For all those long haired colourists out there:

I think I have finally reached the point now where one bottle of hair colour doesn't quite cut it anymore. (I'm a redhead, and what I usually do is the roots first, and then the last 15 minutes of developing time, I use the remainder of the dye on the rest of my hair to revive the red a bit.)

Is it just me or are hair dye companies cutting back on the amount they give you in a box of dye and yet are still raising the price? I remember 10 years ago you got a load of dye for about €8. Now you get half that amount for €12.  >:(

Anyhoo, in my long winded, drawn out way, here is my question:

What do ye long haired lassies do when it's time to touchup yer roots? Do you buy more than one bottle?

Cheers for your input!
x

Rua- I don't colour my hair at home, but what do you
use for colour?  Does it cause any damage to your
hair?  I used to have my hair salon coloured red but
I switched to blonde because the red faded so fast.
sorry I can't help you on the box problem.  I've been looking for a hair friendly colour but all I can come up
with is henna, and I don't want to try that because
it seems so unpredictable and such a mess.(besides
I can't do it on my previously highlighted hair.)

Hiya Babyfine!

I usually use Feria or Garnier...although I have used at one time or another nearly every brand out there! Since I colour my hair more of an intense deep red, it's adding colour in rather than stripping colour out so it isn't as hard on my hair.

However, I think any home hair dye can be a bit hard on your hair if you don't condition properly. I always make sure that the week leading up to the colour and the week following, I do extra conditioning. So far I've been colouring for 10 years and haven't gotten fried hair!

A word about henna:
I tried that about 5 years ago, and I agree with you; it's unpredictable and very messy. I tried it cuz I wanted a natural alternative to colouring red. In the end I got BLOND roots and orange hair. Don't know how that happened, but I never did it again. The only good thing is that it was really shiny and in good condition. LOL

Yes, I agree that going red or darker is definately easier
on the hair.  I did use henna a long time ago, I don't
know if it was pure henna, I bought it at a beauty supply
shop.   Anyway it  the roots turned auburn but the ends
turned almost black, probably due to a residual perm
I had on the ends!!  I wore my hair in a bun for a while!
Fortunatly, it faded away and my hair was left in good
condition.  

To color the full length of my hair I use a bottle and a half, that's seems to be just right. Two bottles was just too much, it got really messy with that much. To do just the roots I use half a bottle. I do the roots every 4-6 weeks (depending on how fast my hair grows out) and I color ALL on my hair once a year or so if the ends are looking faded or the color needs evening out.

I divide the amounts BEFORE mixing that way I can save the other half for the next time.   ;)

Thats a really good idea. Why didn't I think of that?  :P

How long is your hair Autumn? Do you colour red as well?

wrote on Oct 1^st, 2004 at 9:44pm:

How long is your hair Autumn? Do you colour red as well?

My hair is just about hip length, my hair is naturally very dark brown I colour it black.  :)

I color my brown/grey hair auburn. While it would have taken about 3 boxes to do it all the first time, now I only touch up the roots, and it takes about half a box. I don't put the color through the hair at all. If I notice that the color in my hair is starting to fade, I will use a box of semi-permanent color to brighten it up.

3 Boxes! WOW! eKatherine, You're hair colour looks lovely in all your photos, so you are obviously doin something right!

And Autumn, you're long black hair sounds beautiful!

I suppose my biggest concern is that the shade of colour I use tends to fade a bit and go slightly brassy after about 5 weeks. I just don't want to end up with tecnicolour hair on the roots and faded on the ends the longer it gets. (I would change the colour, but I absolutely LOVE it when it's fresh dyed!)

But since all of ye have found ways to avoid that I'm sure I will too! Thanks very much for your input!