Hair and Other Musings

Dyed blonde hair is beautiful but requires special care and maintenance to keep it looking its best. It is prone to fading. dryness, frizz, and other problems that come from the lightening process used to achieve it.  Your blonde hair doesn't have to look frizzy and feel dry though because there are steps you can take to ensure it is kept looking and feeling its best. Blonde hair problems When you dye your hair blonde — especially if your hair is naturally dark — a lot of lightening is required to lift out the abundance of natural pigment in order to get your hair light enough. Bleach or dye is used to achieve this lightening, but both products have a drawback that can't completely be avoided in that damage will occur as a side effect of the process with either method. This damage can be superficial or structural, and the type of damage that has occurred dictates what sort of problems you can face, as well as what form of treatment is best for resolving the condition a...

Permanent hair dye allows you to make anything from a subtle to more drastic change to your hair colour with great longevity, only affected by fading over time with most of the style remaining intact until you treat it again or your hair grows out. This power to make such a great change comes at a price however. When you decide to change your hair color, you can't simply dye over it with a lighter shade in most cases because more dye won't lift the previous dye effectively. It's fine in most cases if the new color you want is darker than your current shade, but if you want a lighter color, you need to know how to remove permanent hair dye before you can achieve this. How permanent hair dye works Your hair is comprised of three main structures: the medulla, cortex, and cuticles. The cortex is the inner area of the hair shaft where hair color is located, and in order for permanent dye to change the way your hair looks, dye needs to penetrate into this area. This part ...

Violet shampoo is one of the best ways to keep blonde hair looking beautiful and to prevent warmth from becoming too noticeable in your shade. The violet tone in the shampoo combats unwanted yellow in blonde hair, neutralizing it and giving your blonde hair a cooler appearance without the warm brassiness you don't want. What is violet shampoo? Violet shampoo is a toning shampoo containing violet pigment. Violet itself is the complementary tone to yellow, and when both of these colors are present in your hair, a neutral tone results because they effectively cancel each other out. Violet shampoos add violet into your blonde hair to 'tone out' visible yellow and gold tones, helping you to maintain a blonde color that isn't brassy. Not all shampoo is equal Violet shampoos vary widely in how concentrated they are, and even whether specific products are a pure violet tone or actually a mixture of tones. A violet shampoo that isn't as concentrated has a weaker to...

A mahogany brown hair color suits many people because it is a vibrant blend of red and violet tone that has elements of both cool and warm hair color. Even if you have a cooler skin tone and don't normally suit red hair, chances are that you can pull off a mahogany brown color. What is mahogany brown hair? Mahogany shades incorporate rich red tones that are blended with a less dominant violet tone. This gives the shade a similar appearance to mahogany wood, which is itself a deep, rich red color. As mahogany shades contain violet color, they work well with a cool skin tone, as the violet tone helps to soften the warmth that would otherwise completely clash with your complexion. Essentially, mahogany brown hair is a color that can suit people who wouldn't normally be able to successfully pull off red hair. The dye process The dye process for mahogany brown hair depends on whether your hair is already brown or is blonde. A different procedure is required in both cas...

[1] Hair dye is one of the best ways to change your look and create a brand new style. Whether you dye your hair a few times in your lifetime, or you change your color every chance you get, you'll get the best results if you learn how to color hair before applying the dye. Level and tone Your hair color is a combination of two different qualities: level and tone. Understanding these qualities is the secret to coloring hair at home for a salon result. The level is a scale from 1 to 10 which represents how dark the actual color of your hair is. Hair that is a level 1 is black, whilst hair that is a level 10 is nearly white. Tone, on the other hand, describes the actual color that is present. This can be either a cool or warm tonal direction. The different tones include: Ash Pearl Natural Beige Golden Copper Red Mahogany Violet There are also many different combinations that can be made up by blending these tones together; such as honey or caramel c...

[1] A keratin hair treatment is a type of hair straightening treatment that is rather unique in what it can achieve and how it works. These treatments can not only smooth and straighten hair to a completely pin straight result, but also do this without damage, unlike relaxers and other conventional methods of straightening hair. In fact, these products actually repair existing damage and can greatly improve the condition of your hair, leaving it feeling better than it did before using the product. How Do Keratin Treatments Work? Hair is made of a protein called keratin. This protein forms the strong yet elastic structure of your hair and gives it all its natural qualities, including determining whether it looks straight or curly. This natural texture is due to chemical bonds between individual keratin proteins in your hair. Keratin itself, as a protein, is comprised of amino acids. An amino acid called cysteine forms disulfide bonds with other cysteine molecules. The...

[1] Platinum blonde hair is beautiful, although it can often be a difficult color both to achieve and maintain. This is because in order to get a platinum blonde hair color, your hair needs to be lightened quite a bit. In fact, it first needs to reach a very pale yellow shade before it can be properly toned to platinum. What is platinum blonde? Platinum blonde hair is typically a pale silvery blonde color, although warmer variants like beige platinum blonde also exist. In order to achieve this color, your hair must be effectively lightened to close to a level 10, which is the lightest hair color possible. This results in pale yellow hair that is the color of the inside of a banana peel. Of course, this banana color isn't what would be considered platinum yet, and toning is required to neutralize the small amount of remaining warm pigment. A pastel violet toner is used in this last step to correct this warmth and produce a sleek, frosty blonde color. The dye pro...