Hair Color Build-up
A: Do you have it colored at the salon every month? Stylists apply the color to the root or regrowth area only, and then let it develop according to the color-house time instructions.
If your stylist colors the whole length of the hair for the duration of the full developing time (30-45 minutes), then you should ask him or her why he/she does this. There might be a reason that he/she does this, but it is not the norm, and not encouraged in most circumstances.
Hair color should be applied only to the root or regrowth area of the hair, and left to develop for 25-40 minutes, depending on the color, room temperature, whether there is gray hair to cover, and color-house instructions.
In the last five or ten minutes, the remaining color should be combed through to the tips with a large comb, as to only refresh the artificial color along the length of the hair. This is standard salon practice, and if your stylist deviates from this, he/she must have a legitimate and plausible reason to do so. If he/she doesn't have a good explanation, there's a very good chance that your ends are becoming over-processed and damaged by the color build-up.
This is usually the mistake that people make who color their hair at home with a box of commercial color. People tend to dump the whole box on their head, wait for 40 minutes and then wash their hair, thinking it's a job well done. It's not. The roots end up being lighter than the rest of the hair, resulting in a streaky, uneven and uncultured end result. The ends turn almost black over time, due to product- and color build-up, while store bought products struggle to cover persistent gray hair.
These women end up with dull, often oily hair that shows gray hair at the roots even right after coloring it, while the ends are significantly darker than the roots. The only way to fix this type of hair is to go to a stylist. He/she will apply a color-stripper to the ends first, then the mid-lengths and briefly to the root area of the hair shaft. After this has been rinsed, the hair will be dried and colored the correct color, as per request of the client coupled with advice from the stylist.
The stylist may opt to first color the hair with a semi-permanent color, have it rinsed after it has developed, and only then color the hair with a permanent color. This ensures that the cortex of the hair is completely stained by the color, as well as adding enough artificial pigment and nourishment to keep the color from washing out as best as possible.
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See also:
How to color hair
Hair coloring problems in a salon
What can go wrong with hair color services