STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

going dark? i THINK i'm ready for a change...

bex · Chanel

first off- you wreck your hair by going blond. it is much more harsher on your hair than browns. so your hair will and should look healthier by going darker...

secondly- i am a "dirty blond" that goes dark every winter... i love my time as a brunette, but come spring- i am always ready to add blonde again!

do it- you can always change it back...

ico · Dooney & Bourke

I love the haircolor in the picture!

I have gone lighter and darker, and I found that going lighter damages the hair the most. I'd say, go for it!

Just consder that if you decide to go lighter again at some point, it wil be more difficoult.

hth

bumblebee · Dooney & Bourke

do it! it's such a fun change. i love the color in that faith hill pic, and if your coloring is similar, it should look great on you. bex is correct: making your hair darker actually fills in the cuticles in your hair (whereas bleaching it blonde strips them), making it look shinier and healthier.

i'm naturally a sandy dark-blonde, and usually highlight my hair pretty heavily on top of that so that i am a light/medium blonde. at the beginning of this last fall, however, i colored mine dark and i love it--i have had it for about 6 months now, but will probably go back to blonde in the next month or so. mine is darker than faith's--more like the color of ashley judd's or something, but i am also paler than you, with some freckles.

one thing i would caution you on: go to a colorist you trust, who knows your hair. i wanted mine to be "warm" too, but my colorist knows that my hair naturally pulls a lot of gold and red, so she has to use a fairly ashy/blue brown in order for me not to end up with orange-ish hair.

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

thanks for your input, girls! one of the reasons i want to go brunette is because i know my hair will look healthier. i'm more concerned with damaging my hair if i decide i want to go back to blonde (sorry, i should have been more clear). does anyone know what they do when you go from dark back to light ("lift" the color)? also, what's the upkeep like on darker hair?

bumblebee, your previous hair color sounds similar to mine. how did you and your stylist decide on your shade of brown? i have no idea if my hair pulls gold and red! eek, i'm afraid of ending up with orange hair! also, what are you going to do when you go blonde again? i moved in the past year so unfortunately i don't have a stylist who really knows my hair that well. i'm going to go back to the girl who did it a few months ago- i really liked the highlights that she gave me. i'm actually going in for a cut next week and i also asked for a color consultation, so i can talk to her about my concerns then. does anybody have any tips?

i'm nervous- i want to take the plunge because i'd love to change things up, but i'm worried about the aftermath!

ico · Dooney & Bourke

I had my hair black last year, but I had some trouble to get back to my natural color (dark brown). I had to "lift the color" with some kind of paste probably based on Oxygen peroxyde, which I bought at a beauty supply store, and that tourned the hair orange. Afterwards, I dyed it dark brown, but it had some weird orangish shades under the sun... And it looked pretty damaged, although it was very short!

It got better only after my hairstylist worked on it (he didn't seem ahppy of what I had done...) , not only the color, but also the appearence:it was softer and shinier.

The moral is, go to a person you trust, don't try to lighten you hair by yourself, EVER!

Other than that, I'd say go for it!

erin · Chanel

if you are concerned about the condition of your hair, why not ask for a semi-permanent color to go darker. it will gradually fade out, but if you decide to keep it darker, you can get it made permanent or go lighter as the color fades out.

jah · Dooney & Bourke

Well, as someone that has been blond, brown, and red, and was a seasonal hair color person for about 8 years, I would recommend Shades to you. It is semi-permanent Redken color (I always got Brandy--a reddish-brown color that would pull my golden highlights through--actually fairly close to the Faith Hill color). Anyway, the color uses a vegetable dye which actually makes your hair shiny and healthier.

As I said, it is semi-permanent, so it washes out slowly with use. The good thing about this is it will slowly fade if it is a bit too dark in the beginning. It also makes any root issue less noticeable, etc. Also, a little trick, if it is too dark in the beginning, get Palmolive dish washing detergent and wash your hair with a very small amount. This will cut the color and make it fade to a lighter shade more quickly (it is VERY harsh on the head/hair, so only do it once and only if it is really too dark and only with semi-permanent). My mom owned a salon and she shared this little trick with me from her days in beauty school and as a model.

bumblebee · Dooney & Bourke

finally responding to your questions. i think that the tricky part is lifting the dark color out and going back to blonde--coloring over the blonde to make it dark is less tricky. it will probably just take 2-3 times to get it to the color you want, depending how light your hair is underneath (mine took 3 times).

i brought in a picture of mandy moore (before she made hers more red) to show my colorist and told her that i wanted something like that. i think the key is just to feel comfortable that whoever is doing your hair is really listening to you and has a clear idea of what you want.

i had a very bad experience with a "celebrity stylist" last time i colored my hair dark and went back to blonde, so that's why i am saying to be cautious. the dark color he put on me was beautiful and shiny and i loved it, but i wanted to go back to blonde and didn't realize how tricky that is, and he didn't really know my hair. when you lift a dark color out, it gets really white/yellow and fragile because of the bleach they have to use. so he did that and then went to put a gold shade on top of that to fill in (because i obviously didn't want white). you are supposed to leave the color on for 30 minutes. after 10, he came over and checked the foils, gasped, and ran me over to the sink, palmolive in hand. my hair had turned the color of a new penny. so he spent hours trying to scrub it out with the palmolive and get it back to the white to start over. it really wasn't his fault--he is fantastic at doing color, it was just that my hair pulled the color funny.

anyway, this time i think i am going to go back to blonde more gradually. i think i will just get some big chunky blonde highlights (kind of like how mary-kate olsen's are) and have her still fill in the roots with the dark color that i have on now and gradualy phase that out.

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

quote:
Originally posted by: bumblebee
i had a very bad experience with a "celebrity stylist" last time i colored my hair dark and went back to blonde, so that's why i am saying to be cautious. the dark color he put on me was beautiful and shiny and i loved it, but i wanted to go back to blonde and didn't realize how tricky that is, and he didn't really know my hair. when you lift a dark color out, it gets really white/yellow and fragile because of the bleach they have to use. so he did that and then went to put a gold shade on top of that to fill in (because i obviously didn't want white). you are supposed to leave the color on for 30 minutes. after 10, he came over and checked the foils, gasped, and ran me over to the sink, palmolive in hand. my hair had turned the color of a new penny. so he spent hours trying to scrub it out with the palmolive and get it back to the white to start over. it really wasn't his fault--he is fantastic at doing color, it was just that my hair pulled the color funny.

aack! okay, i'm officially nervous...i don't want damaged hair! i think maybe i'll ask about semi-permanent color. that way i can try it without really committing....i'll let you all know what i decide!

bumblebee · Dooney & Bourke

oh! i meant to say that--semi-permanent doesn't really cover that well. so if you are looking to go darker, it probably will not work all that well. i would just take the leap and go for the permanent color (which will be richer and make your hair look shinier) and just see what happens. it's just hair--if you really hate it (which i don't think you will) you can grow it out or correct it or do something else. it's not the end of the world.

sfcaligirl · Dooney & Bourke

quote:
Originally posted by: bumblebee
"oh! i meant to say that--semi-permanent doesn't really cover that well. so if you are looking to go darker, it probably will not work all that well. i would just take the leap and go for the permanent color (which will be richer and make your hair look shinier) and just see what happens. it's just hair--if you really hate it (which i don't think you will) you can grow it out or correct it or do something else. it's not the end of the world. "

haha, thanks for putting this in perspective, bumblebee! i know, it's just hair. for some reason, i tend to freak myself out and obsess over these things.

i got my hair cut on thursday (also got a deep conditioning treatment- SO worth it!) and talked over my color ideas with my stylist. she seemed excited about it and definitely knows what she's talking about. we looked at pictures and she suggested i start with something similar to natalie portman's color- she was explaining that something about the tones (i can't remember) would work well with my "peaches and cream" complexion (her words, not mine!). anyway, i feel like i trust her to do this and i have an appointment in two weeks. so excited! i'll let you all know how it turns out...