Semi-permanent:  A color  formula, created without peroxide or ammonia, coats the hair shaft.  A semi-permanent formula enriches your natural shade, covers gray and causes no damage.  It lasts only four to eight shampoos.  And since the color doesn’t penetrate the hair shaft, it cannot lighten but only darken hair.

Demi-permanent:  A formula consisting of pigment mixed with a low-grade peroxide(5 to 10 percent) deposits color onto the hair shaft.  It uses no ammonia, which can cause hair to dry out.  It deepens and intensifies your existing color.  You might need to wait at least two weeks after a relaxer to apply , depending on the condition of your hair.

Permanent:  Color is mixed with peroxide and ammonia to penetrate the hair shaft, which changes the hair’s natural shade.  Permanent formulas can create a completely different color that cannot be rinsed away.  This type penetrates the hair shaft, making it more porous and prone to extreme dryness.  New growth starts to show within a few weeks.

Coloring at Home

Remember these do’s and don’t's for at-home coloring:

Read the instructions thoroughly.  Make sure you understand the entire coloring process before you begin.  Follow the directions in the coloring kit precisely.  Have everything you need laid out-gloves, applicator, towel-before starting.  Once you apply color, you’re on the clock.  Don’t get stuck without the necessary tools.  Do a strand test.  Test your skin 48 hours before coloring your hair to ensure you aren’t allergic to the chemicals.  If  it’s safe to proceed, take a small section of hair from the back of your head and apply the color formula.  This way you’ll know the result before you go all the way.

Pointer:

Preserve your hair’s brilliance with products made for color treated hair.

Avoid sun and chlorine.  Both will dry out color-treated hair and may change its color.

In the summer, brighten up and highlight grays by going one shade lighter than your actual hair hue.

Steer clear of products with petroleum, which creates excessive buildup.  And products with alcohol can strip hair of natural oils.

If your hair gets frizzy in humid weather, smooth your strands with a silicone-based gloss serum to seal the hair shaft, then use hot rollers to keep your curl.

Treat your scalp with nourishing oils between shampoos to protect against salt deposits from perspiration.  These oils can also prevent irritation of the scalp from chemical processes, so apply the night before a chemical treatment.

1.  Roller Sets (instead of wrap-setting the hair)–Result:  You’ll get a head full of curls to hide the bulkiness of new growth.

2.  Pressing or Flat-Ironing the New Growth–Result:  Super careful styling with heat will straighten kinky roots, but you have to be so careful to not apply the heat to the relaxed part of your hair shaft.  This is critical to prevent breakage.

3.  Braiding with Hair Extensions–Results:  New growth is hidden with individual braids or cornrows, leaving the transitional process completely invisible.

4.  Sewn-In Weave–Results:  Your hair is cornrowed underneath and completely hidden, making the transition undetectable.  Caution:  The thread can cut into your own hair if it’s sewn too tight.

5.  Going Short–Result:  Close-cropped looks are fashion-forward and look great.  Get a beautiful, short precision cut.