the colouring process and the fire power behind the chemical process. Whatever your reasons for wanting to colour your hair, carefully consider the chocies before making the plunge.

Permanent Colour

Permanent hair colour is the most popular choice (making up roughly 50 percent of the hair-colouring business), because it lasts the longest and gives the most dramatic change of tone. Permanent colour can take you instantly from light to dark or dark to light. If your hair is more than 30 percent gray and you want to conceal it, permanent or demipermanent colour is necessary (see below). But there are several reasons why it's smart to look for alternatives, if possible: (1) permanent colour is the most damaging to your hair; (2) you can end up with flat, one-dimensional, unnatural-looking colour; and (3) even though it lasts a long time, you still have to deal with the roots every six weeks or so.

Although hair-colour companies have managed to lower the percentages, peroxide and ammonia are still necessary to achieve a "permanent" result—and these chemicals are harsh on hair. In a single process (one-step), the ammonia and peroxide (the developer) combine to "lift" your hair's natural pigment. (This combination oxidizes the melanin in your hair, causing it to lose its natural colour.) The ammonia also opens up the hair cuticle, while the peroxide activates the new colour and it is taken into your hair. "The more permanent the hair colour," says Mark Garrison, of the Mark Garrison salon in New York City, "the deeper it takes the colour into the hair shaft." Permanent colour will last until you cut your hair and/or your roots grow out.

It's difficult to remove permanent colour from the hair. Today, many salons rely on Modulat, a citric-acid-and-sulfur-based stain remover from Schwarzkopf, which you may or may not be able to find at a beauty supply store—but it's worth a try.

Here's the catch: ammonia dries out the hair and causes it to frizz—and that's the number one reason women limit their use of permanent colour. Some brands may have a harsher effect because they contain more ammonia and are less buffered than others. Some salons use low-ammonia, low-peroxide salon formulations, but these are hard to find in at-home products.

For at-home use, try Nutrisse by Laboratoires Gamier, which is applied as a hair mask, then rinsed off in the shower. New Basics, a Boston company, created brush-in colour that is placed in the handle of a special "Colourln" brush: it goes onto the bristles when you brush it through your hair.

Demipermanent Colour

This technique, known as "deposit-only" or "tone-on-tone," is gentler than permanent colour because it doesn't contain ammonia. It's good for enhancing or brightening natural colour and can camouflage up to 75 percent of the gray. But because it only deposits colour and doesn't lift it, it won't lighten your hair. (It does contain enough peroxide to make the colour penetrate somewhat into the hair shaft.) Benefits include the low level of peroxide, the absence of ammonia, and the lack of obvious roots (because you haven't altered your hair's natural pigment, you've just added pigment to it). The downside is that it lasts only around six weeks before it fades. Suggestions: L'Oreal Casting Tone-on-Tone, Revlon Shadings, Clairol Second Nature.

Semipermanent Colour

These products penetrate the hair shaft and stain the cuticle layer, but the colour fades with each shampoo. There is no peroxide or ammonia; coverage of the gray is not as dense as with permanent colour, the new growth is less obvious, and, as it fades, it's less obvious that you need to do it again. Semipermanent colour can be used on permed hair, while demipermanent or permanent may be too strong, and the combination of colour and the perm process can damage the hair. Depending on the strength of the product, it lasts either 6 to 8 weeks or 10 to 20 (ask your colourist). Semipermanent colour is applied in the form of a liquid, gel, or aerosol foam. Suggestions: Clairol Natural Instincts, L'Oreal Awantage, L'Oreal Casting ColourSpa. Wella Soft Colour.

Temporary Colour

If you don't want to make a full commitment to a colour change, temporary colour is for you. The options range from colour that you brush in for 24 hours and wash out; to "hair mascara," which can be used in a pinch to touch up small sections of your roots or a few stray grays; to the standard temporary colours that can last from six to eight shampoos. Temporary colour is benign; it contains no peroxide, ammonia, or harsh chemicals and you won't have obvious roots. Temporary colour is applied in a rinse, gel, mousse, or spray. Suggestions: Revlon RevUp, Clairol Xtreme F/X, Wella Colour Mousse, henna, and vegetable or "botanical" colour. For edgier colours, look to companies like Paul Mitchell, Tony & Tina, M.A.C, and Hot Head.

Natural Hair Colour

When I had my hair coloured for the first time, I ended up with good-looking hair and a scalp full of itchy red patches. The second time, I developed welts. Apparently, I am the 1 out of every 100 women who has an allergy to aniline—a colourless liquid obtained from coal tar, from which many hair colours and dyes are derived. At that point, I started to investigate "natural" hair colour (aka vegetable or botanical colour), because it has a plant rather than chemical base. And although it can't quite accomplish what chemicals can, it worked for me—but I didn't have much of a choice.

Natural colour isn't for everyone. It's especially appealing to women who are pregnant, j health-conscious, allergic, or sensitive. But it has ; its limitations. Natural colour (the category includes henna) "stains" rather than "dyes" the hair, because it doesn't oxidize or penetrate into the hair shaft. So it won't do the job if you want to go from dark to blond, blond to dark, or add highlights. And natural colour, unfortunately, still doesn't really cover gray (though if you're a brunette, it can give bronze or reddish highlights to a few stray grays). Right now, only four companies--Schwarzkopf, Aveda, Framesi, Goldwell—sell natural, commercial hair colour, although no product is completely natural. (Only pure Egyptian henna is truly organic.) Framesi, an Italian brand whose products are available mostly to haircare professionals, has a 98 percent plant base, with the minimum 2 percent level of ammonia and chemicals that is needed to open the hair cuticle so the colour will penetrate. Schwarzkopf, one of the three leading haircare companies in the world, uses a low-ammonia formula buffered with vegetable moisturizers like corn, coconut, or palm oil for its Igora Royal line. The company also makes a powder preparation called Igora Botanic that includes ingredients like bark from the logwood tree in Central America and crushed chestnut and walnut shells. Igora Botanic sits on top of the hair, which is why no strong chemicals are needed to open the cuticle. Aveda Shades of Enlightenment is an essential oil-based colour line with 3 percent ammonia. The oils help enhance and accelerate colour development, as well as condition and protect the hair.

Henna, the oldest way to colour your hair, dates back to Cleopatra. It was also used by the ancients in India, Persia, and Saudi Arabia for decorating the skin. Even now, more than 2,000 years later, henna is still the only 100 percent natural way to colour the hair—and it is by far the gentlest.

Henna is made from the leaves of the Lawsonia inermisplant, and it colours by coating the hair shaft and staining the cuticle. Neutral henna or red henna without lawsone (the colouring agent) is also an excellent conditioner for the hair. Henna works best as a conditioner for oily hair, and it may also help clear up dandruff. But in terms of colour, the exact result is unpredictable, hard to control, and not subtle. And it's permanent: if you don't like it, the only way to get the stain out is to cut your hair off and let your roots grow out. There are three types of henna: red, neutral, and black. The henna can be mixed to colour the hair shades of brown and black or by mixing red henna with iron oxide.

Avoid henna if you have a perm or plan to get one. Mineral salts in the henna clash with the chemicals in the perm solution, and you could end up with undulating waves of bright crimson hair. And if you're doing the job yourself, make sure to wear rubber gloves so you don't stain your fingers.

Some salons cook up food-based colouring j supplements—like coffee instead of plain old hot water—to enhance the brown shades; concentrated carrot juice, pomegranates, or cherries to bring out the copper in redheads; or chamomile tea for blondes, which can enrich the henna or botanical colour. Ask your colourist about these enhancements.