How would I look...

[yooniecorn]

I have my heart set on red, 'xactly like the pictures I've attached. Multi-tonal, bright, bold, wild, funky, etc. Nothing clownish or brassy.

I have relatively pale (somewhere around NW20) skin with pinkish/reddish undertones, medium-green eyes and medium-dark brown hair beyond my waist. It has some blondish/reddish tones in the sun. Does my colouring sound suitable for such a vivid shade?

I'm almost certain that I'd need to bleach my hair to get this colour, is that correct? If so, how much damage would it do? I take pride in my long and essentially pristine hair, and I hate harsh chemicals...but I might be willing to try if you girls ease my worries. And if I decide to keep my hair that way, how often would it need a touchup (at least give me an idea..)? Is a multi-tonal effect like that very hard to do? (P.S. I'd definitely hire a professional colorist, possibly in NYC...no at-home colouring jobs for me, sorry...)

Give me the scoop!:sheep:

 

[MacForMe]

I dont know about that.. Why not reddish highlights instead?

 

[yooniecorn]

Well...highlights just seem so...boring, subtle, and archetypal...my style is a little more on the "alternative" side.

 

[MacForMe]

I'm hearing you.. But with hair so long and in such great condition.. I'm not sure that I would want to risk it.. what if you hate it?

Maybe you can try something like a red rinse to see how you'd look? Granted its your hair, but once you color it.. you gotta maintain it.. you have root growth, ends that fade and dry out fast.. stuff like that..

 

[vickih]

ooh.. hope you are ready for a lot of maintenance..

don't ruin your hair.. natural is beautiful

 

[han]

that color is beautiful and i think it would look good on you but red as vivid as that is alot of maintenence red fades faster than any color.. and depending on your normal color i dont know how much lift you need and how harsh it's gonna be.. you could cut it so its not so long and then color and when you go to do touch ups get trims.. but as long as it is now i dunno, you really need to go see a professinoal and see what they say..

 

[rejectstar]

Oh man... I absolutely adore red hair. But-- if you want to save your long and pristine hair, then don't do it! You'd probably have to bleach it to get such a vivid colour, and red is SO hard to keep. It fades extremely fast. With all the touch ups you'd have to do to keep the red looking gorgeous and vibrant, it would definitely take a toll on your hair's health. :10:

Sorry to be a downer /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> You say you hate harsh chemicals, but you'd end up having to douse your head in them every couple of months to keep up colour like that, sorry to say! And with it being all multi-tonal, it'd make it even more difficult than if you just wanted a straight red.

The only thing I could really recommend if you value the health and length of your hair is henna. You can get a wonderfully vivid red colour, and it's much better for your hair. I don't think you could do a really strong multi-tonal type thing with henna, but it works with the natural high and lowlights in your hair, so you'd probably end up with a more subtle multi-tonal effect.

I've never actually used it myself, though. Apparently it's really really messy and time consuming, but it's supposed to make your hair stronger and more shiny. I was reading a website today about henna you could check out, if you're interested: Dye hair jet black with indigo: no chemicals and no allergic reactions. Sorry the link says indigo for black hair, there's actually info. on the website about henna for red hair as well.

 

[KatJ]

I would try just a few highlights/streaks first to get an idea of what you would have in store for yourself.