What should I do with my hair color?

[MontrealMum]

This is my first poll - please bear with me :)

My hair is driving me crazy. Not the cut, but the color. (If you're wondering, it's just below my collarbone w/layers) I've had blonde highilights for 8ish years now, but I seem to have tons of breakeage and tiny little hairs all over. This is not a normal situation for me as I don't have curly hair, or lots of breakage usually. My hairdresser (who is great at cuts, but not color) thinks it's the highlighting, but she's not the best "expert" in some senses. I am not sure if it's that or the growing out after the pregnancy fallout. So, in any case, I'm a bit hesitant to keep highlighting. But I'm 2 months out from my last appointment (w/ my mom's more seasoned, and talented guy) so it's time to make a decision.

I used to have naturally light brown hair with red highlights. I now have lightish brown hair (naturally) that is distinctly mousy w/o any "help". I have been many colors over the years (some not too natural ;) ), including nearly a decade of fairly believeable red (my coloring is quite pale). Dark brown to match my brows was a disaster. (my brows are 2-3 shades darker than my natural haircolor) I was just too washed out. Chestnut was fine, but I'm not so excited about it.

So, what do you think? I'm considering going back to a darkish red. DS' hair (which is exactly like mine when I was young) has quite a lot of red in it...

[elektra]

I remember your picture, and before I read your whole post I thought blonde all the way.
Maybe I am not remembering the picture correctly but didn't you have really long strawberry brown/blonde hair, fair skin, and you had a college sweatshirt on?
I get that you're sick of the highlights though. I myself am just keeping my natural darker hair for the winter, but I think you would look great with the lighter locks. :)

[MontrealMum]

I realize I should probably post a picture. Who was it that started the PSA thread about mommies being in photos too? We're still working on this around here ;) But here is a pic of me with what I've been doing for the past 8 years or so (though somewhat longer...) Ok, that one is very dark...I'll try to find something w/better lighting tomorrow. (Elektra is right in remembering it) I will admit, I am very partial to the blonde-ish look - but not liking the breakage.

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

I was red for years after highlights. I finally stopped, as it was so expensive/time consuming to maintain. Red is soooo high maintenance. What about a warm mocha with either a few shade lighter highlights or few shade darker lowlights. Warm is key....I have similar coloring to you. Very pale, brown hair (my brows are lighter than my hair, so that's opposite).

[ha98ed14]

I voted red, but I am imagining either a strawberry blonde (LOVE that color) or a darker auburn, not Carrot Top. ;)

[MontrealMum]

No, definitely not Carrot Top! I've been both strawberry blond and auburn. It's a bit of work, but both have been fairly natural looking (*I* think). While I am pale (both Irish/Scottish and Swedish in my background) I don't have the right coloring for full-on bright red. As long as it involves depositing color (which auburn is more likely to) rather than stripping, I'm in.
'

[mjmamma]

Red hair is also hard to maintain because it washes out very quickly and looks brassy. I vote for a simple medium brown, it'll keep your hair looking healthy!

[ThreeofUs]

Molly, I've always seen you as having dark hair, so your picture was a shock, lol!

I voted for chestnut, but you wouldn't be able to back from that; it would have to grow out. What about a nice, warm, light brown? Not brassy, so not too much red, but really warm?

After all, you're going from being basically a honey blond, right?

[misshollygolightly]

Well, I'm thinking that if your main concern is the breakage, maybe you want to lay off the coloring entirely for a couple more months--just to let your hair rest and avoid the stress of coloring.

Whenever you do decide to color it, I think the pp's suggestions of warm, slightly reddish highlights sounds good.

I'm also a huge fan of purple highlights :-) I know it sounds goofy, but I love they way they look with my (naturally brown) hair. They're not hugely noticeable unless the light hits them just right, but they keep my hair from being boring, and they wear out really well. My stylist layers some of the purple highlights over previous blonde highlights, so that the purple is a little more noticeable, and so it appears to come in a variety of more natural-looking shades. Admittedly, my natural haircolor is a bit darker than yours, but I still think it might look good! If you go that direction, I'd definitely ask the stylist to let you look at the book of samples so you can see a variety of shades of purple to choose from (just to make sure you don't end up with ultra-violet!)

Good luck, and maybe you could post a follow-up pic whenever you do get your hair done!

[bubbaray]

I actually would take a break from coloring and work on the condition of your hair. Going red or dark might make the condition worse -- they swell the hair shaft more than lightening and that can cause more breakage.

I highly recommend Joico K-Pak moisturizing treatment. You could use that every other day or so. They also make a reconstructor which is great, but you can't use that more than every 2w or so according to my hairstylist (who is actually a color expert, moreso than a stylist).

ALso, if you haven't been red before, red is the most high-maintenance of all colors. It fades the fastest. By far. IME, it looks great for the first 2-3 w, then starts to look less great.

I dunno about the purple highlights.

Sounds to me like you need a colorist to help you come up with a plan. JMHO.