RED Hair

I just recently decided to dye my hair red.  I loved the results. I used Loreal Feria #41. However, by the end of the first week, pretty much, my hair looked dingy and very faded. Yes, red is hard to keep up with. 

I am hoping to get some Manic Panic in Vampire Red (i think?) and dye that over Loreal Feria the following day. Would that work? I always see vids and tuts on bleaching first then using manic panic. But last time I did that, the Cotton candy bangs I had were gone by wash #2. 

I do plan on taking some of the vampire red and tossing that in with my conditioner to have a little red pick me up every other day. Also, I see some red protein liquid that I put in with any red hair dye. Is that nessesary to mix that with the manic panic or ... the loreal feria? 

Blonde was so much easier to keep up with. LOL. 

I was once bottle blonde but switched to red nine years ago; I used Feria for a while but found the colour did not last as long as Schwarzkopf Live XXL. Red has larger molecules so it doesn't take as easily/ washes out more easily than any other colour, it basically means completely changing the way you care for your hair! You can do a semi-permanent over the top, it is a PITA tho because it will stain EVERYTHING - your towels, bedlinen, clothing, scalp, hands, tile grout .... Putting Manic Panic in your conditioner will stain anything but your hair and means you will have to wear plastic gloves every time you shower.

From trial and error and chatting to other redheads, the best way to hold onto the colour is

1. When processing is done rinse in tepid or cold water, some girls use a dilute vinegar rinse as both will close the cuticle

2. Do not then wet/ wash/ deep condition the hair for several days as these will allow any chemicals bonds to 'set'

3. Do not use sulphate shampoos as these are alkaline and thus lift the cuticle as well as drying out the hair

4. Switch from rinse off to leave in conditioner and use dry shampoo where possible, the less water on your hair the better

5. Never use hot water, only tepid or cold as hot opens the cuticle, letting colour escape

6. Intensive treat with coconut oil or hydrolysed protein, these can enter the hair shaft and help hold colour molecules

7. Do not use silicone-heavy conditioners or styling products unless they are water soluble (most need sulphates to remove, see #3)

HTH!

oh wow ... maybe I DO need to switch back to blonde. LOL. I want red to be unique but I don't think I can keep up with the "upkeep". I will keep on trying though and see if I can manage to change my routine around =] Thanks so much! I have seen some of these tips and applied it so far but maybe the Loreal really does NOT work because even with those tips (cold water, shampoo 2 x's a week, etc), still faded to an almost strawberry blonde. 

Red is the worst color to keep ESPECIALLY if your hair is overprocessed with bleaching. Personally when I was red head, and my natural color is black, then the color will "fall out" faster. I found that using a higher volume of peroxide (30 volume to 40 volume) along with the red I want will give me the color I want and it will last much, much longer. When I have to do my roots I do the roots the same way but I did NOT do the previously colored area. Once my roots were done I would go over my entire hair with the same color but this time with only 10 to 20 volume and added a gloss. Needless to say after 10 years of being a red head I finally quit because it was a pain to upkeep.

All of I have been hearing is how hard it is to keep a nice red colour from fading. I really want to go red after my baby is born. My fiance has been wanting me to be a red head for ages!

I was thinking of trying a regular box dye in red, then using Manic Panic over it. Manic Panic fades very fast with each wash so I thought that perhaps having a red box dye for a base it would help keep it looking red longer.

Its a shame its so difficult to keep vibrant, because the red looks fantasic! I had my hair auburn with red tones once, it looked incredible, I loved it!

Ha ha, being permanent red is not much hassle once you get your new routine down it's more the semi-permanents that are grief IMO. Keeping red is a combination of how porous (damaged) your hair is, how much water you use and how alkaline your products are. I tried several salon brand colour care shampoos for red hair and they all left my hair feeling like straw - for some reason they focus the formulation on not leaving any dulling residues instead of not stripping the colour out! My hair is very porous but much healthier and redder since I switched to cationic surfactants (CO-washing) and oil-based treatments.

If you ever choose to go blonde again DO NOT bleach or box dye it as you will get orange hair. You will need to use a colour remover such as Color Fix or Colour B4 first and even then the red may not come out if you flat iron a lot. That is because high temperatures can melt silicone styling products onto your hair so it's basically coated in 'plastic'. Personally I think red is worth the effort, as I get so many more complements than when I was blonde, plus looking at your freshly dyed red halo is the BEST winter pick me up!

Originally Posted by breathless /img/forum/go_quote.gif

oh wow ... maybe I DO need to switch back to blonde. LOL. I want red to be unique but I don't think I can keep up with the "upkeep". I will keep on trying though and see if I can manage to change my routine around =] Thanks so much! I have seen some of these tips and applied it so far but maybe the Loreal really does NOT work because even with those tips (cold water, shampoo 2 x's a week, etc), still faded to an almost strawberry blonde. 

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I tried real RED shades a couple of times, but I realized that once my face turn a little bit red (from hot, cold, or anything), red hair exaggerate it, and I look like a piglet -_- /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

And also it faded away quite fast, which was good for me, as I didn't like it.

So I decided to continue with more natural red shades, not yellowish, but something in between.

It was fading away much more slowly, and also it didn't stain anything (I use Cutrin permanent hair dye, it's Finnish, professional hair dye, I guess, not sure if it available in America). I usually renew it once my roots start to be really noticeable, and to renew the color (one a month, usually). I tried using their shampoo and conditioner, which are supposed to renew the color and protect it from fading away, but I didn't really like it (the smell, my hair after it). I once read that those colored conditioners are quite bad, as they tend to dry your hair etc.

Don't know if there's really a way to keep the red shade and stay with nice healthy hair..

Using henna mixed with a strong brewed tea will make a nice red as well. As it is a natural dye, it doesn't strip your hair.  It gradually fades and the stuff is really cheap to purchase from Indian grocery stores.  It even covers grey hair.  It has natural conditioners so your hair comes out shinier than before you used the henna.

Please exercise caution using henna or herbal box dyes containing henna over Feria - there were some horror stories a few years back over this combination so please do your research and a strand test if you wish to go this route. I would also note that henna bonds permanently to the structure of the hair (cannot be removed with colour strippers nor peroxide bleach) and is not suitable for those who like to use a flat iron (the heat makes the henna oxidise further and go very dark). Having said all that Divadoll is spot on to say body art quality henna gives a lovely healthy looking red which tends not to fade!

awesome tips and experiences ladies! thank you so much! 

And yes, I flat iron my  hair 2 x's a week. The morning after I wash my hair ... =]

It would be advisable to wait a few weeks anyways before applying anything else into your hair.  Heat will case rapid oxidation to your hair by way of darkening but it isn't going to go black or anything.  It'll just get a darker red... burgandyish at most.