Before I dive right in, let me touch on the history of hair color. Did you know that the art of coloring your hair has been around for centuries? Back in the greek/roman days, the people worshiped the gods and would often mimick them wanting to be more like them. Their idea that the gods were blonde, made them seem more angelic. In order to achieve lightening their hair they often used pollen and gold dust. During the Roman Empire (27 B.C.E. - 476 C.E.) this is when many traders and slaves came to Rome and the surrounding cities during Rome's expansion, exposing the Romans to a wide variety of hair colors. Men and woman alike, gave up simple and frugal customs that defined early Rome, so a popular way for the to ornament themselves was through the use of hair dyes. The most popular color was blond. Roman prostitues were required to dye their hair blond to set then apart from the other citizens, but there were many men and women that followed suit and dyed their hair blond as well. The most dramatic hair coloring effects could only be afforded my Rome's wealthiest, as they used gold dust for their hair. Many used henna, this is a natural plant based dye that delivered a reddish brown color, while others used berries, vinegar or crushed nutshells. Perhaps one of the most unusual hair dyes to make the hair black was made from leeches and vinegar! This mixture fermented for 2 months, they then applied it to their hair and sit in the sun to bake it in their hair! THANK the LORD hair coloring has become more pleasant for me! I don't think I could make it thru one of those hair coloring sessions.
Now let's get to the nitty gritty. Never I mean NEVER use hair color from the store! It's bad bad bad! You can never tell the out come especially if you are a first time user. Metallic salts have been used in hair color since the 1800's. Metallic salts fall under the category of progressive dyes, this means with every application the hair color is going to go darker and darker. Over time the hair is going to feel rough. Metallic salts are extremely reactive to other chemicals! If you try to use most hair color removers (because the hair is too dark now from the progressive darkening) major chemical reactions with the metallic salts are going to occur inside the hair shaft and that can result in horrible burning fumes or even smoking!
So what about Henna? Ok what about it? Even though its supposed to be natural and organic and healthy, it still contains... YOU GUESSED IT! Metallic Salts are added to henna to make it warmer or cooler. So beware of what you are putting in your hair! Boxed color that use metallic dyes are:
- Nice 'N' Easy
- Feria
- Grecian Formula
What do you do if you have used these? Be patient! Congratulate yourself because you are now considered to be in our special client category known as "corrective color client". Even if you have only used it once, it will take several visits to repair the damage, get rid of what you have and to get your hair healthier. A quick fix will only lead to quick damage!
This is the reason that your hair will look "fried", "dead" and damaged! Your hair is having a continuous chemical reaction to metallic salts in the hair! My advice is go to a professional, and have professional hair color used on you. You will be far happier with the outcome, because we have been trained to use color and know what is best for your particular hair type.
