Hair color & chlorine
 

I've been wanting to try something drastically different, hair-wise. Since I can't do blue or bright pink (job won't allow it), I've been thinking about going jet black.

The problem is, I swim twice a week. I use a chlorine-removing shampoo, but anytime I've gone red, it gets stripped pretty quickly. Will the same thing happen with black? I don't mind if it just lightens the color a little, but I keep imagining my hair turning a weird ashy color. Any thoughts or suggestions?

The reaction might depend somewhat on what you natural hair color is. My hair is a natural strawberry blonde. When I was in high school, I dyed it black as part of a Halloween costume, and when I tried to bleach it out, my hair turned into a horrible olive green color.:eek: More bleaching turned it lighter, but I never could get rid of a slight greenish cast. All the bleaching just wrecked my hair, which is thin and fine anyways. I just had to let it grow out and then got it cut really short.
I don't know, maybe the products are better now than the were fifteen years ago, but I'll never:no: try to dye MY hair black again.

Lindy

Red is one of those colors that because of its small molecular weight, washes out quicker than any other hues. You should be in better shape with goth black.

"man on the floor..."

I have dark hair and red ALWAYS washes out with one to two weeks for me.

Black however stays for a long time.

This may not be the same thing-YMMV-but my daughter had dyed her hair black ( I was out of town, otherwise I would have done it for her), had left it in too long so it hadn't gotten that natural fade she thought it'd have and wanted it out.
I took her to a salon where she had it stripped and the blackest portions became a muddy light brown. The strip was uneven due to the way she'd dyed it but since then, she's been dying it her natural deep brown. It'll take a couple more years to get it back( her hair is pretty long)

A couple of things to think about would be: How heavily chlorinated is the pool(is it possible they use any of those "natural chemicals") ? What is the base of the black? Is it blue or purple? What is your natural color and texture? Is the black going to a semi-permanent or permanent color?

Your best bet would be to ask other pool members about any experiences they may have had or ask who cuts your hair. Your other best bet, according to a friend of mine whose family is all competitive swimmers, is to wear a cap. This will protect the color and the texture.

If you swim a couple days every week, your hair is probably pretty porous already from the chlorine, so keep that in mind when you dye it.

I swim once a week. My hair is dyed red. So, I wear a bathing cap. Before I put the cap on, I wet my hair and put on some conditioner. I've had really good luck not having the color wash out even when I am not swimming.

Thanks for the advice, everyone (and the PMs, as well.) For the record, my hair is naturally light brown/dark blonde, although I've been coloring it for around twelve years. The pool's heavily chlorinated, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any "natural" chemicals-- damn.

I really dislike wearing a cap while I swim...I don't even like wearing goggles. Sounds like I'm going to have to get over that, though :)