Every time you notice grey strands or that white root showing up, you either head to the phone to book your salon appointment or the nearest shop to pick up your do-at-home hair colour kit. A market study by big hair colour brands shows that more than 80 per cent of men and women use hair-colouring products to primarily hide greys, add highlights or completely change their hair colour.
Says Neeru Radhakrishnan, founder of Play Salon, Bengaluru, “Using hair colour is one of the fastest ways to get a complete makeover and change your look. Hair colouring, whether done at home or at a salon, is a major beauty habit among men and women today.”
That is why today, beauty counters in shops are filled with many hair colour brands and variants. They use different terminologies, which can be really confusing when you are choosing your hair-colouring product. So how do you know what works for you-whether you should get a demi-permanent, semi-permanent or permanent colouring job, or get a casting done?
The four solutions
Four types of hair colours are available in the market. While all have peroxide, ammonia, or an alkalising agent and a pigment, the ratios in which they are blended decide their type. This ratio also decides the colour intensity and how long the colour will remain on the strands.
1. Temporary colour
Temporary hair colours serve more to make a fashion statement than to actually dye the hair or cover greys successfully. Temporary hair colours do not contain peroxide or ammonia. So when you apply the colour, it does not really lift away your hair’s natural pigments to deposit the colour pigment. When you apply a temporary colour, the pigment just coats the hair strands and sits on it, and the colour will wash out naturally after two or three hair washes. The colouring particles in such formulations are also very large, so they cannot permeate the hair shaft.
“Temporary colours are available in very bright shades that you can apply for fun and wash off later,” says Neeru.
2. Semi-permanent colour
Semi-permanent dyes contain smaller particles than temporary colour, so it seeps into the hair shaft more easily. The colour gets deposited under the cuticle and lasts longer. Semi-permanent colour contains a small concentration of ammonia or an alkalising agent which helps in binding the colour to the strands. “Semi-permanent colour is also called a casting crème. The finish you get is quite glossy. You can use this type of colour to dye your hair if you are a first timer and want to see the effect of hair colour on you without a long-term commitment,” explains Sylvia Chen, Mumbai-based hair expert and ex-Wella national trainer.
3. Demi-permanent colour
“Most demi-permanent colours that you get in the market are the at-home hair-colouring kits. They have higher concentration of ammonia and peroxide which help the dye pigments get absorbed into the shafts,” says Bina Punjani, founder of Bina Punjani Hair Studio, Goa. Th e peroxide present in the hair dye makes the shafts more porous, and your hair is able to absorb the colour particle, giving a longer-lasting finish.
Demi-permanent colours are best to cover greys nicely. “However, you should use this type of colour to cover greys and get an all-over hair tint,” suggests Bina.
4. Permanent colour
“The permanent colour has a formulation that hair professionals use to give your hair specialised colour that is customised to match your exact complexion,” says Najeeb Ur Rahman, national training head, Schwarzkopf.
A permanent colour has a higher concentration of peroxide that lifts the cuticles and increases the porosity of the strands, which allows higher concentration of pigments to settle on the strands. The permanent dye also has higher concentration of ammonia that enables the pigments to stick to the strands in a better way. When using permanent colour, the hair technician generally mixes the pigments and the colour activators in various ratios to give you the finish you want.
“You get better highlights, lowlights, and dimensional hair when you go to a professional for a hair-colouring job,” adds Najeeb. It does not wear off with shampoos. Th e colour, however, might fade a little or go brassy. So you need to take more care of your professionally coloured hair.
Colouring at home
Some people prefer to colour their hair at home. Two important factors are cost of getting your hair coloured and also the flexibility at-home colouring offers. “When you are a first timer in getting your hair coloured, it is a good idea to try a global colour-that is colour your hair completely in one shade.
For this, you can try an at-home kit. Especially, a casting variant, since that allows you to see how your coloured hair will look without making it permanent,” advises Bina.
When you are choosing an at-home kit colour, do not pick the shade by looking at the image in front of the box. Look at the colour chart given on the pack which shows how a shade darker and a shade lighter hair can look with the hair dye. One thing you must remember when buying a hair-colouring kit is that factors like the number of grey strands, porosity of your hair, previous colours on your hair may affect the final result. Experts say that for best results, stay within two shades of your natural colour. It looks natural and your complexion will not fade out.
Colouring at salon
Colouring at home, however, can be a bit messy. Not just that. You might want very light hair or want special highlights, or want a complete colour change. Th en it is a good idea to get it done by a professional colourist. “A professional colourist knows how to blend hues to match your skin tone exactly as they have the training and education to do so. Also, if you want special highlights without killing your strands, then only a pro can help,” says Sylvia.
You should visit a salon for a colouring job if you want to lighten your strands or want to fix a dyeing mistake. If you want a complete hair makeover, then it is a good idea to get it done by a professional rather than attempting to do so at home. It is a myth that at-home kits are harsher on the hair than the colours used in salons. You might hear some stylists pushing you for it. But know that most popular hair colour brands like L’Oreal and Wella have both at homekits and professional colours.
So whether you should colour your hair at home or at a salon depends on your need and preference. One good strategy to follow is to get a great colouring job done by a professional and then maintain the colour with at-home kits for at least three months before you head to a professional again.
(In arrangement with SMARTlife)