Using L'Oreal Excellence HiColor Permanent Creme High-lift For Dark Hair Only
By rizzayvette
Red hair.
If you asked me a year ago, maybe even a couple of months ago if I would ever, ever consider dyeing my hair red, I probably would have laughed in your face. No offence. I just never really liked the idea, and I've always liked my hair pretty light.
I'm asian, by the way. Maybe you can tell from my profile picture. I've kept my hair dyed for several years now; maybe since I was a junior in high school. I am now on my way to being a junior in college. Anyway, my hair was once black. So my roots, are-- you guessed it, black. Which is such a hassle when I am dyeing/redyeing my hair any color. Even dark brown. I usually have to spend a lot of time looking for "Dark Hair Only" products, which are actually hard to come by.
So upon deciding that I wanted red hair, not quite like Rhianna's but to the same effect, I began my search for the perfect product. So I went over to sallybeauty.com, which has tons and tons of different hair products and nail products and what have you, and I came upon L'Oreal's HiColor for Dark Hair Only. It's supposed to be for professionals only, but in my opinion, how skilled do you have to be to mix a little dye with a little developer and smear it on your head? I didn't even measure properly and I mixed it in a paper cup with the end of a comb.
Professional, right? I know.
It took me a few minutes to decide exactly what red I wanted to use. There's red fire, red hot, red copper and intense red. I wasn't sure how true to color the hair samples were and I wanted to go very red, but wasn't sure how well I could pull it off. Red copper is a little warmer and richer than red fire and intense red is a little warmer and richer than red hot.
I went with intense red, the darkest of my choices, just to be on the safe side. I figured if I liked it enough, and wanted to go brighter, I could always redye in a month or two with red hot, which I am considering now!
When picking out your hair color at Sally's or any other beauty supply, make sure to buy developer. Since these are for professional use, they don't include everything in one box like drugstore hair dyes. I went with L'Oreal's Oreor Creme Developer in the 40 volume, which will lift your hair color up to 4 shades. The dye recommends 30 volume, but like I said I have tough black Asian hair and I really wanted this to turn out.
All in all I spent about $6 each on the color and the developer. Not bad at all, especially since the developer has about 8 fl. oz. You won't need to use all of it unless you have really long hair, in which case you'd need to buy more than one tube of coloring. Even then, you'd probably still have some developer left over. I also bought L'Oreal's Hicolor Highlights in red. Just plain crayon-from-the-8pack-box red. I haven't used it yet though, and I'm not sure I will. Maybe in a week or two.
Now on to the dyeing!
Usually I disregard the part of the dyeing instructions that say you're supposed to wait at least 24 hours after washing your hair to dye it. I don't know why they tell you this and I've never really seen a difference. But this time I waited a couple of days. I wanted it to be perfect. I also disregard the safety test, but if you've never dyed your hair before please make sure to do it! I don't want your scalp to fall off.
You're supposed to mix 1 part color with 1.5 parts developer in a plastic bowl--don't use metal! and mix until it's smooth and creamy. There's a little color intensifier in the box; I just poured all of that into the mix. It'll make your dye look like blood. Or red frosting. Anyway, I didn't measure properly, like I said, but I never truly measure anything properly. Not even when I'm cooking. So if you're worried about messing up, you should probably get out a plastic measuring cup or something.
With plastic gloves on and a garbage bag as smock, and your bathroom lined with even more garbage bags, and your mixture ready, just start slathering that dye on your head. If you are a little messy, you may want to put vasoline around your hairline and neck so it doesn't stain your skin, but I never do that either. It washes off in due time.
Wow, I don't seem to follow instructions or precautions very well.
So, my friend helped me saturate my hair while I sat on the bathroom floor. She just dunked her hands in there and went at it. if you have one of those plastic bottles that you usually get in a box of hair dye from the drugstore, I would use that, because I found the mix to be very running and it got everywhere, but it saturates your hair really well and really quickly. After about 15 minutes My head was coated in more hair dye than I've ever had in it before. Did I mention my friend has never dyed any one else's hair before? She got a little carried away.
After all the dye was in my hair, I wrapped it up in yet another plastic bag and heated it with my hair dryer for about 15 minutes, waiting 15 minutes and then warmed it again for another 15. I read somewhere that it would help the product work faster, but I'm not entirely sure since I've never tried that before. After almost an hour (the box only says 30 minutes, but with my dark hair, I always leave dye in for much longer) I began to rinse my hair out. It takes awhile, maybe 10 minutes, for the water to start running clear. At least, clear with a pink tint. Once I got to this point, I rubbed in tons of conditioner, and waited a couple of minutes before rinsing it out.
And you're all set to go!
Once my hair was dry, it was so vibrant in bathroom lighting that I can't even imagine how it looks out in the sunlight. My ends aren't as noticeably red as my roots, but I'm assuming its because they have been dyed so many times, but it isn't a huge difference. And my hair is SOFT. It isn't dry or brittle at all right now, and I am going to attribute that to that fact that I did not have to bleach my hair before hand to achieve a nice color.
I really recommend trying this product if you have stubborn hair. They have blondes and light browns as well, so it's not just for a potential red head! Some people have had bad experiences with this, but I love it and I think I will continue to use it. The price is amazing too!
Next time, I'm going to go with Red Hot!
Thanks for reading and I hope I answered all the questions that I myself had before trying this product. If you have any more questions please just leave a comment and I will get back to you right away!
Happy dyeing :)
R.
Comments
I'm glad this could help you out! I absolutely love this product, it's the best that I've ever tried and its a lot healthier because you don't have to bleach!
Let me know how it works out!
Thank you for posting about your experience. You provided helpful information, and I am excited to try this product.
Luvv the color. It's exactly what I want. I've never dyed my hair before but I really want to. I have really dark hair too and I want a red that pops but isn't bright and overbearing. Kind of like lime green vs green if that makes sense *_* I also can't decide between red hot and intense red or if I should use 30 or 40 volume developer. Ugh, it sucks that I'm so new to this haha.
Let me know how it turns out Nhi!
And Starr, if your hair hasn't been dyed before and is pretty dark, I thin you could go with Red hot and it shouldn't be too much color! I myself have had my hair constantly a color other than my natural color so, that may have affected the color i got just a bit. my best advice is to go with the 40 volume, because really dark hair needs that extra lift. and if it ends up being too bright you can always dye it a little darker, or if its too dark go a little brighter. personally i would go for lighter to darker as adding color isn't as damaging as taking away.
hope i helped!
hi i am coloring my hair with red hot and i'm not sure how to measure the 2.5 fl oz. And as you said, you didnt really measure it, but did it make a difference of not putting the exact amount of creme developer? please answer this asap. i really appreciate it!
I honestly don't think it made a huge difference. You should definitely make sure you put in enough! I would say estimate one part red hot to two parts developer creme, and that should work out perfectly!
thanks so much! it turned out great!
thanks for posting this, im about to try the red hot coulor and i didn't really know what to do so this helped alot :)
I have naturally dark brown hair and just the other day dyed my hair with the red hot and 30 volume developer, it came out as more of a tint then an all over color, I'm considering re dying with a 40 volume developer and either red hot again or with red fire, I'm not sure what to do??
Hey Do you think that if i use red hot on my hair which the top half is brown and the bottom half is golden brown, do you think it would it turn out orange?
iv just got this dye in red hot, my hair is dark brown nearly black.
I need your help, there is a long bigger tube permanant creame, and tiny tube colour intensifier. Should i just mix the two together.
Your mentioning parts and im confused now.
By th way there are no mixing instructions on the box.
Heeelp plz.
I dye my hair black a couple months ago and now i want to go red hot is this possible with out bleaching?
hello i have dyed my hair a dark red for months now but I'm considering going bright red now does this product work on dyed hair? or no?
Does it wash off quickly?
Heyy i lovee how your hair turned out, i want it exactly like that just a little bit darker.. My hair is naturally Brown/Black and colored Jet black but my roots are growing in (i havent colored my hair in about a year). Will it look two different shades? Like bright red on the roots and darker on the ends? Please help!
It may show up as slightly different colors, but i wouldn't expect a huge noticeable difference. The bottom half of my hair was a lighter color than the top half for awhile, and when i redyed it red it all looked pretty similar to me.
If you wash your hair every other day with cold water, then it can last for as long as you maintain it this way. but warm/hot water really runs the color out of it. when i get sick of maintaining it, i just start washing it like i normally would and then redye in about a month or two when all the red is gone.
It should work fine, that's how i did it the first time I tried it out. My hair hasn't been its natural color in years.
I think you should be fine with using this. I can't say for sure because I've never tried it from black to red, it's always been brownish to red, or something like that. I don't see why it wouldn't work. And there is no bleaching in this process.
However, maybe you should try a color stripping product? I've never used those though so i'm not sure how they work.
I'm sorry this is so late! hopefully you it worked out for you if you've already done it, which I imagined you have.
I don't really measure the parts personally so thats not totally important, but you do need to buy the creme developer to mix with the big tube and the intensifier. then you kind of just mix the whole tube (if you need that much) with twice the amount of the creme developer.
hopefully that helps.
It shouldn't be orange. I can't say for sure, but I think it would turn out a nice red, and there shouldnt be a huge difference between the colors.
Definitely try it again with the 40 volume if you didnt get the result you wanted with the 30 volume. how long are you leaving the dye in for? Because i keep mine in for a little bit over an hour (with 40 vol) just because my hair is naturally really dark, and it also has layers and layers of dye already on it.
Idk how good that is for your hair, but it gets the job done for me.
Thanks!! I'm glad I could help out!
Did u use a brush to put it in your hair or just put it with ur hands?
I just use my hands! If you want to use a brush, or if its easier for you I'm sure that will do fine. just make sure to get your hair as saturated as possible!
How long do you leave it for ?
Lea, the box says only about 30 minutes, but I keep it in for about an hour, just because my hair is pretty resistant to coloring. It may be different for your hair though! I would check your hair at the 30 minute mark, and if it's not where you want it to be, check again every 15 minutes. I don't recommend going over an hour though!
hope I helped!
I really wish i has read this beforehand. I went with 30vol. I have dyed black hair. The girl said to get the 30, but it only dyed my roots. It's so embarassing!
aw i'm sorry that happened to you!
maybe just dye it back to black for another month or so?
and then try again with 40 volume!
i just dyed my hair with this today and it just touched my roots :( i used the light auburn, and it got my roots orange!!!! so emberrasing! help?
ahh. thats no good! what color is your hair? or what color is it dyed? and what volume did you use?
its naturally dark brown but with some black in it from past dyes. i used 30 volume :(
I honestly don't know what went wrong! I do it this way every single time. and my hair is naturally black but sometimes i dye it dark brown in between red dyes, so often there is dark brown dye when i'm doing it just like yours.
i really wish i knew why that happened to you :( i'm sorry!
maybe the chemicals in this dye and your hair just dont mesh.
Do you think it work on African American hair
Lizzy, I don't know much about dyeing African American hair. My ex boyfriend's mom used it I think and it worked well, but she's also half Peurto Rican so I don't know if that helped or anything! If regular box dyes work for you, I don't see why it wouldn't work! don't take my word for it though. Maybe ask the ladies who work at Sally's Beauty Supply, or whatever beauty supple you go to. They should be able to help you out!
thanks for reading!
Do u think I should use a 40 volume on haft bleached head w dark blonde roots? The box say no but she wants it bright!!!
How do you touch up the black roots, or do you just re-dye all of the hair? Thanks!
Kelsey,
I would just bleach the roots to match the rest and then use a bright red dye like Manic Panic. The loreal is meant or dark hair only! like dark brown/black.
Renee,
Usually I just redye my whole head! After a month i get tired of maintaining the color in the shower (wash hair in cold water, in as little time as possible) so by the time im ready to dye it again a few months later, it's very faded.
When you say 1 part color u mean the whole tube? Plz answer asap im dying my hair in a week c: the same color as ures and i have really dark hair too (:
Great! Hmm.. where can I get the supplies I'm going to need? Is everything there at Sally's?
When I say one part, it means like... for every 1 ounce, you add 2 ounces of the oreor creme. thats just an example, but yah. good luck!
yep everything you need is at Sally's! dont forget gloves!
Hey ! thx for the article.. i have dyed black hair that i did like 3 months ago do your think it would work on my hair?
Also i have brand new black extensions from sallys and i thought i would have to bleach them but do u think it would work on them as well? thx :)
it should work on your hair! i've done this before when i've previously dyed my hair a dark brown. I can't say for sure though!
and I'm not sure about the extensions either. I've never worked with them!
Angela 7 months ago
BRILLIANT colour! Thanks for writing that up. I have naturally almost black hair that I colour reddish all the time, but it only seems to tint and you can really only see it in the sunshine. I can't wait to try this out! I'm looking at the deep auburn. :)