BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Hair Semi Permanent Hair Coloring?

I have enjoyed reading your posts! Your replies to each other are kind and thoughtful and they are a pleasure to read. So thank you for that!

I am writing to ask you all if semi-permanent hair color is something that fades away or washes out - completely out with no residue, chemical or otherwise? I ask because I want to stop the harsh coloring treatment cycle I seem to have gotten on. I have medium-dark brown hair with bright silver grays coming in, heavy at the forward-crown area (but not really anywhere else.) I have been having my hair colored professionally for the last 8 months or so, with Redken products like Shades EQ, Colorgels, and one other Redken, I can't remember the name. They turned out nicely and I like how my hair feels but, yes BUT, I think it is not necessary for me to have my whole head colored anymore and I would like to just stop.

So, to lessen the stark contrast between the med-dark brown and the super silver greys, I was wondering if I could just use a semi-permanent, home color, one of those that washes out in 12-18-24 shampoos, use it on the root area only and patiently wait until the color is all grown out? By the way, I would be perfectly happy if the grey is just blended, not covered. And I wouldn't mind having to do this every two weeks or so. My greying area is only on the forward crown, about 4 inch by 3 inch area.

Here is the other part of my question, about those semi-permanent home coloring kits, are they really gone when they have faded /washed out and you can't SEE them anymore?

Thank you to you all!

NerdyGert

Hi NerdyGert,
Welcome to the forum. Semi-permanent haircolor is supposed to wash out or fade in 6-8 weeks and does for many people. Occasionally the more porous areas of the hair will hold the color and some hair will not let it fade. I have had clients that I used a semi-permanent just like permanent color because it did not fade.

So.. there is no guarentee.
It does leave your hair in better condition in the long run.

I can't tell you whether there is a chemical residue left after the color has faded.

Thank you Lynne!

I am trying to plan ahead. I don't like the color I have. I think it is too dark for my very-very fair skin. I would like to go lighter but I fear bleach, even when professionally applied. (I was thinking that my only real option was to let all the colored hair grow out.) I have read about color removing process on this board but I was wondering what happens after the color is removed? Can you then have a lighter color applied successfully? (Besides the color, my hair is pretty healthy, no breakage, etc.) My color level is about a 4 on the Redken charts, I would like to be about a 6, and I would be happy with what I have though, if given a choice between this or no hair at all. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I will probably just start using a shade-lighter semi permanent color on the greays only until this time next year. And of course, keep up with my regular trims. I just wish I had more choices. Ah, well...

A lighter haircolor can be successfully applied after a good reconditioner.

Here's an update. I went back to my regular colorist. She had discussed the color remover process with another colorist, I suppose she implied that the other colorist was the resident "old-pro", and told me that the color removal process was very hard on hair and had a tendency of smelling like dog poo. Yep, that is what she said. We discussed it further and came to the decision that highlights with bleach would be the best route. So that is what she did, a lot of small sections highlighted with bleach and then a toner put on. I am happy with the result. My hair is lighter overall and we will now, 6 weeks later, do only a shade lighter than my natural haircolor over all my hair and I will let my hair grow out. Greys and all. I will just go back to her for regular haircuts. I am prepared to let the silver grow in. I am sure that the growing-out process will not be all that hard for me to do. I have a plan now and all the old colored/bleached/processed hair can just grow out.

By the way, what is a good reconditioner?

Oh, and the rest of the plan is to either not color at all or use a semi permanent lighter shade on the grey area only. Then I won't have to worry about any residue left after semi-permanent color fades away. Now I just need to get my hair cut short to speed up this process!

Thank you Lynn!

sounds like a good plan. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thank you!

Yep, I have discovered a magical secret cure for overprocessed hair... And I will share it with you... Are you ready? Ok, here goes.

Step 1. Stop coloring, bleaching, perming, etc.
Step 2. Continue... and have patience, and remember that the amount of time it takes to remedy a mistake is inversely proportional to the time it took to make the mistake. Example: Hair color start to finish, 1 hour approximately; growing it all out, 6 to 18 months approximately.

So there is my secret formula.

<img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Thats a formula that should work!