Hair Coloring

Hair Coloring is our specialty.  We have become known in Southside Virginia for our expertise in hair coloring.  In fact we have clients that use other stylists located in other salons for their styling but come to us for color.  At Cindy's Hair coloring is an art form is a process that must encompass skin tones, facial structure, and of course the feel you and image you are trying to create.  Is about you and it is important that it be perfect and uniquely you!

The first safe commercial haircolor was created in 1909 by French chemist Eugene Schuller, using the chemical paraphenylenediamine. Hair coloring is very popular today, with over 75% of women coloring their hair and a growing percentage of men following suit. How does haircolor work? It's the result of a series of chemical reactions between the molecules in hair, pigments, as well as peroxide and ammonia, if present.

What is Hair?

Hair is mainly keratin, the same protein found in skin and fingernails. The natural color of hair depends on the ratio and quantities of two other proteins, eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is responsible for brown to black hair shades while phaeomelanin is responsible for golden blond, ginger, and red colors. The absence of either type of melanin produces white/gray hair.

Natural Colorants

People have been coloring their hair for thousands of years using plants and minerals. Some of these natural agents contain pigments (e.g., henna, black walnut shells) and others contain natural bleaching agents or cause reactions that change the color of hair (e.g., vinegar). Natural pigments generally work by coating the hair shaft with color. Some natural colorants last through several shampoos, but they aren't necessarily safer or more gentle than modern formulations. It's difficult to get consistent results using natural colorants, plus some people are allergic to the ingredients.

Temporary Hair Color

Temporary or semi-permanent haircolors may deposit acidic dyes onto the outside of the hair shaft or may consist of small pigment molecules that can slip inside the hair shaft, using a small amount of peroxide or none at all. In some cases, a collection of several colorant molecules enter the hair to form a larger complex inside the hair shaft. Shampooing will eventually dislodge temporary hair color. These products don't contain ammonia, meaning the hair shaft isn't opened up during processing and the hair's natural color is retained once the product washes out.

How Lightening Works

Bleach is used to lighten hair. The bleach reacts with the melanin in hair, removing the color in an irreversible chemical reaction. The bleach oxidizes the melanin molecule. The melanin is still present, but the oxidized molecule is colorless. However, bleached hair tends to have a pale yellow tint. The yellow color is the natural color of keratin, the structural protein in hair. Also, bleach reacts more readily with the dark eumelanin pigment than with the phaeomelanin, so some gold or red residual color may remain after lightening. Hydrogen peroxide is one of the most common lightening agents. The peroxide is used in an alkaline solution, which opens the hair shaft to allow the peroxide to react with the melanin.

Permanent Hair Color

The outer layer of the hair shaft, its cuticle, must be opened before permanent color can be deposited into the hair. Once the cuticle is open, the dye reacts with the inner portion of the hair, the cortex, to deposit or remove the color. Most permanent hair colors use a two-step process (usually occurring simultaneously) which first removes the original color of the hair and then deposits a new color. It's essentially the same process as lightening, except a colorant is then bonded within the hair shaft. Ammonia is the alkaline chemical that opens the cuticle and allows the hair color to penetrate the cortex of the hair. It also acts as a catalyst when the permanent hair color comes together with the peroxide. Peroxide is used as the developer or oxidizing agent. The developer removes pre-existing color. Peroxide breaks chemical bonds in hair, releasing sulfur, which accounts for the characteristic odor of haircolor. As the melanin is decolorized, a new permanent color is bonded to the hair cortex. Various types of alcohols and conditioners may also be present in hair color. The conditioners close the cuticle after coloring to seal in and protect the new color.

Leaving It To Professionals

While many will take the color into their own hands, there is a reason some things are best left in the hands of professionals who have studied, practiced and applied color every day.  While not getting it right is not life threatening, it can certainly be embarrassing and stressful to say the least.  Here are a few things worth considering when you start to think color.

1. Pick the right shade of blonde.  Some women look good in any color (remember Linda Evangelista?), but most women don't. Some rules of thumb for going blonde, according to Allure's Confessions of a Beauty Editor,

Sallow skin with yellow undertones? Deep golds aren't for you.

Pink skin? Avoid strawberry shades, and the list goes on.

2. The right way to go (or stay) brown

Here are more Allure tips for going dark: If you're pale, careful with the super dark tones, you might look ghostly and older. (Eeek).  Just as with blonde, it's best to start out just a couple shades from your natural color. In this case, avoid going more than a couple shades darker initially.

3. To color or to highlight, that's the question. We find women with short hair look better with full color rather than highlights. If you have medium-length to long hair, highlights - especially around the face - can be very flattering. For the most natural-looking highlights, you can ask your stylist for up to five different shades of color, according to 'Confessions.'

Keep in mind that due to root growth, all-over coloring will need to be touched up every four to eight weeks, while highlights can last up to two or three months.

4. Different types of highlights. There are basically four types of highlights: basic foil highlights, baliage or 'hair painting', chunking or 'piecing' and lowlighting.

5. How to tell if you'd make a great blonde A basic rule of thumb: People who had blonde hair as children have the right skin tone to be blonde adults.

6. Don't like the color? Don't be afraid to go back to the salon and talk to your stylist. There are all sorts of ways to fix color that's just not right.

7. After care. Once you invest money in a hair color, you should protect your investment with the proper after-color care. Refresh your color by using a color-enhancing shampoo and conditioner once a week. These products deposit miniscule amounts of color into hair. We can help you here with products that will work best with your hair and color.

8. Root rescue. You can expect your color to last about 6 to eight weeks before your roots show. If your hair is colored, you'll want to get your roots touched up.

If you have highlights or lowlights, you can avoid having your whole head colored by asking your stylist to do your hairline, crown and part.

9. Coloring your hair is one of the most exciting and easiest ways to enhance your appearance. Celebrities, leaders at all levels of societies and even young girls with beautiful, natural hair sometimes add highlights or streaks to enliven their hair. Some people use hair color to hide the gray that comes with aging. Whatever your reasoning may be, make sure it is done well and have fun!