Is there a hair color for women with sensitive scalp?

Hair color manufacturers have yet to come up with a permanent hair color for a sensitive scalp.

People who feel that they have a sensitive scalp tend to color their hair with a permanent hair color. It is this type of hair color that can give people with a sensitive scalp a burning sensation. (Hair bleach can also cause a burning scalp).

Chances are that after reading this article you will be able to minimize or totally eliminate the discomfort of a sensitive scalp and continue to use permanent hair color. A sensitive scalp is not normally a symptom of an allergic reaction to hair color unless you have other symptoms such as redness of the scalp, forehead or the face, neck or behind the ears. You can also have swelling of the face and neck or severe itching in which case you should immediately wash off the color.

However allergies from permanent hair color are very rare. (You may have read otherwise). In my experience of coloring hair for more than thirty years, I have encountered two clients with a light allergy to permanent hair color.

If you are concerned that you might be allergic to permanent hair color, you can perform an allergy test. Mix a tiny bit of permanent hair color with a couple of drops of developer (peroxide) and apply it to the inside of your arm and covering it with a band aid. Leave it on for 24 hours. The hair color will leave a dark spot which will disappear after washing it a few times. If you have no reaction, you are not allergic.

You may think that a natural hair color like Henna is the ideal hair color for a sensitive scalp. The problem is that you can’t use Henna for just any hair color you want.

For example, if you want to cover white hair, then only a permanent type of hair color will do the job. Henna, like other types of hair color such as permanent hair color, semi-permanent, demi-permanent and temporary hair color has limitations. A major drawback is that it is not suited for covering white hair. It will turn your white hair into an unnatural kind of bright red or stain it in a gold tone, depending on the shade of Henna you use.

I have several clients who experienced a sensitive scalp when permanent hair color was applied but the discomfort subsided when I made the following changes:

1. I mix permanent hair color with 10 volume peroxide instead of 20 volume for coloring white/gray hair (most hair salons use 20 volume hydrogen peroxide) when using a formula to color white/gray hair.

2. I use a crème color. Permanent hair color also comes as a gel which has a slightly higher pH value and can sometimes cause greater irritation to the scalp than a crème hair color.

3. I tell my clients not to wash their hair for two days before coloring to prevent the scalp from becoming irritated from rubbing it during the shampoo.

4. I do not comb the hair through to the ends. I only apply permanent hair color on the re-growth for the entire processing time.

5. I never distribute the color through the hair by massaging it. I have seen hair stylists massage the hair color into the scalp in order to distribute the color to the ends or combing the color through to the ends. I think this is an absolute no-no. The comb scraping along the scalp or massaging the color into the scalp will inevitably irritate your scalp. (There are exceptions when you need to bring the color through to the ends during the last 10 minutes of the processing time but special care should be taken not to irritate the scalp).

6. I am careful not to massage the scalp when I rinse and shampoo the color off following processing. I gently apply conditioner afterwards.

If you have a sensitive scalp, following these suggestions will help make coloring your hair a painless experience.

I think this is a great example and inspiration for anyone who has gray/white hair. Not only did it make her look younger, it made her look better. And when you look good, that is all that matters.

This type of transformation is best suited for three color types, the soft cool (Summer) the strong cool (Winter) and the soft warm (Spring) color types. However, the light blonde needs to be a light gold blonde.

If you have been wanting to do something about your gray hair then you might consider a hair color like Helen Mirreneas. It’s low risk and as it is not a huge transformation and easy to keep up. Your face will be framed by a hair color that has pigments which will make a difference to the color of your face rather than a gray hair color that can makes your skin tone lifeless. Even though silver/gray/white hair is a striking hair color it will dull your skin tone because there are no pigments in gray hair.

  Helen Mirren with Gray Hair     ..with New Hair Color

Have you ever wondered why some hair colores look better on you then others? That is because the color that looks best on you, that makes you look fabulous is the color that goes with your color type.

You can tell when you look at Lindsay Lohan’s blonde hair picture that something does not look quite right and the reason for that is that the blonde hair color is wrong for her. The darker color on the right makes her look good.

Also have a look at Farah Fath’s pictures. It’s the same story. Does she not look great in darker hair? Do you see how it makes her eyes show?

Cameron Diaz went from her beautiful very light blonde hair to dark brown and it does not suit her. It’s a very bad color choice for her. Again why? Because it doesn’t agree with her color type and that’s why it does not suit her at all. Neither does Nicole Kidman’s very,very blonde hair color agree with her color type. She looks flat and she looks so much better as a strawberry blonde. I am sure you can tell the difference.

I guess, movie stars will do anything to be talked about, even if it is only their hair colors. Blonde seems to be the “make me glamorous” hair color of the movie stars and celebrities.  It doesn’t seem to matter that these wrong hair colors do not make them look good and I suppose they can get away with it. But I have to say that I am amazed about how unaware they are of how  important their hair color is for their looks. I always think they should know better.

much better                                   Cameron Diaz                 Farah Fath

                                                                                                                     Lindsay Lohan

          Nicole Kidman

   Too          

 The Good and the Bad hair colors of the Stars