This process of relaxing the hair cuticles to reach the cortex of your hair and bleach out its natural pigment is, essentially, hair damage. Over treating your hair with these chemicals will cause it to lose luster, break easily, and in some extreme cases, wash away with water.
Sure, we all want to change our look every once in a while and sometimes that involves changing our hair color also. But there are a few adventurous souls that have taken changing their hair color to a whole new level with frequent colorings leaving their hair lifeless and damaged beyond repair. While there are many professional hair coloring systems out there that only cause minimal damage to hair, many people still insist on buying hair color from department stores so that they can apply it at home. In many cases, this type of hair color causes extreme damage and if you use it too often, it could turn into a nightmare. You see, hair color is a chemical that changes the structure of your hair. Each time you color, the outside layer of your hair is raised so that color can be pushed into the hair strand. With each subsequent coloring, this outside layer finds it more and more difficult to close to its natural and healthy position. It is this layer that first takes the brunt of hair color damage. It is also this layer that is responsible for the shine and vibrancy of your hair color. If you color too much, you will first notice a dull or dry appearance coming from the roughened up outer layer of your hair strand. In addition to making your hair look healthy and shiny, the outside layer or cuticle layer is also responsible for holding your color in. Once it refuses to close properly, your color will start to fade and over time, become completely washed out. Trying to color your hair again, will only be a temporary fix with the color always seeping out of the damaged areas. If you ignore all of these damage signals and continue to color your hair, you will eventually break down the entire make up of your hair strands. At best, hair will become brittle and break. At worst, it will turn into mush and disintegrate right before your eyes. To keep all of these dire hair color consequences from becoming reality, be sure to leave enough time in between colors for your hair to recuperate. Try not to do any drastic color changes for at least 6 months unless your hair is short. Also, do not color your hair from root to tip for each and ever color touch up. Color the roots only so that you can avoid further damage to the ends. And get those trims when you need them.
1.WILL COLORING MY HAIR DAMAGE IT?
If you are using a permanent hair color you have to lift the hair using hydrogen peroxide (developer). This process raises or opens up the cuticle layer of the hair to allow the color molecules to penetrate the cortex depositing the color which could damage the hair if not done properly. If you use the wrong level of peroxide or if you constantly change your hair color (over-processing), this is what will cause damage to your hair. However, if you use a semi-permanent or demi-permanent they will help add extra shine and condition to the hair but will only last a couple of shampoos. For more information on how color can damage your hair, see our post on ‘Does Hair color Damage Your Hair?‘.
3. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEMI-PERMANENT, DEMI-PERMANENT, AND PERMANENT?
Semi-permanent hair color does not contain peroxide so it can not lift the hair, therefore it can only make the hair darker and not lighter. The color will only last about six to twelve shampoos because it only deposits the hair color on the outermost layer of the hair. This is a good choice to try if you are afraid you may not like the color. Also, semi-permanent will enhance the shine and condition of the hair since it is not lifting.
Demi-Permanent hair color contains low amounts of peroxide which unlike semi-permanent, it can lighten the hair slightly. Demi-permanent deposits the color between the cuticle and cortex, therefore, making it last longer, anywhere from 12 – 26 washes.
Permanent hair color just as the name suggests, it is a permanent hair color and will last until the colored strands grow out. Permanent hair color can lighten hair up to 4 levels anything more than that is not recommended as it can cause damage to the hair.
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