Dyeing For A Change

Posted: Wednesday 16 March 2011 11:10am

To dye or not to dye isn’t much of a dilemma in Australia. Eight out of 10 Australian women colour their hair to turn back the clock or to bring out their inner daredevil by trying something new, according to L’Oreal Paris.

Three out of eight of us opt for the DIY approach with home hair colouring, a further three out of eight always book an appointment at a hair salon and the remaining 25 per cent alternate between their bathroom sinks and the stylist to achieve a more vibrant looking head of hair.

With more of us than ever reaching for the bottle, home hair colour technology is evolving rapidly, making the process almost as easy as shampooing your hair.

But as sophisticated as new formulas are and the salon-slick results they can achieve, if the “operator” isn’t very experienced or ill-informed, the room for error is still immense. Experts advise how to avoid, or at least minimise DIY disasters.

Play It Safe

“Don’t look for extreme changes when colouring hair at home,” says celebrity hairdresser and L’Oreal Paris Colour consultant, Christophe Robin, who has toned the tresses of Kylie Minogue and Kirsten Dunst. “Stay close to your natural colour and choose a hue that is one shade lighter than you think you are naturally. That way, if you make a mistake, you can fix it – it’s easier to go darker than it is to go lighter.”

Says Belinda Jeffrey, colourist to the stars (think Melinda Kerr, Sarah Murdoch) and ambassador for Clairol Nice’n Easy: “The key to choosing the right home hair colour is to stick to the one golden rule – stay two to three shades away from your base colour and it’s really hard to go wrong. Drastic colour changes should be kept for the salon only and your trained colourist!”

Maintain Your Mane

“Make sure your hair is healthy to begin with,” says Christophe.  “No matter what type of hair colour you use, the end result will look much better on healthy hair. If your hair is porous or damaged, then nurture and feed it with good conditioning products.”

Products to try: L’Oreal Paris Elvive Re-Nutrition Deep Nourishing Masque, $11.95; Kerastaste Nutritive Masquintense, $56.

Choosing The Right Product

Always buy a product with a colour guide to show you what the finished results will look like. Bear in mind that the colour depicted on the box, like a paint chart, is only approximate.

If you are a newbie or have hair that is less than 15 per cent grey it could be better to start with a semi-permanent which washes out after 6-8 washes. But if you’re looking to cover more grey, permanent hair colour is best because it is mainly applied to new hair growth at the roots, briefly overlapping previously dyed hair.

A semi-permanent colour is applied over the whole head each time because it fades more rapidly so with hair growing at the rate of 1.2 cm a month, if your main aim is to wash away the greys the ends of your hair would be subjected to a colour treatment they don’t need every few weeks and could end up being darker than the roots.

Good buys in permanent hair colours are: Clairol Nice ‘n’ Easy Colour Blend, $13.99, L’Oreal Paris Excell10′, $18.35 and Garnier Nutrisse 100% Color, $14.95.

If you just want to change your hair colour rather than banish grey hair, Schwarzkopf Brilliance offers an intense range of vibrant fashion colours to choose from; $14.99.

An absolute godsend when you are travelling or don’t have the time to do a whole colour job is Clairol Nice ‘n’ Easy Root Touch-Up, $12.59, which nixes greys that show through your parting, forehead and temples halfway through the colour cycle in just 10 minutes.

Respect The Skin You’re In

“Match your colour to your skin tone,” says Christophe. “If you have complexion that tends towards redness, avoid red hues, as they will enhance the redness of your skin. Stick with cool or ash tones. Pale and olive skin tones can go for a warm red or gold tone as it will warm up colour in skin. If you have dark eyes, don’t go too light, as it will make eyes look much darker.”

If you are looking to celebrities for inspiration, ideally choose those whose face shapes, hair texture and skin tones are similar to your own.

And learn from their mistakes: when stars like Charlize Theron (blonde to black) and Nicole Kidman (red to platinum blonde) have strayed too far from their roots, it hasn’t been their best look.

Belinda further suggests:

• If you sunburn easily, select shades with ‘cool’ or ‘ash’ in their names.
• If you are unsure or have a medium skin tone, select shades with “neutral” in their names.
• If you tan easily, select shades with “warm” or “gold” in their names.

Ready, Set, Go …

Belinda recommends the following for a stress-free DIY transformation:

• Vaseline, to protect skin on your ears and around your hairline from the colour.
• Old towels, for your shoulders and for the floor if you’re not a confident colourer.
• A friend – not necessary but really helpful when trying to get even coverage in the places you can’t see.
• Using the bathroom, or anywhere where there are wipe-clean surfaces like tiles to perform the deed.

Now, Where To Start …

Don’t shampoo just before colouring or you will strip your hair of its protective natural oils.

Always start your colour at the back and work towards the front, says Belinda. Usually the finest hair on your head is around your hairline and this means it takes to the colour quicker, making it best to cover that area last.

When repeating a colour, put it on the roots for the first 15 minutes, then massage or comb through the rest of your hair.

Watch The Clock

“Always read the instructions on the box and follow them exactly. Leave the product on for the exact time specified and not a second longer, or less,” warns Christophe.

Take What You’re Given

After you’ve coloured, always use the shampoo and conditioner provided in the pack. They are special formulas to help maintain your colour and keep it fresh for longer. Don’t over-use heated styling appliances and always towel dry your hair before using a brush or comb.

It is recommended that you don’t wash your hair again for at least 24, but preferably 48-plus hours to allow your colour to settle. Shampooed too soon, and too often and you will be washing your colour down the drain.

For longer term maintenance, invest in one of the many colour-enhancing shampoos and conditioners on the market that not only “lock in” your colour longer, they also nourish the hair.

Top buys include: L’Oreal Paris Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo and Conditioner, both $6.95 and Garnier Fructis Colour Resist Shampoo and Conditioner, both $5.95, and Joico Color Endure Shampoo and Conditioner, both $25.95.

Regular blonding treatments can leave hair even more dry and brittle. Pantene Pro-V Night Miracle Leave On Creme Serum, $9.99, helps to repair each cuticle as you sleep.

Mistakes Happen

“If you have followed the golden rules above and you still make a mistake, you should be able to fix it,” says Christophe. “If you find you are too light, you can then apply a darker colour. If you are too red, you can then take a natural or ash colour from the same range. If you think you are too dark – go straight to a salon to fix it.”

Making It Last

“The best way I can suggest to extend your colour is to use professional treatments once a week to lock in and hold colour tones and condition of hair,” says Belinda. “Another suggestion is to use Clairol Root Touch-up in between salon visits (for the hairline and parting) which gets rid of the regrowth line and keeps the roots at bay!”

Damage Control

One of the most commonly asked questions is “Will regular colouring thin my hair?” It’s no mystery why this is a popular query because women aged 40 to 54 are the main colourant-buying age group revealed, according to a Roy Morgan Research study.

But the hard facts are that many people only start colouring their hair when it turns grey, when it has begun to thin naturally as part of the ageing process. Or, if they have started colouring their hair at a young age, they notice that their hair starts to thin in their 30s and 40s. Again, a natural sign of ageing.

A bad colour job, on the other hand, can cause breakage but don’t confuse this with hair loss.

Colouring your hair regularly does tend to dry the hair, though, especially when you use a permanent colour or the dye contains a bleaching agent.

To keep hair in tip-top condition, always choose a moisture-balancing or hydrating shampoo and conditioner such as Clairol Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturising Shampoo and Conditioner, both $5.99, or Pantene Pro-V Daily Moisture Renewal Shampoo and Conditioner, both $7.99.

Safety First

Regular use of many everyday products causes us to wonder about the possibility of long term effects. For the past 30 years there have been recurring scares about hair colours causing cancer. As a result, hair colourants are one of the most studied and researched of personal care products.

Many of the carcinogenic ingredients fingered two or three decades are no longer used in today’s products and evidence that hair colouring is safe has been demonstrated in two large scale studies by the American Cancer Council and Harvard University.

It’s only been a few years since health food stores were the only places you could buy an ammonia-free hair colourant. The drawbacks of many of these natural colourants was early fade-out and/or dry or brittle hair.

Then L’Oreal Paris, mindful of the fact that many women now want to limit their daily exposure to chemicals, launched Casting Creme Gloss, $16.45; 28 shades. It was such an immediate success with Australian women that it captured a massive slice of the ammonia-free home hair colourant market within a few months. Enriched with royal jelly, Casting Creme Gloss offers rich-looking, intense results that lasts up to 28 shampoos.

by Jenni Gilbert

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