First time to dye my hair.

Leelaa22

Hey everyone I'm a hair dye virgin and I need your advice.
My hair used to be red an auburn shade, was very nice but over the years the red has faded. I used to use henna shampoos to try and keep the red going but it doesnt work anymore.
I want to dye my hair red, but I want to dye it a similar shade to Rihanna in her "only girl in the world video"



Can you tell me could I do a home job on that (my hair is medium red/brown)
Or
Do I need to go to a hairdresser if so will I have to get my hair lightened first?
I only ask cause Im a student and very low on funds.

CK2010

grrr, all i get lately is 'aw your hair is the same as rihannas', nope- hers is the same as mine! :P so be prepared for people to comment! for ages i was like 'wtf..she has brown short hair, mine is long and bright red!!' then i saw the video!

if you want it that bright then yes you will have to pre-lighten, not even to a very blonde colour but you will have to lighten in first to get that result. since your hair is prob in really good condition from not dying it id recommend a hairdresser from the start to minimize damage- even if only for the lightening process.

i used to use stargazer which was really conditioning stuff but ive recently started using crazy colour in red and its much better colour wize- its semi permanent but tbh with red dye you're gonna need to keep redoing it very often so you may as well do that with a less damaging semi-permanent colour than a permanent one. you get me?

be prepared for lots and lots of maintenance! it washes out so quick! and if you're pre-lightening it will get damaged so maybe invest in some good quality products to ensure it stays shiney and beautiful!!

Leelaa22

thanks for the advice, where would I get crazy colour? yeah id a feeling there would be alot of maintenance, but I always spend ages taking care of my hair anyway with products, I hope ill just be swapping one bunch of products for another.

CK2010

i got it in omni park shopping centre in a place called hair crazy (i think), a supply store. id say you could get it in other supply stores or beauty shops too though.

that place also does a big bottle of peroxide and a big tub of blue powder for less than two boxes of the pre-lightening stuff in boots. so if you buy that you'll have enough for multiple applications- handy if you dont get the result you want from the first application because the mixture stops working after a while so you'll need to re-apply it if you dont lift the colour enough first time.
but before you buy any bleach/lightener check the volume/% first and make sure you're using the right one for your hair. that shop in omni and many supply stores dont give any advice so know yourself before hand what exactly you want/need. obviously if you buy an at-home kit there'll be instructions!

stargazer is good too though, i just found it washed out a bit faster than crazy colour but thats probably because crazy colour is more damaging and less conditioning than stargazer! and you can get stargazer in new look for nearly half the price of CC for 7euro, or else £4 online.
with stargazer i used to mix their red colours with pink colours to get a nice red shade!
these give a really nice gloss and are quite vibrant on unlightened hair (obviously not as bright as rihannas) but i remember my hairdresser asking me what dye i used and when i told her she was like 'no sweetie i think you've made a mistake cause you wouldnt get that vibrant a result with semi permanent unless you bleached it first'!! she wouldnt believe me no matter what i said! :rolleyes::)

only problem with both dyes is the staining of everything! your bathroom/shower/bath/grouting between tiles will go red!! and not just temporarily! regardless of how quick you are to wash it off!

the XXL ones are good and last a while but i never used them on lightened hair so i never got a vibrant result and kinda never bothered again after lightening it!

hope this helps you a bit!