L'Oreal HiColor Magenta Question

I would stop using any peroxide on your hair, other than the roots. If it's losing colour quickly, it's very often a case of being over processed. So no, I wouldn't advise using the magenta on anything other than your roots.

There are a lot of ways of stopping the semi dyes fading quickly. Here's a great thread that covers lots of ways http://www.hairdyeforum.com/index.php/topic,11009.0.html

I agree with Janine, I have a similar problem at the moment as my hair was previously bleached so is a bit damaged but then I dyed it brown with a permanent dye (20 vol), then topped it up a couple of times with semi permanents (10 vol)and now it won't hold colour in the damaged ends for more than a few washes.

Once your hair reaches this stage there's really no point in using anything with peroxide as the worse the damage gets the less your hair will hold colour, meaning that there is no such thing as a permanent dye.

The best advice I could give is if you are able to find a dye by Special Effects that you like the colour of then use this to refresh your ends, they are the longest lasting red dyes I have ever used, even better than so called permanents. Maybe Candy Apple Red? (you may need to dilute it a bit though, it used to go very dark on me at first, almost like a blackcurrant colour.)

meaning that there is no such thing as a permanent dye.

And honestly, those hi lift dyes in bright colours really aren't permanent anyway!

Thanks guys 🙂
I have never bleached but did use hicolor about 3 times total. I wish I had known sooner that it actually somewhat bleaches your hair.

I personally do not think my hair is that damaged as i havent used it much, I think it is more that i wash my hair almost daily (well sometimes i just do conditioner instead of shampoo).

Thanks for the advice! much appreciated.
Oh and i had bought candy apple the other day so im glad that was recommended too!

One more question about semi dye.
If I want to use those for my roots (medium-dark brown hair) do I use lighter or darker reds? I was always confused to as whether lighter dyes show up better on darker hair or vice versa.

Thanks ladies

Moderator combined posts

So, to show up on your roots, you need a darker colour. Direct dyes, like these, are translucent. They sit on your hair and the base colour you have shows through the colour. So, anything lighter than your hair is not going to show. If the dye you're using is darker than your natural colour, just use that, it'll just be a darker version of the same colour.

However, direct dyes don't stay well on virgin hair, so it will wash off faster than on the previously dyed hair which is now more porous. I know you say it's not very damaged, but you might be surprised just how badly damaged hair can be after just one round with peroxide. Modern conditioners do a very good job at masking it, so sometimes it's a lot worse than we think. Or, you just have porous hair anyway. But I digress. You'll need to at least roughen up the cuticle in the roots in the future to have any hope of the direct dye actually sticking. To do this, you need to do one of the following.

Carry on using the hicolor magenta, but only on the roots each time and then top up all over with the direct dyes.

Do a quick bleach or bleach bath on the roots only. Cover everything with direct dye.

Presoften just the roots with peroxide on its own. This will lift the least colour and might not lift at all depending on your hair. Then use direct dye over it all.

So, to show up on your roots, you need a darker colour. Direct dyes, like these, are translucent. They sit on your hair and the base colour you have shows through the colour. So, anything lighter than your hair is not going to show. If the dye you're using is darker than your natural colour, just use that, it'll just be a darker version of the same colour.

However, direct dyes don't stay well on virgin hair, so it will wash off faster than on the previously dyed hair which is now more porous. I know you say it's not very damaged, but you might be surprised just how badly damaged hair can be after just one round with peroxide. Modern conditioners do a very good job at masking it, so sometimes it's a lot worse than we think. Or, you just have porous hair anyway. But I digress. You'll need to at least roughen up the cuticle in the roots in the future to have any hope of the direct dye actually sticking. To do this, you need to do one of the following.

Carry on using the hicolor magenta, but only on the roots each time and then top up all over with the direct dyes.

Do a quick bleach or bleach bath on the roots only. Cover everything with direct dye.

Presoften just the roots with peroxide on its own. This will lift the least colour and might not lift at all depending on your hair. Then use direct dye over it all.

i think i will just do the roots with hicolor magenta, 20 VOL. I was using 30 back then and did not need it that bright, big mistake. This way it won't lighten or do *as much* damage. I don't want hot roots again lol.

I appreciate your help! sorry if i sound a little less experienced with this stuff.

No, that's ok 🙂 we all have to start somewhere and it's appreciated when people take note! We don't know everything, but we have years and years of combined good, and very bad sometimes, experience under our belts!

I think the method of using the hi-color just on your roots is probably ideal for you at the moment, it's the overlapping it that makes cumulative damage and makes it less likely to hold the colour, so just doing your roots each time should rough it up just enough to hold the direct dye each time you refresh it.

Just to ensure that I was clear when I spoke about diluting candy apple red, I meant you may want to mix a bit of white conditioner into it to make it less dark when you first apply it, this will also help to prevent it from rubbing off onto things as badly- I found it rubbed off onto my pillow (and the white wall behind my bed where I used to lean when watching tv!) quite a bit!