i have a medium brown hair color. i have been thinking about dying my hair but i am torn between red (like a copper but fiery red), or just dye it light blonde.

this is a picture that best shows what my hair color is:

(yeah the curls look horrible there, whatever).

the problem i am having is that i have heard girls talk about how they have to bleach their hair and then dye it red to get it red enough. now they had very black hair and i am wondering if i would have to do the same thing, even though i have brown hair. the reason i was considering dying it red is because it didn't seem like it would cause as much damage as blond might (since i have curly hair i have to be careful because the texture is fragile). so if the red means having to bleach and then dye it would it just be the same as bleaching it and then keeping it blonde? (damage wise)

it seems easier to keep bleaching it blonde rather than bleaching and dying and bleaching and dying over and over.

and also could i dye it blonde? i know girls with curly hair who have dyed it platinum and they said they deep condition it every now and then and it keeps it in good condition

Yeah, if you bleach it and dye over it with red, it's going to do the same damage as bleaching it and leaving it that way.

The only difference is that you might have to bleach more than once in order to get a light blonde so that would be more damaging. You have a slight hint of copper in your hair already, in that pic, so bleaching it may give you dark blonde/ginger colour to start with and you might have to bleach again to get it lighter, and then perhaps also apply a lilac toner if you're wanting a more ash blonde.

If you're after a bright red, you're right in saying that you'd have to bleach it first. You could probably manage a fairly vivid red with just dye alone, but it may not be as light/bright as you'd like it. Bear in mind that red shades are notoriously bad for fading quickly, and even more so when applied over lighter hair (as it would be if you were bleaching first). The fading would be a lot more horrible (imagine ginger) on bleached hair than it would be if you dyed over your natural colour.

I reckon you'd have the same amount of work to achieve either colour. The upkeep of the blonde might be less onerous, but it would be a bit more damaging in the long run if you end up bleaching multiple times to get it as light as you want.

YOu won't get it vibrant red unless you bleach it. Red does indeed fade the fastest ( large molecules) , yet is notrious for being the hardest to remove from hair once it is there. Get a color fade shampoo or one with a red booster in it. YOu can bleach it blonde and then choose later to die it red. BUt bleaching from red often produces a tacky orange color. YOu may need corrective coloring whih is pricey if / when you decide to leave the red zone. I made the commitment.

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Well, it was no Goodburger.

strange but ditto. I used a lightener (not strong bleach) and got a decent incandescant red afterwards. Only worth it if you are willing to dye over permanant red colour about once every month-two months. If you cant be bothered re-dying every few weeks than just leave it blonde. I fhte blondes horrible you can always dye it back to a brown thats close to your original shade, but remember, blonde needs root retouching frequently too!!

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Thanks kr for the subscription! Much love..

hm okay, thank all of you very much for the advice. i think i might go with blonde because i just want a change but have known i wanted one of those colors and if i have to bleach it anyway, i'll just stick with blonde. also, i don't know if i could stay "commited" to the upkeep that comes with red hair! my hairstylist says that i do have a copper tone in my hair which apparently is good, she said i can dye it a larger range of colors.

it just gets hard because i have to be very careful. curls can be very delicate sometimes :-/ and fry easily.

However, i NEVER straighten or blow dry my hair, which makes a difference, i condition it and use mousse a lot and i have heard that is good for hair.