Young Poor & Angry Press

Welcome back everyone! You can see we finally got that column title issue worked out, and I’m ready to take more of your great questions. This time we’re going to hear from Alexis in New Jersey, who asks:

I’ve had a tough time trying to figure out what hair color I should have.  Any suggestions?

Hair color is a bit of a tricky subject Alexis, so I am going to break the discussion down into parts.  This, part one, is an exploration of important hair color factors and part two is your coloration and choosing the best hair color for you!

First, you need to decide how much maintenance you will be willing to deal with.  Sure, platinum may be what you want, but if you don’t want to go in every 4-6 weeks for retouches, then it may not be the best choice.  Be honest with yourself!  Its okay if you don’t want to commit to a color that is going to take a lot of work and money to maintain, we all have priorities.

A rule of thumb here is that the more natural the color, the less the re-growth is going to bug you.  Highlights are a good option because there is natural hair in between the weaves of lighter color, so the re-growth is more diffused than with a full color situation.  If you were hoping for something less sun-kissed and more rock-n-roll, try peek-a-boo pieces of color underneath your top layer of hair.  You can get a stronger effect, but you won’t notice it growing out nearly as much.  There are so many more options than even these, so talk to you stylist!  Tell him/her what you are willing to spend and discuss the maintenance so you know you won’t be trapped with color you can’t maintain!

Second, hair color has repercussions, it is not like painting a wall!  If you decide to go darker with your color, it will not be nearly as simple to go lighter.  Once hair color has been applied to the hair it (almost always) requires lightener (salon speak for bleach) followed by a second color process to put color back into the hair.  It can be a potentially damaging process for your hair, is usually fairly expensive, and the result is always warm/golden.

I personally recommend a decent haircut as well, and if you aren’t willing to part with length, this is something you should really think about.  This goes for over-all tonal changes as well.  If you used a semi or demi permanent color will make this easier, but it will still be necessary.  Honestly, if you are really light naturally, you want to think long and hard before taking the plunge to go darker.  The maintenance is kinda annoying because light roots are completely unnatural, so you feel the re-growth rather quickly.

Finally, either talk to friends and family or resolve not to care what they think.  It can be hard to hear from your mom or your boyfriend that they don’t like your new hair color.  Sometimes people just need time to adjust to change.  You don’t want to spend good money for a color make-over, only to pay more to have it changed because your dad hates it.  If anyones opinion is make-or-break for you, I’d ask them what they think before!

Okay!  So, next time we will discuss warm vs. cool skin tones and what that means for the color you should shoot for.  Then we will start to delve deeper into the four main coloration classifications and the implications for the color that will flatter you the most as I’ve gotten tons of questions recently on this very topic. So until next week, stay classy, stay sophisticated, stay colorful!

I wanted to start off by thanking all of you who’ve sent me so much mail since I’ve started writing here.  One thing we’ve been wondering at the YPA office is what to name my column. One thing that bothers me a lot is when hair stylists are called hair dressers. No offense to the people who do the noble work at Super Cuts, but there is a massive difference between that caliber of work and my own. A stylist works in a salon, continues their education and hones their craft. We work to ensure that you look and more importantly feel your best. The big difference is, we care!

I’ve been getting inundated with questions on style and hair. But, alas I can’t answer everyone’s questions and make the world a more beautiful place at the same time….just not enough hours! So each week I’m going to grab a email from one of you guys and answer it on the site. Be sure to keep checking back, you never know when I’ll get to your question.

First question comes from Atlanta, Georgia.

Dear Erin,
Okay so, what should I, an African-American with short, chemically-treated hair do to make sure it continues to be awesome? What products would you recommend for me?

-Denise, Atlanta

As far as the sun goes, all of the same rules apply!  Highly textured hair just tends to dry out faster, the strands are thicker and thus require more moisture.  I would recommend using a moisture rich masque on your hair while you are out in the sun laying out.  If you can’t look like a grease ball, wear a hat!

Beyond sun exposure, there are a lot of other tips I can throw at you for keeping your hair awesome!

• Shampoo as little as possible!  Its totally cool to get your head wet and stimulate your scalp with a good scratching, but don’t shampoo unless you feel like your hair is oily.  I find that the more textured the hair, the less shampooing it requires.  You will not smell if you rinse your hair thoroughly.  The natural oils your scalp produces help to soften and protect your hair.  Shampooing strips these oils away.  So let your hair be a little dirty, its good!

• I would recommend a moisturizing shampoo and very thick rich conditioner.  You don’t want a shampoo that is going to be too heavy since you won’t be shampooing as often!  I love Bumble and bumble (B&b.)’s Gentle shampoo, its moisturizing but won’t leave  build-up (this allows for more time between shampoos) coupled with Super Rich conditioner.  Aveda makes some great ones too like: Smooth Infusion, Damage Remedy, and Brilliant (not for color treated hair).  Try some different things, buy travel size when possible (I know all B&b. shampoos and conditioners come in this size) so you aren’t stuck with a lot of product you don’t like. You can also save the empty small bottles and refill them from the larger bottle if you decide to buy, since they are usually under 3oz you can carry them onto the airplane!

• Blow-drying with product will help you to control your hair.  Even if you get a relaxer, you still want to blow-dry first if you are going for a sleek style.  You will want to use something smoothing, specifically something will a silicone.  Silicones stay on the outside of the hair strand and help to protect against humidity and other environmental factors.  Two B&b. products I like are Defrizz and Straight.  The two products are basically the same, but Straight has more types of silicones than Defrizz, so it will be much more intense.  Aveda makes Brilliant Universal Styling Creme which smells amazing and is also great to blow-dry with.

• Invest in a nice brush with boar’s hair and plastic bristles.  It will provide you with way more tension and thus a smoother blow-dry!

• - I’m sure you flat iron, at least sometimes, and the best thing you can do is use a thermal protectorate.  The flat iron is very damaging, the temperature of the plates usually exceeds 400 degrees, so if you want your hair to stay awesome, you want to protect it from your tools too! I love, love, love B&b.’s Does It All Spray.  It has a really light hold that will help to keep your hair straight for longer.  You want to spray it on each section before you pass the flat iron over the hair.  The hair may stick together and look ribbony at first, just comb through it, it will be soft and perfect.  Oh, and, PLEASE section your hair when you flat iron!  You don’t need to make tiny perfect sections, but try to keep them at about 1″ thick.  Your result will be much better than without sectioning.

Okay, well, I hope that my advice helps you to keep your hair lovely Denise!  I’m looking forward to next week when I field more of your awesome questions. Until then…keep being you!