Are you thinking about going RED?

October 30, 2018

Hi my loves! I am pretty excited about ALL the new stuff that is going to be coming your way. I hope you are loving the new look for the CCC website. Also, I am starting a weekly newsletter that will include tips, obsessions, advice and sales, sign up here if you haven’t already! I am seriously working on being a much better blogger. I want CCC to be a resource, not just for clothes but advice about life, beauty and more. While I am not an expert in some of these, I can tell my opinions and what works for me. I am going to be stretching my story telling legs in the next few weeks and diving into some deeper topics, as well as, jumping head first into the beauty world and sharing my tips and tricks for looking fabulous. Ready to to get your feet wet with a HIGHLY REQUESTED topic? What color is your hair? Do you do it yourself? How do you keep it so red? These are questions that are in my inbox on a daily basis. So today’s topic, Red Hair, The Deets on Getting that Perfect Red and How to Maintain It seems like the perfect post to jump off this new content with!

My Love Affair with Red

About 6 years ago, I went to my stylist with a picture of Jaclyn Hill in hand. If you don’t know who that is, she is a beauty YouTuber that I have been watching for YEARS. Although she is no longer in the red hair squad, she had the most gorgeous red hair for most of the time I was watching her. I fell in love with the color. So, I walked in handed my stylist the picture said, “here let’s do it… I wanna go red!” Before all you stylists out there start rolling your eyes about a client bringing in a picture and wanting something super extra, I have been going to the same hair stylist for at least 10 years now. Chelsea and I went to high school together and as soon as she was out of cosmetology school I booked an appointment! If you want to get in Chelsea’s chair, she now has her own Sola Salon called Vanity Hair Studio.

Now, at the time my natural hair was a brownish-auburn color if you familiar with hair color levels, I was probably around a 5. I have extremely dry naturally curly hair so I knew I didn’t want to bleach my whole head to get a vibrant red. Which is what most dark haired people end up having to do. I was very realistic that mine probably wouldn’t turn out as bright as Jaclyn’s, however, to my delight it turned out beautiful, vibrant and super red! My hair has been red ever since. There was some trial and error to get it to the exact shade that I have now. After a few years, we did start bleaching the ends and dying them with a pure pigment red to get an ombre’ look and a pop of super vibrant red on the ends. I only bleach it a couple of times a year though. Like I said, my hair is EXTREMELY dry. Naturally curly hair usually is. I cannot afford to bleach it often, my hair would revolt!

The Color Breakdown

First up, I am a full on Pravana fangirl! That is the only brand of color Chelsea uses on my hair. On the top half of my hair, from scalp to mid-shaft, she uses Pravana ChromaSilk 6.66 and a 20 volume developer. Then from mid-shaft to ends she uses Pravana ChromaSilk Vivids in Red. She does this process every time I am in the salon, which is EVERY 6 weeks. Then about twice a year we do a double process, where she will bleach the bottom half then do the regular process on top of that.

Maintaining Red Hair

Red is the HARDEST color hair to maintain!

Next to, “what color is your hair?” the top question I get is, “how do you maintain your red?” Red is the HARDEST color hair to maintain, just like any fantasy color, the vivid is a semi-permanent. It fades, fast. I have yet to find any certain shampoo or conditioner that makes a huge difference in this. L’Oreal has a line of products called EverPure that includes a color safe shampoo and conditioner that shows a little less wash out, in my opinion, but like I said, it is going to fade. The ONLY thing that I have found to keep my color bright and fresh between salon visits is going as long as I possibly can between washings. Dry shampoo and texture sprays will be a life savers!! Right after a fresh color, I do not wash it for at least 72-96 hours. That is a must. Let the color set it. When I do wash it, I use cool water. Just be prepared, you will see wash out every time you wash your hair. That is just how it is if you want to have fabulous red hair!

Things to Consider Before You go Red

Do you like the color pink? If not, I would question if you want to go red. Everything will get stained pink, your tub/shower, your pillows, collars, bathroom counters where any stray hair sits for a period of time. My life is stained pink. I use black towels and black pillow cases, but my pillows themselves are even a lovely tint of pink.

Do you swim often? Summer months are pretty dang hot in Alabama! Want to jump in to a nice big pool to cool off? Hold up, better head over to the stairs and ease in. I never let chlorinated water touch my hair. Also, my friend once got me a gift card to a float spa for Christmas. It is one of those giant tanks that you get in to relax, well I had to take a hard pass because they are full of salt water and I would have turned that whole tank pink.

Do you want the commitment of going to the salon ALL the time? As I mentioned, I go every 6 weeks. This is non-negotiable. By then I am pushing it on my color and try to coordinate visits by upcoming events so that I have fresh color for anything important.

Now, I hope I didn’t scare you too bad because red hair is freaking awesome! I will go to my grave with some freshly done red locks ladies! I just want to you be prepared because being a vivid red is not for the faint of heart. It is a serious commitment. Don’t go get it done, then call your stylist complaining about how quick it faded. I warned ya! Drop any other red hair questions that you have in the comments, I will do a YouTube video answering all your red hair worries!!

My Fav Hair Products and Must Haves for Red Hair

Texture Spray- Marc Anthony Grow Long Volumizing Texture Spray

Dry Shampoo- Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers *Life savers for getting the red stains off counters and tubs

Thanks so much for reading and all the support!

XOXO,

Megan (Curves, Curls and Clothes)