How Do Hair Coloring Products Work?

The good news is that most hair color products today have nicer smells than the tell-tale rotten-egg odor that once accompanied permanents or hair coloring. And most color can be applied easily: some to wet hair, others to dry hair, worked into a shampoo-like lather, left to process (some formulas call for covering with a plastic cap during processing; others do not) and then rinsed and conditioned. The down side is still that chemicals in hair coloring can be harsh and harmful to your hair if you don't know what you're doing or if you color or perm too often. How peroxide and ammonia react with your hair is directly related to the level and kind of product you're using. Here are basic descriptions of the three major hair coloring product levels used by Clairol, L'Oreal and others: • Level 1, semi-permanent color -- This product adds color without changing natural color dramatically. The hair color contains tiny color molecules that enter the hair's cuticle, or outer layer, and go ...  more