HAIRBOMB QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Permanent Bright Red Hair Dye?

Dear Hairbomb,

I currently have my hair dyed red, but i am looking for a colour that is permanent and will make my hair BRIGHT RED that i can do at home.

Can you please help?

Thank you

Hi there, 

Thanks for a great question, this is something that we are asked a lot.

By bright red hair dye, I am assuming, you mean more Jane Goldman colour, rather than Cheryl Cole or say Florence of Florence and the Machine?

If this is the case, the answer, I'm afraid to tell you is no. The scientific explanation as to why involves lots of complicated stuff about molecule size etc etc, but to you and I (unless you are a scientist, in which case, perhaps you could explain the molecular aspect to me :) ) you just cant get the brightness with a Permanent colour - this is much the same with blues, greens, yellows etc too.

On the bright(!) side though, using the semi sermanent colour to dye your hair is actually better, for the very reason that it doesn't penetrate and therefore damage it; actually, it does more of a coating job on the strand of hair, so protects and makes hair look fuller and healthier. Also, you can experiment with various different shades of red without causing nearly as much damage as you would with a permanent colour. Lastly, semi permanent dye is much much less likely to produce an allergic reaction and doesn't involve a lot of complicated mixing with developer.

There are a number of things you can do to lengthen the time your colour lasts also. Most effective are choosing the right shampoo, using cold water when washing hair, and adding a little dye to your shampoo or conditioner to top it up.

Do you know what sort of red you are hoping to achieve? There are pinky reds, purple reds, orange based reds, and then your gorgeous rich true pillarbox reds etc. We at Hairbomb are always to help customers choose a perfect fit for your price, colour and consitency requirements.

Best of luck and don't hesitate to pop me an email if you have any other questions or concerns!