whats better for hair over the medium term...perm or semi perm dye??

[NappiesGalore]

my hair is naturally mousy dirty blond, boring as hell but nice with sun or dyed streaks in, so have highlighted on and off for years.

have decided i quite like reddish hair now and have had it done a few times in semi-permanaent hair colour which looks a tiny bit OTT at first, then brilliant for a few weeks, then fades to not v interesting again.

the thinking behind semi-permanaent is that A)i can change my mind, and B) regrowth and roots do not pose a prob whether i stick to this colour or not.

and i assumed semiperm wasnt as bad for your hair as perm dye. but something someone said recently made me think this is not neccessarily the case...

so.... hair dye experts, what do you think? bite the bullet and do it permanaently, but then have to keep it up b/c of roots, or keeps doing it semi perm and have it wash out all the time...?

your help is appreciated

permanent thickens the hair i believe, but i find it also dries mine out and gives rather too solid colour result. i have long curly hair and swim so don't need any extra stress on it. i've also found that a lot of the 24 washes semi-p - lasting colour, casting etc - have some peroxide in them anyway and am using them atm. the 6 washes are barely worth bothering with and don't cover grey well. 12 washes colours are not nice for me.

hairdresser is the best solution, they can put in streaks and lowlights etc which will minimise roots. i had it once, was lovely but £100.

I used to use permanant but as I have got older and greyer (sp?that doesn't look right!) the roots showed too much - after about two weeks (do use v dark brown though( have started using semi permanant as roots not so obvious but would love to save up and have hairdresser do it for me.

I used to use permanant but as I have got older and greyer (sp?that doesn't look right!) the roots showed too much - after about two weeks (do use v dark brown though( have started using semi permanant as roots not so obvious but would love to save up and have hairdresser do it for me.

i have been getting the hairdresser to do it - hence it not happening v often due to not having time/organisation to get there!

i did used to dye my hair light ash blond myself when it was short/cropped since it didnt matter if it ruined that hair since it all got cut off regularly and was usually full of products anyway...and i got pretty good at that (the secret to home dying blond btw is to wrap it in cling film while its doing its thing to stop it turning orange yyuk) but am wary of dying my own hair now its longer. dont wanna screw it up!
though it would be convenient to have a home option i know wont F up my hair so i can do it every 6 wks or something, assuming i stick w this colour and stick with semi...
any recomendations?

im a hairdresser i would stick to semis and keep it topped also using these colour shampoos forr red hair and john frieda clolur glazes will keep yr hair looking fresh

thanks booby

i use the colour shampoo/cond for red hair, but the john frieda glaze stuff just made my hair all greasy and shitty so i wasnt bothered when the dc's used it to make 'potions' one day...

and by, 'keep it topped', do you mean keep going to hairdresser or can i do it myself? if i do, what do i use? (if you do think is better to keep going to hairdresser, do say. am happy to build more pampering into my life!)

i would recommend every 6 weeks for semi's either at home or in salon

topping up is extremely important keeps the hair in gorgoeus shiny condition

make sure you use the same colour all the time other wise the chemical mix is different and will damage the hair

i.e use one for 3 times then another 3 times not a diff one every time

also find yr local training college and have it done there is no obligation to have it cut and you get it done profesionally

righto, thanks booby

btw, is it odd being called booby? i am starngely comfortable with being called nappies now, which s not something i imagined id ever say.... odd