August 18, 2012
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Once you go black, you never go back……
So, during the last several years I’ve colored my hair. The most usual color has been either dark brown or black even though my natural hair color is light brown. The darker color has always been more flattering against my skin tone. Well, I decided it was time to color (and cover up those grays) again. So, I decided that since I was adventurous enough to cut my hair then maybe a change in color might not be so bad. So, I did a poll and several people agreed on red. So off to the store I go. I’m allergic to aloe (as I’ve mentioned before) so that made it a little tough to find a semi-permanent color (please remember the color is semi-permanent). I settled on Dark and Lovely Ravishing Red.
Looked harmful enough….not too bright. I proceeded to put this color in the front of my hair and realized I hadn’t washed my hair first so I quickly rinsed and washed my hair. This is when I noticed the color had already taken (in about 2 minutes). This should have been my first RED flag.
But no, I continued on. The box said for more VIBRANT color to sit under a hooded dryer for 20 minutes. So, yes this is what I did. 
Quite messy! My daughter had to make several trips to the kitchen sink for wet paper towels to wipe up the side spills flowing from my head which she described as “looking like blood”. At 17 minutes, I could take no more and made a mad dash to the bathroom to rinse it out. It took about 15 minutes for the water to flow “clear” as the directions stated. So, I excitedly ran to the mirror only to find 
. WTH???????? I wanted to cry! What was I supposed to do with the Bozo the Clown look? It looked nothing like the box said it would (you know the side pic with “if your hair color is this….this should be your result). It had to be a joke. Bring out the hidden cameras!! But alas, it wasn’t. Panic set in. I mean this color is a good look for a boa 
but NOT the hair. I’m not good at sporting a Ronald MacDonald look!!! I had to think quick. It was already past midnight and I had to get up at 5:30 am for work. My first thought was “don’t go to work” but then I remembered my overtime and realized if I didn’t go I wouldn’t get paid overtime. I’m sorry not even Bozo the Clown could make me give up my money this close to Christmas!! So, on to 
. WASH MY HAIR as many times as it would take to get rid of it. Remember, at the beginning of my blog I said this was semi-permanent color but somehow I think that was a misprint on the box. Here’s what I did:
Washed my hair with
and then I remembered this was silicone free so it was probably not harsh enough (and the color was still there). Second, I washed my hair with
and then remembered this was a worse choice because it’s sulphate and silicone free. You see panic makes you do stupid things!! Third, being in true panic mode I frantically tried to remember what the harshest shampoo I had in the house was (luckily I hadn’t given away my hair products yet). I had heard Pantene strips perms so why not use it for the color. So I used
and washed my hair TWO more times. Yep, we’re up to four times being washed! The color was still there and hanging on for dear life!!! Why?????Remembering none of this was Curly Girl friendly I washed one last time (up to five times washed) with
to remove the silicones.Exhausted at this point, I decided I would just put conditioner
in my hair and call it a night. However, I just couldn’t live with the thought of being Bozo for the whole day so I rinsed this out and lo and behold I noticed that the conditioner made more color come out than the shampoo (go figure). So I got an idea!!I decided to use
and cover my hair with a plastic cap for 30 minutes hoping the sea kelp (detoxing ingredient) would draw out the color. I must note that my head felt like it was on FIRE this entire time (I guess numerous washes with non-friendly CG products had really opened up my pores). But I hung in there. Yep, more color down the drain. But my hair was still pink. 
UGH!!!!So, I decided at that point I would repeat the process. I did another round of
and combined it with . I then added a plastic cap, tied my hair up with two scarves (so the cap wouldn’t slide off) and slept in my combined formula. I could barely go to sleep due to the intense (what felt like FIRE) on my head. I am a DETERMINED woman though!!!Fast forward 3 hours later (yep it was after 2 when I finally went to bed). I was still panicked at looking like a clown so I had to think of what else I could do. Vinegar!! I rinsed my combo out and then I poured white vinegar
on my hair, covered with a plastic cap for 20 minutes and then jumped in the shower and cowashed one last time with 
. I stepped out of the shower and Praise God the color was at a normal level that I could tolerate. One day and another cowash later here’s my final results. 
.What did I learn from all of this? Stick to what I know. I will be going back to the black in two weeks.
Once you go black, you never go back. 
Comments (2)
You look beautiful with any hair color
Thank you. :)