I recently colored my hair red.  I absolutely loved the color.  But having had experience with red tones in the past, I knew it wouldn't last long.  Red, unlike any other hair color, bleeds with every shampoo.  It's as if red hair coloring products sit atop the hair rather than infuse into it making it very difficult to maintain your hairs' new color and vibrancy.


As you know with all hair colors and chemical procedures, dryness and damage are bound to occur.  The level at which they impact your hair depends on the type of coloring process needed to achieve the color.  In short, if you decide to go from dark brown to blonde, you're going to have to bleach your hair.  Bleaching affects the health of your hair but with proper after care, you can minimize the damage.  Any-hoo...

The photo on the left is after a recent color.  I bleached my hair and then used a red tone, which appears purple in this photo, to achieve the final color.  Oh, the photo doesn't show it, but the hair approximately 3-4 inches above the nape of my neck remained black.  I wanted a peekaboo affect that looks interesting whenever I pull my hair upwards but again, any-hoo...

Months after coloring my hair, the red began to wear off.  The end result was an ashy reddish brown...GHETTO!  In other words, very little of the red remained and the bleached hair was peaking through.  I didn't want to use red permanent color on my hair again as I knew I'd be faced with the same dilemma months later and given how expensive it was to color it the first time (approximately $100 retail for supplies), I couldn't afford to recolor every 4-6 months.  But I liked the red.  Should I just give up and opt for a brown which I knew would last?  No!  I wanted red.


Here's where color glazes or temporary colors come in.  Years ago I used Jazzing by Clairol.  What's great about this line is that it comes in a variety of interesting, vibrant colors.  There's no mixing so it's idiot proof.  And because it's temporary (or demi-permanent when processed with heat), you're able to minimize the damage associated with chemical processes. 

Long story short, by bleaching I was able to lift my color so that I could deposit a "lighter" shade, in my case red, so that it showed with or without the aid of lighting.  To maintain my color I now use a red shade (racy wine).  The end result is color that always looks fresh, new and shiny.

So if you've had problems with maintaining your hair color in the past or recently colored your hair and find that it's looking duller with each passing day, consider a temporary alternative versus re-processing with a permanent color.  You'll minimize damage and the fact that the colors are temporary will enable you to switch/change color tones if you want a different shade or hue.

As a final note, I heat set the Jazzing according to the directions and added a few blue...yes blue, highlights to my locks.  Sure, it sounds crazy but the blue is more of a deep indigo and it looks amazing.  If I weren't having a bad hair day, I'd take a pic but you'll get over the lack of images as that's not the point of this story. 

Happy coloring!