Dan's Papers - October 12, 2007

Okay, so you sat in the sun all day this past summer, maybe with spray-in lighteners in your hair and now it's dry, crunchy, limp and lifeless. Your tan looks great, but what's up with the hair? Don't attempt to fix this mess on your own - see your hairdresser!

Demi-permanent color is what is being used to correct the brassy tones that tend to come at the end of summer. It's a mild product that gives you shine and the option of changing tones while you decide on how much color commitment you are looking for. Most products will last you about 4-6 weeks depending on how often you shampoo and how porous your hair is to begin with.

Remember, every time you use a home hair color you are depositing pigment into your hair that may deepen with every application. Using demi color, the results will be more to your liking and your hair will be healthier. Your hairdresser has more color choices at their fingertips than you can purchase in a store. Sometimes your colorist has to add just a drop or two in insure the color is perfect and not too gold or red.

How the professional correct those unwanted reds and orange tones is sort of a chemical marriage! It's their years of knowledge and mixing tried and true recipes that give them their edge on color correction. A favorite is a low-light or tint-back, which can be achieved with the demi-permanent line. This is the most gentle way to go for over processed hair. Choose a product with no ammonia, such as the PM Shines by Paul Mitchell, so that

your hair doesn't do any further lifting. Combining as many as three different tones to reflect a blending of blondes, brunettes and reds.

By determining your natural color and the amount of fading you've got, the hairdresser or colorist will formulate your color. If you want to color all the fading, it would be safer to choose a shade lighter than your natural color and use a demi-permanent color. This choice will insure a softer tone and prevent the hair from becoming too dark. As the hair grows, you can decide if you want to repeat the process. After several applications of color and conditioners, you hair will once again become healthy.

Shine is very important as well. If you are not experiencing the glow, your hair isn't healthy. A clear shine (PM Shines Clear) can be applied to all of your hair to enhance color and shine. Think of it as a top coat of clear nail polish.

If you are a blonde and your hair looks too yellow, you will need a color that has a base to neutralize those unwanted tones. Only a professional will be able to even this out, without lifting your natural color. If you try this yourself, you could risk turning your hair even more yellow or possibly green! A good suggestion is foil highlights and/or low lights that are mixed with two separate tones for an even more natural result.

If your hair is dark and showing unwanted red tones, you can get your shine back and cover the red. If you are lucky to be an "Irish Setter" red and have faded to a gold, you can warm it up for the fall.

Try not to make your hair worse than what it is by taking the matter into your own hands. You got away with it at the end of spring when you started messing with box color, managed to squeak through the summer and now you need real help. Go to your hairdresser or ask someone with great hair where they go. They will only take this as a compliment and you'll be on your way through fall and winter with rich tones and an abundance of free flowing shiny hair.