Stylists want you to go to them because they want your money so they're going to hiss and spit when you tell them you use box hair color. Let's see: $6-$9 for the stuff in a box vs. $50-$80 for salon color? If I could make the stuff in a box last (again, red is a world unto itself and requires extra effort) I'd certainly use it. I don't think most colorists have ever used the box stuff so they see it as the enemy and try to convince you that the quality isn't up to par (depends on the color, I think) and that you're just being cheap or don't really care about the health of your hair. Pantene used to make the absolute best leave-in conditioner and my stylist kept trying to convince me to use a "better" product, saying the stuff I was using was essentially liquid plastic. I asked "Does it wash out with the next shampoo?" "Yes, but..." "So where's the long-term damage? There isn't any? So if it makes my hair look shiney and makes it easier to style, where's the harm?" She was like "Yea, but..." "But WHAT?" But then Pantene discontinued my beloved product and now I AM using the expensive stuff which, compared to the "liquid plastic" just sucks. I work with a girl who uses red from a box and only has to color her hair quarterly. I spend a fortune, half my red is gone by the second shampoo, and I'm having my hair professionally colored three times as often? What bull. I know red is nortoriously tough to hang onto but when I'd talk to other redheads none of them had the issues I had. I did everything right and my color still vanished. I think the guy at Sally's was right about my old salon using the cheaper stuff, not necessarily to keep people like me coming back more often, but because the lady who owns the salon is... thrifty. Well, now I'M thrifty, too. Of all the redheads I know my hair strands are the most fine so I think hair texture has a lot to do with why my hair, in particular, doesn't hold red color as well, but I can't find a single professional to back me up on this. All I know is, way back when I was "blonde" I never had issues with color lasting.
I have to say I recently had to buy a new blow dryer and bought a ceramic type by accident. I bought it because it was the only one I'd ever seen where you could open the trap at the end and clean out the lint (which was such a sensible idea I HAD to pick that one). I'd heard ceramic dryers are much gentler on hair and it's definitely true. The first time I used it I thought I'd over-conditioned my hair, it was so smooth. It's red, it folds up, and I think I spent about $45 at Target
By the way, for the person who asked, I'm in Columbus, Ohio.
