Hair Coloring

[Beach Runner]

I've decided to boycott hairdressers for a while. They always cut it much shorter than I like. I've watched them trim bangs so long that I can do that myself (the key is random, no straight horizontal line). I'd really like it long enough for a ponytail for bad hair days at the beach or when I'm "beach running."

Then I started thinking, "Why should I pay $120 plus a 20% tip for color every 6 weeks?" My hair is hightlighted blonde with a darker glaze, although if you look at my roots, it's pretty much light brown with gray highlights. :funn: I started getting gray hair when my daughter left for college in 2003.

So, why couldn't I just get hair color at the drugstore and do it myself? I mean, if I chose a blonde color, wouldn't the gray turn to blonde and the brown turn to dark blonde?

 

[DD]

BR: I am soooooooo totally with you on this!! I think the same thing every time I plunk down the $$ for my "natural color", which by the way, is the SAME as yours! Anyway, I used to do my own, and I have to say the professional job is better, but I'm thinking the same thing....maybe try to do the colors myself....oh, stacy(my hairdresser) will kill me!

 

[Ocean Lover]

I have dishwater blah hair so I used to have a weave done every couple of months. A few lowlights and highlights. I got tired of paying the big bucks and I did try it myself. It's okay. Probably not as pretty as the multi dimensional color but it's fine and a whole lot cheaper. It dries your hair out more too so you have to use a good conditioner. I used Loreal Excellence 9 1/2 A lightest ash blonde. I recently went up a half step and like it al ot better. There's nothing worse than a brassy blonde so the trick is finding just the right development time. I think the longer the better, I leave it on for 30 minutes.

Go for it BR...you can always go back to your girl if you screw it up!

 

[audie]

i'm right there with ya ladies - difference is i am too lazy to do it myself so i am just letting it go gray. i need to get it touched up every 3 weeks because my hair grows so fast, and it is too danged expensive to do that. i quit coloring about 2 yrs ago.

 

[Cork On the Ocean]

I can't tell the difference. I used to date a hairdresser from LA and everybody said my hair looked great but I think the cut was the deal and not the color. He was really good at cutting. Most places, you look OK when you leave and the first time you wash it, I don't see a difference . On color, I use Feria which is like a cellophane color and adds shine. I like to keep it long enough to pull up too so every now and then I just go to the Aveda school and have them trim it. The kids do great because they're being graded and they're really meticulous.

It's either find somebody REALLY Good and stick with them and they're hard to find and still screw up sometimes. Or if I'm just gonna get a mediocre cut anyway, I just go to the school for 1/10th the price. Never been disappointed there. Have always done my own color but thought about highlights which I would have done professionally.

 

[InletBchDweller]

Cork

Is the Aveda school around here???

I can't tell the difference. I used to date a hairdresser from LA and everybody said my hair looked great but I think the cut was the deal and not the color. He was really good at cutting. Most places, you look OK when you leave and the first time you wash it, I don't see a difference . On color, I use Feria which is like a cellophane color and adds shine. I like to keep it long enough to pull up too so every now and then I just go to the Aveda school and have them trim it. The kids do great because they're being graded and they're really meticulous.

It's either find somebody REALLY Good and stick with them and they're hard to find and still screw up sometimes. Or if I'm just gonna get a mediocre cut anyway, I just go to the school for 1/10th the price. Never been disappointed there. Have always done my own color but thought about highlights which I would have done professionally.

 

[Rudyjohn]

You know, it's harder to find a great hair salon/stylist than a great dr. I pay the same as you BR and have been getting my hair professionally high-lighted since I was 14 or 15. I did go thru a phase back in the early 80's where I did it myself but like audie says, it just got too hard, and eventually over-processed looking. The drug store brands don't hold a candle to the salon products.

And as far as them cutting it too short (my hair actually grows very slow) I always tell them to not give me my money's worth. That seems to work. I'd rather go in more often than have to wait 3 weeks until it looks good!

 

[Cork On the Ocean]

Cork

Is the Aveda school around here???

No, I get it cut in ST Pete when I go to Tampa Bay. Don't think there's one here.

Love that chicken. Makes me laugh everytime I see it!

 

[Mermaid]

I've decided to boycott hairdressers for a while. They always cut it much shorter than I like. I've watched them trim bangs so long that I can do that myself (the key is random, no straight horizontal line). I'd really like it long enough for a ponytail for bad hair days at the beach or when I'm "beach running."

Then I started thinking, "Why should I pay $120 plus a 20% tip for color every 6 weeks?" My hair is hightlighted blonde with a darker glaze, although if you look at my roots, it's pretty much light brown with gray highlights. :funn: I started getting gray hair when my daughter left for college in 2003.

So, why couldn't I just get hair color at the drugstore and do it myself? I mean, if I chose a blonde color, wouldn't the gray turn to blonde and the brown turn to dark blonde?

BR, in regard to getting your hair cut shorter than you'd like, maybe it's just a case of finding a new hair stylist? It worked for me. I had the same gal cut my hair for about 6-7 years. She was one of the best in the city and her expertise with my hair lasted me, on average, over three months between cuttings (which was good because otherwise I'd have run Merman into the poor house :roll: ). But what happened is that she started getting overly comfortable with what she was doing or maybe she just got stale or lazy, I don't know what, except that I wasn't happy with my hair anymore!! I eventually left her and through a six month trial and error period, I found someone new and my look is fresh again. So if you can stand the agony (yes it is) of the hunt, I'd say go for it. Hair cuts are too important to leave a salon thinking "oh, they've cut my hair too short...again !!

I don't think you should start going to the drugstore for color though. I think you'll be very unhappy with the results after having a professional do your hair. Now I get my color out of a box--it matches what my color used to be in its younger years before Mother Nature started giving me early gray. However, by doing it myself I get a one-dimensional color. No shades, no stylish streaks, just plain color. If I didn't have such wavy/curly hair, I couldn't stand the boredom of plain color! (I'm on the verge of turning my head over to a stylist to do just because of that.) I know there are otc streak kits out there but believe me, you don't want an amateur job, especially not after you've been having highlights professionally done. I've seen too many of my daughter's friends do their own highlights and streaks and no matter how careful and contientious they are, it looks like a homemade job. NOT what you want to do!

Another thing you have to watch out for, and this I will tell you from my own experience, is that otc drugstore color is more drying on your hair than salon color. You really need to use good shampoo and conditioner and watch your hair like a hawk or you can get scarecrow hair really fast.

I guess in summary what I'm trying to say is that some things are worth cutting corners on, but your head shouldn't be one of them. Think about it. Would your Saks Fifth Avenue clothing look good when topped with a Walmart dye job? I don't think so!

 

[DBOldford]

So true about drugstore color. I resorted to that for a while when I simply could not find time to go into the City for half a day to get it done. Two problems: (1) Drugstore color is industrial strength and will cook your hair in no time flat. Also, the color turns brassy faster and faster, with each time you do it; and (2) There's that funny little round spot right in back that you simply couldn't see

The solution for me was to move away from a flat color and have them weave highlights into my natural color, which includes some gray. The result is more natural looking color, much healthier hair with less frizzled highlights areas, and I can wait twice as long to have a "tune-up" because the weaving is more forgiving of roots and gray. That allows more time for the myriad of other maintenance appointments...sigh.

I may have to retire from my business soon, just to make time for all the maintenance (and I'm not just talking about the beauty regime). Is this a drag for anyone else or am I the only middle-aged woman on the Board?