A few months ago I decided to go back to 2009 Lexi and dye my hair red again. As you can probably imagine it has been quite the process since black box dye is the enemy of every single person who has ever wanted to change their hair color. I'm completely aware that it was damaging and really the way I dye my hair now is probably just as bad but, whatever it's my hair and I'm not bald yet so I think we are fine. I will admit that I am pretty reckless in the hair department but, someone asked if I would share how I dye my hair so here we are now.
Since, I had dyed black hair over my already naturally dark hair I decided to use L'Oreal Excellence HiColor HiLights in Red and Magenta. I get it from Sally's Beauty Supply and this particular dye is made for dark hair. I like this one so much because it lifts the hair color while it dyes so that I didn't have to bleach my hair beforehand. I've heard of this dye giving people with box dyed hair bright red hair within two dyes but, that hasn't been the case with me; more than likely it's because my hair is ridiculously coarse and over processed. Honestly, I'm kind of shocked I have hair since I haven't been my natural color since 2nd grade. Anyway I've probably dyed my hair six or seven times by this point and my ends (probably from about the middle of my hair down) is still a bit darker than the top but, I don't mind it gives it a little more dimension.
I dye my hair every two or three weeks - I try to go as long as possible between dyes since I know how rough it is on my hair and I'm also pretty lazy. When I'm dying my hair I mix together one tube of L'Oreal Excellence HiColor HiLights in Magenta with a tube of the red and add in 40 developer for the strongest lift. For every tube of dye I use I mix in twice as much developer (i.e 1.2 oz = 2.4 oz of developer.) I do this because it's what the box says and typically it's a good idea to just do what it says when you have only a nauvis idea of what you're doing. I start from my ends and work my way up to my roots so that the dye is on my darker parts the longest since that is where I need the most lift. Typically, I'll leave the dye on for an hour. I'll keep it all wrapped up in a disposable shower cap and add heat for the last 10 to 15 minutes before washing it out. My scalp never hurts or burns during this process but, if you have a sensitive scalp and thinner hair I would recommend leaving it on for a shorter amount of time (the box recommends 30 minutes.) After I'm done I'll put in a leave-in conditioner or my Alterna Caviar CC Cream 10 in 1 Complete Corrector. I do this to apologize for my hair abuse and make my hair feel a bit softer. Typically I'll let my hair air dry after I dye it unless I have something to do or I'm about to go to bed. - going to bed with wet hair is my least favorite thing.
After I get my hair to my desired shade I am probably going to just keep the color up using Manic Panic dye and use the L'Oreal Excellence HiColor HiLights for root touch-ups. Until then, this is my routine and although it is a bit time consuming I have to say that I'm happy with the results. The L'Oreal Excellence HiColor HiLights dyes are one of the better products I have ever used and I would totally recommend it to anyone with dark hair trying to go red... or any other color really. The line has a pretty decent color selection to choose from.
I apologize to any cosmetologist I have put into cardiac arrest for my reckless and damaging hair habits. I'm so sorry but, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I promise when I go grey I'll come to you and I'll even let you hack a little bit of my dead ends off.
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