Anyone giving hair coloring advice could start with the fact that mixing chemical hair products should be done carefully. Every time you color hair (or chemically straighten or perm it), you damage the hair structure. Too many chemical treatments can ruin the hair completely.
Coloring products have to open up the cuticle to allow color to penetrate, and harsh chemicals like ammonia can leave the strand looking like Swiss cheese. Try adding in a chemical permanent or straightening treatment and you can end up with hair that looks like straw.
Because the harsh chemicals in hair products do create tiny holes in the hair strand, too many treatments with different chemicals can make the hair excessively porous. Hair that is too porous will absorb color more quickly and give inconsistent or unusual results. It also may have trouble retaining the color, fading much faster than desired and turning strange colors as it fades.
A good test for this is the “sink-or-swim” test. This checks to ensure hair is safe to color after another chemical treatment. Just snip off a small piece of hair and put it in water. If it still floats after a few seconds, it’s safe to color. If it sinks, the hair has become too porous and is not safe to color.
An easier solution—and a safe way to avoid all these problems in the first place—is to use a gentler, plant-based product that doesn’t rip the hair to shreds. Organic Color Systems, for example, doesn’t use ammonia in their products. The cuticle of the hair is lifted gently, keeping the cuticle intact and not poking it full of holes. This enables the hairdresser to color hair multiple times without the side effects of dry and brittle hair. They also have a perm product that doesn’t use thioglycolates, meaning that you can perform multiple chemical treatments with less damage.
For anyone who likes to change her hair frequently or gets multiple chemical treatments, gentler is better. One client who liked to completely change her hair color several times a month found that Organic Color Systems enabled her to do it without ruining her hair.
But if you are getting your hair colored and permed (or chemically straightened), remember that time is your friend. Permanent color and chemical texturizing should not be done on the same day. You can get a semi permanent service done instead, or wait two to three days before getting the other treatment. And, for your hair’s sake, find a hairstylist who uses a gentler product. You’ll thank yourself that you did.
