Copper brunette--best type of red hair dye that lasts?

Question

Alright, I can't quite afford a salon--I know that's the best place to go--but how do I find the right red hair dye? I want something that lasts more than a week. My hair is copper-brunette... during this season there is already some red and blond in it, but red dye never seems to take.

Should I go light light blond first and then red? Will that ruin my hair? Should I buy two bottles? Texture is long and thick.

Answer 1

Your hair isn't taking the dye because it's in too good a condition. You have a couple of options. The first (I wouldn't recommend it but it will work), is to bleach your hair and then use a permanent red hair dye. you will get a bright long lasting colour but it may make your hair fine and damage it.

The better option is to head to Lush and buy yourself a block of red henna dye. This stuff is so natural you could eat it (but don't!). You grate it and add some boiling water until you get a creamy consistency then put it on your hair as hot as you can stand it. Wrap your hair and head in cling film. Put some old sheets and pillow cases on the bed and leave it on overnight. Then in the morning you wash it off with some shampoo for greasy hair. This will produce a bright red long lasting effect but it will not damage your hair. In fact it will improve its condition.

Answer 2

If you just want to make your hair more red, I reccommend henna, especially the brand Rainbow Henna. It comes in various colors and really, really lasts. The problem is if you use henna, you can't use any other chemicals on your hair like dyes or perms. (Hairspray or gel or what have you is fine.) It won't lighten your hair, though. It will condition beautifully and feels really good while you're doing it. It's a huge mess, unfortunately. Red tones in henna will be more obvious if you keep your hair warm while it is on your hair.

You can lighten your hair to blonde and then dye it darker but yes, that much bleach will fry your hair really badly. It will also look really strange when the red fades, which it will. Red in commercial hair dye is the most fugitive of colors. If you go the drugstore box route, your best bet at keeping your color is to get a shampoo that is kind to dye, and perhaps also pick up a hair styling product with the desired color tinted into it. Manic Panic, of all people, make some decent products of this nature, or you can check out Sally Beauty Supply.

Answer 3

speaking as a hairdresser i definetly would not reccomend bleaching your hair first unless you are thinking maybe the odd piece under neath or something,,,,, you would have anightmare with regrowth and it would most definitly fade in the sun......... You could use a henna rinse, body shop , lush they tend to be quite red,,, semi permanent colours are great but wash out,(these are th colours where you don't mix anything together should be one bottle ), permanent colours will be trickier and a regrowth will be more obvious so you will have to keep re tinting.....if you do choose to use a tint or semi colour they have a numbering system,, /4 is red red /7 is browny red /34 is copper,,,,, the number before is how dark 5/ is dark brown going up to 9/ which is light blonde,,,,,,,,,, good luck remember all reds fade a little,, even salon reds,, try keep hair out of sun of use colour protector spray you can pick one up anywhere and yes you will probably need two bottles unless you buy packet henna

Answer 4

Well sometimes if you over lighten the hair the hair than wont hold color and it can make it worse. most people only lighten first if that's the only way to achieve the color you want.For example if the color is lighter than your natural color than you have no choice but to go lighter first.If your hair is long the less chemical stuff you do to it the better.Red dyes are very well know for fading .You can try what they call a filler before you put the color in. also they have stains like jazzing and stuff were it helps in between coloring to add red and it doesn't do alot of damage.The fillers that you use before you color are to help the hair grab the color evenly .It helps the color last longer.You can find that stuff at a public beauty supply. Keep in mind that overly lightened hair does not like to hold color.Your hair long so you should use a good recontructor.Stay away from hot oils they only coat the hair.There is haircolors that are high lift tints that lift the hair shades lighter and than deposit the color in one application.My best advise would be a public supply.

Answer 5

yes you need two, all hair color has its good and bad points, if you want your hair to look redder than it does go to a lighter red, thats going to bleach out some of your natural color. if you go blonde first it really would dry your hair out. I use clairol, balsam color because its the cheapest and ive tried more expensive stuff but as far as i can see none is better than the other.revlon colorsilk is fairly cheap too but it burns my scalp, though it might not on you, if it says its permanant hair color it should stick, and it should last well enough for a month, but the brightness might not last as much as you like, but you need to do it once a month at least because the roots will show, so its going to cost you about ten dollars a month to keep the color up reasonabally well. ofcourse i really dont know where you are.

Answer 6

Live by swartzcoff (however its spelt). They do some great reds. Ive used em for ages, you may need two packs if ur hairs long and thick. Once you get the colour done, only wash and condition it with products for red hair. This will prolong the life of the colour.

Answer 7

I buy my hair color at a beauty supply store called Sally Beauty-there is a better selection of product and advice compared to a box color from Wal-Mart.
You buy the developer and hair color and mix them together. The bottle of developer will last for a couple of color jobs and you can buy two bottles of color.
I have had very good luck with ION hair color. They have very pretty shades and it is long lasting. My hair is light brown with natural gold and red, and I found a perfect color. My hair is about 5 inches past my shoulders and fairly thick ( I like to have it thinned or layered to remove weight) and I can get away with one bottle of color, but it wouldn't hurt to have an extra just in case.

Answer 8

I wouldnt bleach your hair first-- you might end up with pinkish hair. If you want a lighter red just use 40 lift peroxide. I use loreal's mega reds, you can get them at Salleys beauty supply. They work great, usually not much fading until after week 4 or 5, little at all if I am using a color shampoo.

Answer 9

Why is everyone with blond, why can't you just have jet black curly hair with some blonde or blonde hair with some jet black hair. Right now you don't have to choose.

Answer 10

I have brown tresses and I have Blonde highlights. Maybe you should try lighter blonde, this might look better than brown, brownish just looks kind of trashy.