Oh, I am in a quandry! I have long hair which is now blonde, but I am thinking about going back to my "roots" (brunette) or maybe even red. I have pale pale skin, blue/green eyes so can pretty well doing any color.
Any suggestions for this hair angst? And , no I cannot wear wigs, they give me a headache. Thanks for any input!

Well I'm currently a red head and I'm pale skinned too, there are alsorts of different shades (as you probably know) so it's just about picking the right one, and it also depends on how brave you are!

My suggestions are as follows;
Buy either a semi- permanent or wash in/ wash out colour and see how you feel about it.
OR
You could go to a website that allows you to upload a picture of yourself and you can sort of see how you'd look with different hair colour/ styles. It isn't fantastic but it's ok...

Hairstyles and Makeup | Virtual Makeover | DailyMakeover.com


On a personal note, i think dark hair with blue eyes looks very striking!
Always been a bit envious of the blue eyed population lol

Have fun!

I'm kinda nervous about red as it slides out of your hair the fastest.
Thank you again for your suggestions - I'll try the upload site, it should be fun!

I'm REALLY red right now. Like... candy apple red. I get it done at a salon, and because there's no bleaching involved to get this permanent colour to show on my dark ash blonde hair, it's very rich and luxurious and fades interestingly with depth rather than just losing its colour and returning to the original bleach-base that'd normally be required if I was using temporary colour. Yay to no-bleaching! I'm absurdly pale, with blue-grey-green eyes, so it's kinda freakish BUT THAT'S JUST ME ANYWAY, hehe.

Auburn and very 'blue'-reds are my favourite. I stay away from 'golden'-reds because I'm better with 'cool' tones than 'warm' tones. But yea, being a redhead has been my most favourite ever [even when I did that freakish orange-y red... yeeesh] ---and I've been everything from platinum to raven. It feels 'natural' to me (well, being born with purple hair would've been more ideal...] ---I find with being blonde 'n brunette, I get treated differently (delicately and like a ditz when blonde, rather ignored as brunette but at least I'm not constantly treated like a piece of ass) ---with red, y'gotta avoid being very serious because it'll brand you as "bitchy" (but it gives you full license to spaz out angrily if necessary, and you don't need to apologize for it as much because people seem to allow it more when you're red). Red is 'exotic' to some, 'fun' to others... for me, it's been very freeing. My way of having crazy fun with colour WITHOUT being obnoxious, overly punky and trashy about it. Hehe. I'm naturally quite out-there, and having a slightly less natural colour of hair has made me feel more comfortable in my skin because I dress nicely but don't want to be considered "as normal" as I dress. It's odd, but people are more accepting of the wackiness that is me if my hair looks the part, than if I'm a 'normal' colour. VERY freeing. Go for it!

I think you should go for an auburn shade. Avoid orange-y reds. Unless you mean to do the natural red-head thing.

Go with red! *roots for red* In the long-run, y'can't go wrong: It'll add some brilliant depth if you go brunette, and can cause some fun new shades of blonde.

Yah, it fades fast... but if you buy a shampoo & conditioner for redheads, it'll stay rather well. I used to use an expensive one, but now just use Pantene and it works pretty well. Best tip: try to avoid washing your hair as much as possible. Use much cooler temperatures of water on your hair because it just WORKS. Always condition when you wash, but just condition the lower half of your hair because it won't get the natural oils in your scalp and will dry out and bleed out faster. Avoid conditioning by your roots and such because it'll get the natural oils and any more than what's natural will give you an oil-slick head. At the same time, watch what products you put in your hair. Mousse will make it APPEAR brassy. Using nothing will make your hair seem frazzle-y, dull, less than amazing, but using a gentle glossing serum in your hair will enhance the tone and make it luxurious and glamorous and gorgeous, will add dymension, make your hair look healthier, and overall is a good way to go. Plus, the benefits of zero frizz!!! Woo! I find styling red hair makes a difference. If I air-dry, it looks like crap. Blow-drying or curling my red hair makes it all the classier and more beautiful. It takes more maintanence in that sense than blonde or brunette hair, but it's worth it in my eyes.

Managing how dry/oily your hair is IS KEY to figuring out how to avoid washing your hair all the time, and while I used to wash daily to every-second day, you CAN condition your scalp over a short period of time to handle being washed less frequently. It'll adapt to NOT HAVING to pump out so much oil because you won't be stripping your scalp of it as often since you won't be washing as often. Your scalp's oil production rate is partly genetic, but partly in direct response to how you treat your scalp. *nods*

I wash once-twice a week (which is incredible, considering how silky my hair is and how it used to need daily washing to avoid the grease-y look). And I can get away with dying it every 2 months (oh roots... BUT REALLY, the colour stays in well enough that it isn't embarassing, and that's saying a lot b/c this brand bleeds out like crazy).

I've found using a hairspray a day or two after washing my hair usually absorbs a lot of excess oil and gives it better style-a-bility for those last few days you try to avoid washing (and ensures your hair won't smell bad).

Red hair is easy to manage once you get the hang of it. Considering you're currently blonde, it MIGHT have trouble holding as well due to the way lifting your hair's colour RUINS your hair. But it'll get better the less it is bleached (perhaps darkening it some first would be wise, and then going red?), and thankfully red-ifying does not involve bleaching.

Interestingly: while red fades fastest, it is also THE HARDEST colour (or the hardest-next-to-black) to remove from your hair! So you may find that instead of just root touch-ups, you may need to do whole-head applications each time. But eventually, it'll hold better and better.

Thank you for ever more info. As you wrote I have to put a base over the blonde then go nuclear. or it might turn out pink! Not fun pink either.

I think we do our hair so much until we get it right because then our personality really shows up!