Radiance To Dye For

First off, yey for red hair dye. This blog was a good idea.
Second, I need help. I dye my hair from a box red pretty much every six weeks and have been for sooo long now. I like to switch up the colors of red. My preferred dye is Feria in Ruby Fusion or Ruby Rush. Now I wanna go lighter though, more like an orangey red. But every time I try to lighten it, it doesn't take and stays the same dark red.
What would you recommend doing? I hate bleaching my hair but I feel like I might have to.

Hey! I was the anon that suggested people posting their pictures and the type of dye they used :) I'm glad you liked my suggestion. I'm actually typing this now as I'm dying my hair red again (using Wella's demipermanent Fiery Red, it stays a while for it being a demi).

I really like what you're doing here. I have a few comments to make on previous questions.

For the girl with henna! Careful! Henna is so permanent and very hard to dye over. It can give you a beautiful color but you have to grow it out in order to get rid of it.

And to the ladies (or gentlemen, sorry) with dark hair wanting to go red! Careful! I've made the mistake of bleaching before going red. It makes your hair the brightest, most fire trucky unnatural red available. Definitely consult a professional on that one. I did have a friend, though, who had really dark hair and used Manic Panic red dye. It tinted her hair a nice color that you could really see out in the sunlight.

Anyway! Keep it up :)

love this blog. this was genius! i was wondering since red hair fades easily is it healthier to do the routine touch ups with permanent hair dye or semi-permanent hair dye?

im not a pro at this so im sorry if this is a dumb question ;)

I've been bleaching my hair for a few years now, and I've recently been dying to dye my hair red again. But, from experience, I know red doesn't last very long, especially once it's been applied to hair as light as mine. Do you have any ideas on what dyes(boxed or professional, either works) that might last a tad longer in super blonde hair? Or any tips for making it last longer, without terribly damaging my hair?
Thanks girl :)

I am a trained cosmetologist and I have to agree with the person who mentioned "strangling hair follicles".

I have glanced over what's been posted and while I don't have much issue with it, as a non-professional it's harder to give accurate information. Even among professionals, older stylists often practice poor technicques, the choice in beauty school newer stylists attend affects the quality of the cut/color/service, etc.

And then on top of that, as a professional I know how easily people misunderstand what hairstylists say. They hear things a hairstylists mentions to somebody else and because they aren't trained misunderstand or even if the hairstylist is talking specifically to them, it's easy to misunderstand. I'm not saying you're giving out bad information, and I am very appreciative that you put that you're not a professional because of this.

Shampooing your hair opens it up, any shampoo is going to do it. It raises the PH level of your hair which opens the cuticle (outer protective layer) to allow dirt to come out. I've never heard of a shampoo that opens your hair less and if it does then in all honesty you're being ripped off. That's the purpose of shampoo. Conditioner lowers the PH level back down to where it should be, sealing the cuticle.

So anybody coloring their hair, or in general, needs to be sure to follow their shampoo with a conditioner. A cool rinse is FANTASTIC for any hair type as it helps go that extra step in sealing down the cuticle. It doesn't have to be freezing, I usually take mine down to what it feels like when you're jumping in a slightly chill pool in the summer.

Also, DEEP CONDITION. No, not leaving normal conditioner on longer. Buy an actual deep conditioner to repair dry/damaged hair. I've heard some at home remedies, but a decent deep conditioner isn't too expensive and lasts a good while just using once a week. Now, it really depends more on the person and their hair needs exactly what type they get (if they have oily hair they don't need moisture)... but healthy hair holds color better than damaged.

And honestly, if you care about your red hair, I have to say go to a professional. In my past I have used a box color and my hair was fine, but you get the best results and care going to a professional. You can waste so much money trying out the wrong products for your hair, a professional is trained for reason. And we have to fix many at-home beauty mistakes often. Even if you use box dye and you find it to work for you, which is great if you want to go that route, it can be more drying. The stuff that comes in boxed dyes you can purchase over the counter is not what is used in salons, even if it's by the same company. And definitely I recommend salon professional products. I've used cheap products before, but you're going to get the best results from professional products, often which last longer as they're more concentrated... so they're not necessarily more expensive. Products like Paul Mitchell aren't that much worse than what you get at wal-mart (and just so you know, don't buy Paul Mitchell at CVS or anywhere that isn't a salon/has a salon as it's not supposed to be sold there and is likely tampered with and more expensive than had you got it from a salon). I've used a red color shampoo from loreal that I believe is available at Ulta, it is my favorite. Even when I dyed my hair blonde I used it to go back red for a few days.

And what the person was saying about it suffocating the hair is that products like pantene coat the hair, which ISN'T good for it and suffocate it so when you stop using it may feel like you're losing some of your hair. It's not making your hair healthier at all! Use good products (I don't even use a color specific shampoo and my color lasts) for your hair type and don't wash your hair every day and maybe get a color locking spray to help (Paul Mitchell has one... I was Paul Mitchell trained but have used Aveda and Redkin in the salons). Get a color shampoo to use every other shampoo and your color will last and stay beautiful.

And I'm not trying to sound like I think you shouldn't run this blog, like I said... I'm super glad you state you're not a professional, but I have to agree with that person that many of the products you listed can smother hair. Some aren't bad and I understand beauty on a budget, but having gone from beauty on a budget to professional products, I've learned professional products aren't that much more expensive and make a WORLD of difference :)

Do you have any recommendations for a girl with very dark brown hair and easily tanned skin who has always envied redheads?
I'd love to dye my hair, but I would look disastrous as a blonde. And bleaching has always seemed like the only way to let any color show up in my hair. Also, because of my skin tone, most reds seem like they would look all sorts of wrong.
I hope this makes sense.