Hair Color: All about Hair Color

Basics of Hair color

 Hair color is caused by pigment released by melanocytes, present in hair follicles. Depth of hair color is determined by the amount of melanin present in the hairs. If there is more melanin, darker the hair color and lighter hairs means less melanin. There may be difference in hair color of same person due difference in amount of melanin. Melanin has two pigment chemicals eumelanin and phaeomelanin.

Darkest color for hair is the black and it is the most common hair color found. Large amount eumelanin cause black color. Then brown hair is caused by more of dark pigment eumelanin and less of pale pigment phaeomelanin. Other colors are blonde and red which are rare and found in only few ethnicities.

As the person grows older, there come gray hairs which are actually white hair. These hairs grow without any pigment in them. Some people may have white hairs prematurely due any underlying deficiency and illness.

Factors which Affect Hair colors:

There are many factors which affect hair color. Hairs start becoming white or gray due to aging process. Hair color become darker for the infants born with light colored hairs. Most of the times, onset of gray colored hair is caused by genetics.

Some other conditions like auto-immune vitiligo, albinism, malnutrition, pernicious anemia and Werner Syndrome may cause change in hair color. Excessive smoking can result in premature graying of hairs.

Hair Coloring:

Hair coloring is the process of changing hair color. Hair coloring is chemical process. You can get permanent and temporary hair coloring. Texture of hair determines lasting effect of hair color.

Bleach is a chemical lightener which is a permanent type of hair coloring. It is used to lighten or highlight the hairs. This removes the natural pigment of hair.

Semi permanent hair color is applied to change the tone of hair color and it also darkens the hair color. But semi-permanent hair color can not lighten the hair color. It enhances and enriches your natural hair color tone. It settles in the second layer of the hair after penetrating eth cuticles. Semi-permanent hair color in fact deposits the color and can be removed after few shampoo washes.

Temporary hair colors are available in the form rinses. These rinses are applied while doing shampoo. But this kind of hair color gets removed in the next shampoo wash. Temporary hair colors are the best way to experiment with the new look. But it has drawbacks that it runs with moisture and can stain your cloths. It only colors cuticle. It does not contain ammonia or hydrogen peroxide which fastens the color.

Permanent hair color can lighten and darken the natural hair color and also it can change the tone of hair color. Permanent color can give 100% consistent results. It penetrates the cuticles and reaches to the cortex to accumulate there. Every 4-6 weeks, it should be touched up. For covering gray hairs, permanent colors are the best option. Permanent colors have oxidative dye which uses peroxide and ammonia to lift the new color and deposit it deep into the hair shaft. Ammonia helps to open up the hair cuticles to let the pigment penetrate deep in the hair shaft.

Tips and techniques to maintain Hair Color:

You need to maintain the colored hair to keep them in good condition. Here are few tips for this purpose:

Whenever you go for swimming, wet your hairs with mineral water to dilute the effect of chlorinated water in the pool.

While going out in the sun, wear hats or scarves to protect the hair color. Sunrays tend to fade the color and have drying effect on hairs.

Use shampoos specially designed for color-treated hairs. Shampoo it gently and apply intensive conditioner to retain hair moisture and luster to the color treated hairs.

Avoid wrapping a towel turban on wet hairs as it will damage hairs by unnecessary pulling. Instead gently blow dry and leave hairs little damp to let them dry themselves.

Do not brush your hairs while wet rather comb them with a wide tooth brush.

Do not just put lemon juice in your hairs and also do not spray any lightening agent in your hairs.