Category : Blogs

Sub Category : Fashion

First I’m going to define “box” color. Box color is any color you find in a box or a tube at your local drug store: this includes Sally’s beauty supply. Sally’s does not carry professional products, that is why it is open to the public. ( I go to a supply store that only carries professional products and only sells to individuals with a cosmetology license) If it’s found in a box or a tube, unprofessional color still does the same amount of damage.

Box color contains metallic salts. Metallic salts are detrimental to the integrity of your hair. Metallic salts are permanent and do not leave your hair. This is where it gets bad. Every time you color your hair, you overlap the fresh color on top of where you previously colored your hair. When metallic salts overlap, it causes a chemical reaction. Your hair burns and breaks off at the point where it is overlapped. This causes lots a breakage. Would you like soft, thick, healthy hair? Not possible with these chemicals. 
 
Other chemicals found in box color. Box color contains the same chemicals that are found in a perm. A perm is designed to alter the chemical makeup of you hair. It is also more harsh than a color service, and causes lots of damage to your hair if not used properly. Can you imagine perming your hair every month when you think you are just touching up your color? What condition will you hair be in, especially when you are doing this on your own at home? Have you noticed your hair doesn’t feel the same after your in home color? It’s more dry, it won’t “behave”, you can’t get a comb thru it, or you have resorted to letting it air dry because of the frizz. This is why. 

Ok so metallic salts, chemical changes, now lets go to the ammonia that is found in box color. Ammonia is a chemical that is used to lift the hair and cover gray if needed. It is also extremely damaging to your hair when not used properly or when there is too much ammonia deposited at one time. When you come and see me for a chemical service, I formulate a color specific to your needs. Is your hair fragile, are there precautions I need to take to protect the integrity of your hair, do you need gray coverage, how many levels of lightening are needed, what is the underlying pigment in your natural color (meaning what colors will it pull when it’s lifting) or am I simply depositing color? Has you hair been colored before? I take all these things into account, and with my education in the chemistry makeup of hair and all my years of experience I formulate a color specific to your needs. This is not possible with box color. It is simply a one size fits all concept when you buy a color at the drug store. If you go to the store and buy a box that says “platinum blonde” that color is made to lift any type of hair, whether is light brown or black, so it will have the maximum amount of ammonia possible. 
The aftermath:
* overprocessed, damaged, dry hair:
     Does your hair take forever to dry? Does it hold water after you wash it. Are you forced to let it air dry with no style because you simply do not have time to dry it? Dry damaged hair holds moisture. It’s sucks up water like a sponge. The more damaged your hair is the longer it takes to dry.

* texture change,
    You can’t blow dry your hair, you are lucky if you can run a comb thru the tangles. Your hair won’t “behave”, it might be wavy when before it was straight. Remember how box color has the same ingredients as a chemical perm? These are results of a chemical change and excessive damage. Not only will you find yourself letting your hair air dry with no style, you will also find yourself buying random oils, masks, and potential styling products to control your hair or help it retain moisture. These efforts most likely are done in vain, because once hair is damaged there is no fixing it. 

*breakage,
   Healthy hair has elasticity. You can pull it and it will snap back. It has some strength, it won’t just snap off under pressure. Once your hair is compromised to the point where there is little to no elasticity, it simply breaks off. Once the breaking begins it’s just continues, there is no fixing it. That’s why people say when they get a haircut their hair grows. Your hair always grows, but if it’s breaking off on the ends it will not feel or look longer. It’s just a vicious cycle of growing and then breaking with no end in sight. 

*uneven results, hot roots, different colors then you intended, darker ends 
   I can tell you why your roots are lighter than your ends. I can tell you why your ends always end up darker and darker. I can tell you why your hair always pulls the tones you don’t want, or turns orange and green. I can tell you why your hair is chemically fried and why it will never feel the same like it did before your in-home color treatment. But let’s say you figured all this out and you are getting the perfect color from your own home. What exactly are you putting on your hair? I hate to break it to you but the celebrities you see on TV are not using Nice-n-Easy in their bathrooms. They are going to a high end salon and getting professional results. Some of them wear wigs. So what are you really buying? A $5 box, maybe you even have a coupon, after the company pays for the packaging and the advertisement what is left? Of course there are scientific reasons to why your hair reacts the way it does to the chemicals in the box, but the quality of the product is also an issue. To look at a beautiful professional color and cut on a celebrity and expect the same result with a budget of $5 is madness. So bottom line is: use at your own risk! Hair color is a science where beautiful and perfect colors are individualized and formulated by professionals using high quality products.