Probably a stupid question but is store-bought boxed hair dye really bad for your hair?





Probably a stupid question but is store-bought boxed hair dye really bad for your hair?
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Last edited by cutey5032; 10-14-2008 at 04:03 PM.
i've been using box hair dye for years and my hair is fine. it's a little dry, but i'd imagine that's from the excessive straightening and heat styling, and the fact that i'm too lazy for regular hair cuts.
i used a boxed hair dye today and my hair looks nifty.
hairdressers will tell you that it's awful for your hair, but i've never had any problems with it.





Stylists have told me it's bad for you also. But I've seen girls that dye their hair platinum blonde and their hair is still silkier and less damaged than my undyed hair.
I've been a bleached blonde for years thanks to boxed hair dye. Like any kind of dye you can over do it. I'm very careful not to leave mine on too long and only color the roots each month. My hair very healthy for being so bleached. Feria extra bleached blonde is my brand of choice.
i've ben told by my hairdresser friends that now adays boxed and salon hair dye are made outta the same ingredients. i use box hair dye, and my hairs pretty healthy, i just don't see the point in spending 60 bucks when i can spend 10 for the same thing. also i dye my hair dark brown, i know thats an easy color. i think blondes would have a harder time doing it on thier own, trying to achive the right color.





I've been dying my hair with boxed dye for as long as I knew you could even dye your hair.I have no problems, and LOVE how my hair looks and feels after I have freshly dyed it. I have naturally reddish-brown hair and I dye it red/auburn to make it look extra bright, glossy and shiny.





WARNING!!! Really long reply
No, permanent and demi-permanent boxed color itself is typically not any better or worse than professional color... damage from DIY color usually lies in the hands of the user, especially when it comes to permanent hair color and bleaches/highlighting kits. Most people apply color scalp to ends. Repeatedly overlapping permanent color, especially lighter shades which tend to be boxed with a higher developer, causes more damage. If you're going to DIY, enlist the help of a friend so that he or she can apply the color at the outgrowth only therefore minimizing damage.
Also, most boxed color directions will tell you (and some stylists who haven't bothered to update thier skills since beauty school do this which makes me cringe) that for a reapplication you need to apply color to the scalp first, let it develope, then drag the color through the ends to "refresh"... Bad. Again, all you're doing is overlapping permanent color which is damaging, not to mention muddying up the color. To truely minimize damage to the hair and get the best possible color results, a demi-permanent haircolor should be used on the previously colored hair since it will richen color without further damage.
I think if your planning a subtle change, meaning if you're trying to go a shade or two darker or you're staying the same level of darkness but want a tonal change/richness, DIY demi or semi permanent color is easy (repeated, scalp to ends applications are not damaging) , fairly mistake proof, and typically beneficial to the hairs health. If you want a dramatic change, or want to go lighter, go to a professional.
Keep in mind that whenever you apply a permanent haircolor you are damaging the hair. Regardless of where the color is purchased, the cuticle is raised, color molecules are broken apart, chemically altered, and permanently changed.
However, I have no idea what they make home bleaching kits out of, but that stuff is just nasty. Stay away.
I think they're fine as long as you don't try and do anything too drastic. I dye mine with a box dye and its fine but I'm only going from medium brown to dark brown. I'd say if your wanting to go from say dark brown to light blonde I'd go to a salon.
I have been using box dye for about 7 years to go from a dirty blonde to a platinum blonde. I have only had a problem once when I decided to try a different color because I wanted to be a golden blonde, um yeah not a good idea, my hair had a green tint to it. Now I use the same exact brand and color everytime. I always do it like it states in Mia's post, only die the roots and my hair is pretty healthy.
I always buy Loreal steaking kit. makes my strands super blonde and no fade. Damage i never really had either. Love that stuff.
Also when i dye my hair black under the bonde, i use Loreal Dark Black, it fades in time, but i never had breakage with either product.
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I've been using box dye from champagne blond to black. Literally I've used every shade of colorsilk (or whatever the cheap ass box is, its under 3$) and many of the other brands and my hair is fine! I also dont see why I'd pay allot of money to do something I could do for under 10 bucks on my own.





loreal feria is the best!!!! i use a range of the brown colours.
I recently tried using a "professional" dye; it's... harder to mix right.
Anyway my hair is damaged because of heat styling and my ICD. But I don't think that the box dye has done anything particularly bad to it. If you are concerned and can learn to mix, you can "professional" dye.
I have taught that the sky in all its zones is mortal and its substance was formed by a process of birth





Dying your hair is always damaging, whether it's done by a professional, or yourself. Haircolor in a box is probably riskier because you are not a professional, and if you don't follow the directions, you could end up fucking your whole head up. However, I've heard horror stories about girls getting their scalps burned and bleached locks falling out from treatment at the salon, so...
I think as long as you follow the directions (including the testing for allergy/reactions!), and you don't do it every other week, you should be okay. Just take care of your hair. Don't color it often, use a good conditioner, protect your hair from heat styling, etc.





Thank you guys so much! My natural hair color is pretty ambiguous, it's the transitional shade right between brown and blonde and no one, including myself, can decide which it actually is lol. I just want to go a shade or two in the blonde direction so my hair doesn't look so dull in the club. I'm gonna have a girl at work that colors hair do mine out the box. *crosses fingers*
I used to do my own 100% of the time. Then I met a hairdresser who said she'd save my hair if I would just let her and only her do it. Two years later my hair is down the middle of my back and I've finally got the blonde in it that I want. I know it would never be this long and healthy without her help. She's the coolest.
I do it myself. Oddly enough..the cheapest dye leaves my hair the best color and condition...the $3 Clairol(or is it Revlon) stuff. I also use Revlon lowlights. So I double process my own hair and its fine...well as fine as it can be since I torture it in many other ways
Permanent hair color is the most damaging. Permanent hair color penetrates the cortex of the hair. Demi, Semi and temporary hair color do not penetrate the cortex and the color fades away more quickly. Plus the temporary hair colors contain less ammonia and tend to be conditioning.
As far as boxed color goes I don't know how much more damaging it is. I just know it tends to fade quicker than professional color. You also don't always know what the result will be because there are a lot of variables that affect how color will take. If you hair is damaged to begin with your hair will absorb color quicker but also lose it quicker. If you hair is fine it also takes less time for the color to absorb. If your hair is naturally red it's extremely hard to get rid of it. If you have well water there are components and minerals which can affect it as well. It's best to go to a professional because they can mix the color that is best suited for you and make sure your hair is in proper condition.
If she does it professionally or has a license ask her to get it at the beauty supply store and offer to pay for the gas, product and of course her time.
If you are brown and go blonde and aren't careful you could end up pulling red. Any time you go lighter you have to use a higher volume developer to lift the hair. Even if she knows what's she doing and you use box color and say you pull red then she will need a complimentary color (toner) to fix it.





greenlady spoke of varibles that determine the outcome of haircolor, here's a big one... do you have virgin hair? How long is your hair and when was the last time it was colored?
First of all, in order to go lighter, you must use a permanent color. If you're hair is virgin, the color needs to applied an inch off the scalp from the mid shaft to ends first... wait half the recommended processing time, then apply to roots. Failure to do so will result in "hot roots". The color at the scalp will be lighter and brighter then the rest of the hair since new growth is softer keratin and body heat speeds processing.
If your hair is not virgin, any part of your hair that has been treated with demi or permanent color will not lighten. The only thing that will lighten previously colored hair is bleach.
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