Hair Colour Thoughts - YouLookFab Forum

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Hair Colour Thoughts

Deborah

Veteran

Hi Ladies,

I have been considering a full colour next hair appointment rather than foils, however I have just read this comment from a Parisienne hair stylist and I wondered what you thought?

The response is in relation to short hair: "This is a big thing: avoid highlights. Highlights are often a disaster on short hair. Highlights in the classic sense. You get stripes, you get lines. Most of the time it’s better to do a single color or a fashion color [two colors are mixed for more dimension] but almost never highlights"

My thinking has been that highlights (tips/foils) look a little more natural (??) providing a multi dimensional look and don't require maintenance quite as regularly as a full colour.

Love to know what you think and short haired girls who colour their hair, what do you do?

Thanks so much
xxxDeborah

General

16 replies

Latest reply was from Sharon

carolbee

Veteran

I gave up full colour years ago as its just too hard to maintain with a short do and going grey. I now have foils of silver and black to give it more texture and I think it looks a lot more natural, and at the moment its grown out quite a bit but still looks good. Unless you especially want to do something different I would suggest you stick to foils.

annaj

Veteran

I had a full colour once, and never again! I had regrowth within a week that bothered me, and by 4 weeks, I was screaming for a re-do! I'm a low maintenance hair girl though, so I don't like to "have" to get mine done more than every 6 weeks, and I'd prefer to go 8-10 if I can get away with it.

I've learnt to keep my highlights as an under layer too. If I leave my part-line my natural hair colour, the regrowth is never as noticeable

Having said all that, I'm not colouring my hair at all at the moment - I decided to save the money, and avoid the extra maintenance, so feel free to disregard my "advice"!!

Adelfa

Veteran

I remember Angie said once she does balayage, maybe that's a good alternative?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I think the stylist's comment is a huge overgeneralization.

It depends on: the colour, the specific cut, the colour of the highlights and level of contrast to the natural hair colour, and the way in which the highlights are applied.

Ditto full colour -- it can be lovely, or it can be flat and blah and too unidimensional.

It's true that highlights clumsily applied on a layered short cut can result in stripes or spots. I've suffered this myself from time to time. But that was the exception, not the rule.

Kristin L

Veteran

My aunt gets her hair frosted regularly and she's never been stripey. I think you probably just have to be a bit more careful.

I use to color my hair frequently (every 4-5 weeks) because when it's short, it's very easy to do at home. But, it does take more commitment because of roots. I'd say go ahead an try it. If you don't like it, then go back to highlights.

Aziraphale

Veteran

How short is short? Full colour on extremely short hair can look great, because there's something cool about roots in that case. I'm thinking peroxide blond with dark roots showing, not dark hair with grey roots showing, mind you.

For longer short hairstyles -- like mine -- I don't totally agree with your hairdresser. I get that doing highlights that look natural is something that takes some skill, but I think it can be done. I can see why long hair is more forgiving. Hair that is naturally blond and quite long will lighten toward the ends -- case in point, my ten year old daughter and all her blond classmates -- and that effect isn't too hard to mimic. But if my daughter's hair were cut into a chin-length bob, the colour would suddenly appear much more uniform, because most of the tonal variation is in the bottom two thirds of her hair. I think that's why highlighted shorter hairstyles can look a bit unnatural. It's because that tonal variation doesn't occur so much in nature with short hair. But I think a skilled hairstylist could pull it off. I think the trick is to make the highlights only a few shades lighter than the background hair colour.

I had highlighted, long blond hair for many years. A big part of the reason I stopped highlighting it was that I had it cut to chin-length, and it looked better solid brown in that style.

Of course how I have rainbow red highlights, which DO look like big unnatural stripes -- but that's kind of the point, right?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I couldn't disagree more with the Parisian hairstylist's comment, Debs. I have had a full colour done a few times on my short hair and absolutely loathed it. I much prefer several colours going through my light hair. The two toned effect is exactly what I am after. Kind of '80s, more interesting, texture-rich, and to my eye more attractive.

I do have a very competent hair stylist who foils my hair so that it doesn't look stripey. The regrowth is natural too.

I do like the effect of full colour on dark hair though.

Marley

Veteran

I too disagree with the hairdresser. Just find yourself someone who's good at doing highlights and discuss with him/her where you want your highlights placed. Sometimes I get my done so that its very natural looking - and sometimes I purposely get a stripe or two because I like that look. Full color (the few times I have tried it) have been a disaster on me. It made my hair look flat and dull and thin. The multi-colors from highlights look much more natural in my opinion.

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

Deborah, I'm so glad you brought this up, because I'm about to get my hair highlighted next week. I'm in agreement with others who feel that an all-over solid color doesn't work for me, as I like the dimension that two, possibly three colors, can offer.

I'm intrigued by the fashion color and the two colors for dimension you talked about above. Now, that I'm getting a little grey at the temples, my concern seems to be finding a shade of blonde that works "with" this and doesn't compete with it.

btw, I love your new haircut.

Marley

Veteran

Just popped back in to add that I get both highlights and lowlights. Usually 2 or 3 different highlights and 1 or 2 lowlights.

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Well, I love your blond highlights, so I'd say stick with it!

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

The advice of the Parisienne stylist may hold more true for dark hair. For light hair, several shades look more natural I think. Only very small children or the unusual adult has a one-color head of hair, and if so it tends to be very, very light.

gryffin

Veteran

Deborah - I have always thought your hair looked wonderful. Also did that Parisienne colorist differentiate between dark hair and blondes? My blonde friends look wonderful with many soft colors woven through it gives such dimension to the color. I have darker brown hair - if you single process with the right color and toner the grays act as highlights - because there is already a huge contrast in coloration. I am not sure you'd get enough of that since the level of difference between blonde and gray is less. Just a thought.

lyn67

Veteran

So interresting to read everybody's thoughts. I think I have stressed YLF with almost same hair coloring querries 1-2 yrs. ago and there has to be a thread in the archives here for the evidence of it.

After years of doing highlights (sometimes lowlights, too) that damaged my thin chin length ashy blond hair I eventually went with a full (no ammoniac) color (L'Oreal Casting Glossy Blondes 801) done by myself at home and never looked back again. It's easy and convenient to do it (as I don't need an appointment) and am very happy with the results, too. My hair is not that grey yet, still has some color in it at the roots, so I'm OK dyeing it every 6-7 weeks, or so.

I've choosen a shade which is most appropiate to my natural color(when younger), and the big trick is to apply it only to the roots for 20 minutes, and I mess it all together to the ends only for the last 5 minutes-then wash. This way I find my hair is not dull, but multitonal: the roots are darker meanwhile the ends are always lighter -and look completely natural-like mentioned in Aziraphale's post that her DD's has it, too.

I too agree that doing a 100% full color from roots to end on my thin blonde hair is looking very dull and artifficial on me, too-but I used to get the same look if got too many highlights of a low contrast with my base, too.

kkards

Veteran

I have always found highlights, especially on short hair, to be much more natural, not to mention, much easier to maintain. To cover my grey, I now color my hair,but even with that we either highlight every view months, or use multiple colors and processes to get the effect of highlights. Otherwise, IMO it looks one dimensional. (Just realized I said we, that's because I generally let the guy who does my hair do what ever he wants, he gets to be freer than with most of his clients and I get a better style than I could ever come up with on my own).

Sharon

Veteran

I think the key is to have a stylist who knows what they are doing. I get foils through my hair, and then usually some shade of red over the top and I think the effect is textured rather than stripey. But I have seen stripes on people with less competent hairdressers. One colour all over can look flat and dull.