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I am a cross dresser and love long hair.
I am growing my hair out. It is just below my shoulders now but the top is still just about half way down. I havent had a perm in over a year but have been getting "semi-permanent" hair coloring every two months or so for about 9 months now. I am 55 and have lots of grey roots that emerge. I wear my hair in a pony tail most of the time. I have been noticing breakage so I am careful about how tight I tie back my hair. Is the coloring causing the breakage?
My question is what is least damaging to my hair:
Continued semi-permanent coloring
or
Permanent coloring with root touch ups as required.
I want to keep growing my hair until it is all one length just past my shoulders.
Could someone please give me advice on this matter?
Terri
I colored my hair at home for 18 years before I finally decided to let the grey grow in and my hair GROW, period! It got to the point where the root touch-ups were just needed much too frequently. I had to touch-up about every 3 weeks. (I mean, dark roots are one thing, but WHITE roots - *ick*)
Since you only have to touch-up every 2 months, you probably aren't as grey as I am (about 75% here), so I'm guessing that semi-permanent color would be the best choice for you. Semi-permanent color is much easier on your hair than permanent color - *if* you're talking about a no ammonia/no peroxide semi-permanent color like Clairol's Loving Care or Clairol Professional "Beautiful Browns" (which is my choice of the two - more moisturizing).
Some long lasting semi-permanent (sometimes called "demi-permanent") colors contain low levels of peroxide - like Clairol's Natural Instincts, Loving Care LASTING COLOR, and L'Oréal's Casting. These can be hard on your hair if you use them too frequently because peroxide is inherently drying, but even those are better than using any permanent color containing ammonia (which is almost EVERYTHING on the market - drugstore brands AND salon-only professional lines.)
If you have a lot of grey like I do, then permanent color is really the best for grey coverage, although not the best for the overall condition of your hair. Permanent color is also the only way to go if you want to dramatically change or lighten your natural color - like going from brunette to red, or light brown to blonde. My personal favorite permanent color for both grey coverage and conditioning is Miss Clairol Professional which you have to get at a beauty supply. 2nd choice is Clairol's Nice 'n Easy - available almost everywhere.
Hope I've been able to help.