Q: I am currently in a play where I play an evil woman. The director wants my hair to go black for the show. We have about 3
or 4 weekends of performances. I was wondering what the best way of going medium/light brown to black would be. I can dye my hair more
then once with less permanent chemicals, if that makes the color more likely to fade or wash out. One slight glitch is that I have
senior pictures coming up in a couple of months and would like my hair to be back to its original color by then. Do you have any suggestions?
A: My best suggestion for you is to use a temporary haircolor on your hair in order to achieve the black you want for the play. This,
of course, will require that you re-apply the color after every shampoo, since the temporary color simply rests on top of the hair’s surface.
You will also want to use care with regard to color bleed, as there are often problems of the color
rubbing off onto clothing and furniture and bed linens. These are the “negatives”, while the “positive” is that the color will most
assuredly be easily removed. If your hair is porous or damaged, you may find that the color will hold through more than one shampooing, but generally, it is strictly a temporary service.
If you would prefer something that requires less maintenance, you can opt for a semi-permanent or demi-permanent hair color. These are designed so that the color molecules will pass through the cuticle layer of the hair as well as
resting on the hair’s surface. Most semi- and demi-permanent colors will last through 8-12 shampoos, so this may be the better choice
for you. You can always freshen up the color with an additional application. Since these color formulas are gentle, you can feel safe about repeated uses.
I wish you the best with your performance, and as they say in theater: “Break a leg”.
