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Eh, its debatable.....
Long time ago I had my hair professionally colored & I have done just as good of a job at home.
In fact today I just did my hair in an amazing vibrant copper red-
It's gorgeous
Just as not all physicians are great surgeons not all hair stylists (beauticians if you will) are good with hair coloring. In some instances a novice can do as well or nearly so compared to going to a salon. This however has many factors including the effect one is trying to achieve.
When it comes to covering more than say 10% to 20% gray, drastically change of color and or hair that is not in the best of condition it very well may pay to seek a good hair colorist. In fact when you go to certain salons especially high end with a "name" he or she may very well do what they are famous for (color, cut, style, etc..) but assistants will likely do the rest of the work.
Professional hair colors are different than what you get at your local store 24. Also those with extensive training and experience in working with hair color know how to achieve the results desired working from what they've got.
Grey hair in particular can be very difficult (resistant) to color properly. Also if done wrong you end up looking like Eddie Munster. Depending upon the effect desired a good hair colorist will mix two or three different shades to avoid flat dull results. Your grays can either be totally covered and or blended to look like highlights. The latter IMHO is most flattering and is what you see with many women today like Hillary Clinton, Catherine Deneuve and Helen Mirren for a start. Blending the grays as highlights also lessens the dramatic line of demarcation that comes when roots grow in.
I always prefer crème based hair color for coloring my hairs. It good because crème hair colors having some ingredients which are good for hairs nourishing but these ingredients not found in powder hair color. And I always use henna based hair color because henna is good for hair conditioning.
I share one of good brand Nisha Color Perfect which is crème based hair color and having henna powder content also. It is professional hair color, you can easily use it at home also.
Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
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Most women over 35 should never go darker then their original color or wear hair much past your bra strap.. It ages women quite unfairly. I always tell people that want dark brown/black hair to never ever use black dye. Especially blue black. The men look like Elvis and the women Elvira. It's just too harsh and cheap looking. A true medium brown dye will initially be almost black. I keep my base colored light brown and I have to use darkest blonde for it to process correctly. Got the gray so I feel your pain. Highlights help tremendously with blending between touch ups. With streaks I can do my roots every 3-4 months. Without,after 30 days there's an obvious amount around the front hairline and part. The picture is attractive but I'd bet 10 years would melt right off the OP with a 4-5 inches trimmed and long layers incorporated especially framing the face. A good chocolate brown base and some caramel or even dark burgundy highlights.
Disclaimer. On most adult women the burgundy hair resembles the style of a Sallys beauty school drop out or a last call cougar. But someone with naturally dark hair and dark or olive complexion can carry it off it they keep.it looking healthy and trimmed into a current age appropriate style. I always use the example that young girls wear pig tails but adult women don't look younger by copying the look. Anything that makes you look like your trying to hard to look younger does the exact opposite.
Not the way I dye my hair. I use pure henna, and that is permanent, plus a lot cheaper than salon color. I've used commercial red dyes (my former stylist used Redken) and a cherry cola dye job always faded within 2 weeks, even with "color safe" shampoos.
I used to pay $80 to have my hair "professionally" colored. Now I do it myself and I pay less than that a year for henna that is tested for purity and lack of adulterants (some of the cheaper hennas have junk added to them that can cause damage - that's why stylists throw a conniption fit when you tell them you use henna).
The photos I attached were taken at vastly different times (over a 4 year spread). I love to see the pro who can give me that same color quality and have it still be that level after a month's time. Ain't going to happen, that's why I've been a henna-head for the past 8 years.
The best way for the OP to go black is an application of henna followed by an application of indigo (yes, the same stuff used to dye blue jeans). It is cheaper, and also much safer. Black dyes, ALL black dyes, even the ones used in salons, contain PPD, which is the stuff that causes people to have allergic reactions to hair dye.
I've dyed my hair at home for over 20 years. IMO, my home dye jobs look much better than the professional jobs I've seen friends and coworkers get. My dye job looks natural and doesn't damage my hair much (all dye damages hair somewhat).
I had my hair "highlighted" professionally once. You couldn't even see the highlights. Waste of money.
It seems to me that the pro colors are STRONGER. That means they are more DAMAGING.
I do my roots once every 3 or so weeks. Then drag the color through the rest of my hair (which is already dyed). The color in the rest of the hair, being several weeks old, has faded. All hair dyes fade, but I think the cheaper ones (like the one I use) fade more. But that's why it doesn't damage my hair much. Fading is fine with me. My medium brown fades to show what look like highlights, and a lighter shade of brown. It looks pretty attractive, ifyou ask me.
My hair is long, straight, all one length, and shiny. I get compliments on my hair all the time. So I must be doing something right.
Also, the good thing about doing it at home is that you can do it at your convenience, even late at night! Then when you need to do it again, you can match that color exactly, since YOU did it. If you get it done by a pro, you'll have to continue doing that, if you want the exact color match.
I not only use a home dye, but I use one of the least expensive home dyes available. I use Clairol Balsam (I order it from Amazon directly from Clairol, or htey carry it at General Dollar stores). I don't use it because it's cheap. I use it because I liked it the best, after testing other colors over the years.
I've used Nice N'Easy, L'Oreal, the new Clairol semi-permanent without the white chemical liquid, other semi-permanent colors, and one professional highlight job, plus Clairol Balsam. Clairol Balsam looked the best, and did best, on my hair. I use medium brown, which is slightly lighter than my natural color.
Gray hair on most brunettes is color resistant. The instructions will probably tell you to leave it on your hair a longer time than normal.
Just my opinion, but dying your hair all black, all one color, may not look natural. Hair is usually tiny strands of different shades of brown or black or whatever. Maybe your gray streaks will look like highlights.
BE AWARE that home hair dyes often dye darker than the picture shows. You say your hair is black, but it would be dangerous to use a black dye. That's REALLY blue-black, all one color, looks harsh, and sometimes looks unnatural (a Goth look). Dark brown dyes closer to black, but is somewhat softer and more natural
Having said all that, right before you go on a special trip is probably not the time for you to make a big change to your hair, esp. home dying. If your hair gets messed up, it might upset you before your trip. It would me.
I always prefer crème based hair color for coloring my hairs. It good because crème hair colors having some ingredients which are good for hairs nourishing but these ingredients not found in powder hair color. And I always use henna based hair color because henna is good for hair conditioning.
I share one of good brand Nisha Color Perfect which is crème based hair color and having henna powder content also. It is professional hair color, you can easily use it at home also.
Some gray hair won't take the color with a 10 volume. Mine wouldn't, even when I was coloring it blue-black. I wasn't using a color that was formulated just for gray hair, maybe that would have made a difference. But I would end up with the rest of my hair the right color, and the gray streak on either side of my face would be a darker gray, but still gray.
When using 10 volume developer with a "deposit only" demi-permanent color (I use Ion from Sally Beauty), you can color resistant hair simply by leaving the color on for additional time, or adjusting the color to developer ratios as shown on the instructions inside the box that the color comes in. Again this is only to make your hair a color darker than your own, or to color the greys. Since I am using a color lighter than my own, it only colors the greys, and does it without lightening my base color. I've never used a formula for grey hair, because this works fine. I have about 30% grey hair. The front and top are almost 90% grey and the sides and back are only about 15-20% grey. My natural color is light to medium brown, so I use medium blonde. It doesn't lighten my natural color at all, but colors the greys blonde, so it looks like it's been highlighted, and just with more highlights in the front and on the top, which is how most highlights are done. It fades very little, so I only have to do the roots every 6 weeks, and never do my whole head anymore.
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