To prevent blonde hair from going brassy, use a lavender tinted shampoo weekly. Strawberry tinged hair brings out redness in skin, so go easy on the blush when your hair is this shade. To keep red hair from fading, shampoo less frequently and cover up in the sun. For dark hair a mist of shine spray keeps midnight hues from looking dull.
7 Habits of Highly Effective Hair Color
1. Take note of your emotional state before you dye. You’ve likely heard of breakovers - those fevered hair and makeup decisions that follow a breakup, only to be regretted shortly thereafter.
2. Let your skin tone not your color whims guide your choice. Before you make a color switch, determine what works your complexion. If you have cool undertones or olive skin, you want warmth in your hair to balance it out. If you’re more pinkish or flush easily, you want an ashier, or cooler, hair color. If your skin tone is neutral, you can go either way.
3. The test strand isn’t optional. You need to nail the timing and figure out whether or not you like the color before you commit. Snap a thin lock a hair from the back of your head and do a dry run.
4. Know whether to wash first. For semi-permanent dye, you want clean hair when you color. The formula don’t have strong chemicals, so in order for them to penetrate, there can’t be oil, dirt, or styling products coating the cuticle. If you’re using permanent color with ammonia and peroxide or a home-highlighting kit, then you want hair that hasn’t been washed in a day or two. The oil will protect your scalp from burning and your hair from getting damaged.
5. Prep your skin before you dye. A stained forehead may seem inevitable, but it’s preventable. Apply a hair wax or any kind of oil - even olive oil - along the hairline first.
6. Lighten up around your face. Think of it as a halo effect: for the most flattering look, go one shade lighter along your hairline. If you’re dyeing your hair light brown, do a dark blonde there. Those fine hairs tend to grab more dye and can become a shade or two deeper, but you actually want that area to be brighter, since it make you look younger and healthier.
7. Don’t overdye the ends. If you’re going darker, the porous ends can soak up more dye than the root area, making it obvious your shade is from a box. To maintain the color, just touch up the roots as needed. Only pull the dye through to the ends when they start to fade, about every third or fourth time your color. And when you dye the tips, wet them slightly first. The water makes pulling the color easier and prevents your hair from absorbing too much color there.
*I apparently lost the thumbail of this magazine :( *
