Welcome back to Hair Salons Baton Rouge! On this page, I’ll tell you all about one of the most popular hair treatments, second only to haircuts.

Hair coloring. It’s a fact that 75% of women color their hair at some time and men color their hair more and more these days.

The process of hair coloring involves forcing chemical reactions between the proteins in your hair and pigments. Peroxide and ammonia can also be used in this process.

Your real hair shade comes from varying amounts of certain proteins existing in your hair, mostly due to your genetics. A person with light to medium-colored hair, has phaeomelanin as their hair’s primary protein. In brunettes, eumelanin is dominant. Gray hair occurs when neither of the proteins are present.

Artificial hair color can be either temporary or permanent. Maybe you’re considering coloring your hair for the first time and you want to experiment with a temporary color that will eventually wash out after several shampoos.

The first way these semi-permanent hair colors can work is with dyes in the coloring product which just bond to the outside of the hair shaft. Another way is with minute pigment particles that work their way inside through the outside of your hair shaft with the help of a tiny amount of peroxide. Either way, these do eventually wash out completely, then you get your natural hair color back.

Permanent hair color is a much more complex chemical process. It involves actually opening up your hair cuticle (the outer layer) and attaching a new color to the cortex which is inside the shaft of the hair. But, before the new color can be deposited, the existing color must be removed by peroxide which breaks down the chemical bonds in your hair.

Ammonia is the key ingredient which makes chemical hair color processes possible. First, it opens up the hair shaft so the hair color is able penetrate through the cuticle to the cortex. It also works as a catalyst with the hair color agents and peroxide to create new, permanent hair color molecules.

The whole procedure is completed with conditioners which seal the hair cuticle and traps in the new color. Be advised, this color does not just shampoo out, so it’s important to use a stylist who is experienced with color, which is why I suggest you take a little time and do some checking before you schedule an appointment.

Here’s a good video on hair coloring.