Uneven Hair color

Long hair with uneven coloring
Photo: Bigstock
Q: When I go for touch ups (every 6 weeks), my hairdresser never dyes my whole head. The ends of my hair are now lighter. Shouldn’t she dye my whole head once in a while? How frequently? Is it damaging?
 
A: I’m not sure why your hairdresser does not occasionally comb the color through to the tips. The general procedure is to at least comb the color through to the tips every second or third time that the roots are done.
 
This differs from stylist to stylist and even salon to salon, but I personally prefer to apply the color to the roots, and then comb the hair through to the tips about 5 or 10 minutes before the hair has to be rinsed.
 
Especially if the hair is very long, I spray the tips of the hair with a water bottle until it is damp, and then comb the tint left in the tint-bucket through to the tips. Because of the added water, the ammonia and other potentially damaging chemicals are watered down, but the color of the hair is still refreshed beautifully.
 
I then prefer to color the whole head every third or fourth time that we color, as this keeps the strands looking vibrant and uniform in color from root to tip. But keep in mind that the use of combing the color through to the tips differs hugely from stylist to stylist!
 
Yes, continual and regular over-exposure to color will damage the tips, especially in lighter colors such as blonde or intense red. In the case of darker colors, continual application to mid-lengths and tips will result in the tips being darker than the roots…
 
There are very few things that are so intensely sneered at than this look of lighter roots and super dark tips, because this is usually the result that people get who color their own hair with store-bought boxes of tint!
 
Hairstylists cannot help being snobbish at people who dump too much cheap tint over their hair every few weeks, with grays still peeking out at the roots while the tips end up looking hideously over-processed. Thus, it might be this inbred fear that’s keeping your stylist from covering the whole head, but it is within your full right to point out that your tips are now becoming lighter than your roots. Just ask her to comb the color through every third or fourth visit to keep the color of the tips fresh and vibrant.
 
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See also: How to color hair
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