Oh, How You Love Your Color, Orrrr Do You?

So many of you kill your natural hair by purchasing box color kits off the beauty supply and retail store shelves. I don’t care how nice it sounds with all the “oils and moisture” the box “says” it has or how cute and pretty the chic on the box hair looks. Believe this, those models on the box 9 times out of 10 has a weave or hair was colored by a professional not utilizing the product they are advertising. Trust me I know, I’ve worked on sets for product advertising.  It’s a shame, (shaking my head).

The perils of box color or plant based dyes.

1)   Box colors are metallic dyes, they contain salts of lead, metallic salts, silver and bismuth. Once you go to a professional for color services these dyes are hard and almost impossible to lift or correct with out damaging the hair. These dyes can make your hair, dull, stiff, and brittle. Most of the time the color result after applying is not the desired color that you wanted.

2)   Plant based dyes such as henna can have an adverse reaction if you use other chemicals in your hair like color or perms (to make hair curly). The repeated use of them has a permanent effect.  Which means your hair will forever be that color unless you cut it off.

3)   Temporary and Semi Permanent dyes can have lasting permanent effects. Blacks and Reds are notorious for this. Blacks and Reds no matter what level: Temporary, Semi, or Demi are permanent colors that cannot be lifted safely out of the hair. Yes, there are products on the market that state they can lift blacks or reds but honestly your hair will be so fried that you’d be best going bald.  (Sorry to burst your bubble ladies) In order to achieve a black, w/o the permanent effects, would be to choose a very dark brown. Which to the untrained eye looks black. Reds are about the same with continued usage. Especially if using the store bought colors and dyes.

4)   Coloring hair is a science and takes a trained/licensed professional to know how to gradually get you to the color you want. If you don’t understand the color wheel please do not apply color on your own.

Professional colors come in permanent, semi and demi. They use low level of ammonia combined with silk and keratin amino acids.  These ingredients may sound harsh, but they much less invasive than the metallic dyes. Professional color will fade with time, that is a good thing. This allows you to either go lighter or darker on the color scale. Usually most colors will fade to a natural/neutral brown.

Color takes time, do not expect to go to a stylist and get blonde on first visit when your natural color is dark brown. Your stylist will take you in steps; most of the time within two visits maybe three depending on how light of a blonde. This is the SAFEST and HEALTHIEST way to achieve desired color results. Again ladies save your money so you can get your hair colored the proper way, which leaves your hair in a healthy and lustrous state.

So as you see you are doing more damage than good by not seeking a professional to maintain or guide you on your natural hair journey. You will spend a lot more money than you think by opting to do your hair on your own. It is in your best interest to go to a professional stylist at least on a quarterly basis. Do this, Look in your cabinets, look at all those hair products that you have purchased to achieve certain looks. Now ask yourself, “How much money have I wasted on these products?” that are now doing a great job of collecting dust. It is your choice, now make the right decision and save yourself the time, effort, and money and schedule your appointment with your local professional natural hair stylist today! It’s really easy to S.imply K.eep Y.our H.air H.ealthy