Preparing for coloring/straightening hair. Help?

[BERlin]

Hey. So tomorrow I'm planning to go to Too Groovy salon in Atlanta for a color. Due to some budget and scheduling constraints, I've opted to have my stylist flat iron my hair after the color.

Yeah, I know this is really risky. I'd prefer highlights but I think that with the look I'm going for I'll need some bleach and maybe a demi-permanent all over color. My hair was hennaed about three weeks ago and I tend to henna once every two months, with random protein treatments in between.

Since I haven't chemically color OR straightened my hair in two years, I was wondering what I should do to prep it for salon care. My internet research has very mixed advice: some say to go in with dirty hair, others say clean (as in conditioner free) hair. Some say use a protein treatment before the color, others say moisture is best.

What do you think? I've included some pictures of my ideal color below along with a picture of me naturally. If you ladies are interested I can update about my experience at Too Groovy tomorrow.

 

[My Friend]

"coloring"

This is what your title said to me....

I'm about to have sex and I just flat ironed my hair....

 

[MsLauren]

I would do a protein treatment before just to "prepare" your hair and make it extra strong against the bleach and the next time you shampoo your hair do a moisture treatment to replenish the moisture you're going to lose due to bleach.



sidenote: i thought you were talking about sex when I saw "coloring" in the title. i hope im not alone on this!

 

[westNDNbeauty]

Please please please make sure you mention to your stylist that you used henna 3 weeks ago.


ETA: using henna after a chemical coloring process is not biggie, but using it BEFORE is where tings become tricky.

 

[SummerSolstice]

If you were sitting in my chair I wouldn't color your hair if you did henna 3 weeks ago.
Also, you can just bring some gel and oil and snatch your hair up in a bun and leave if you don't want your hair heat styled. I do that every time and it saves me about $30

 

[SummerSolstice]

I would do moisture before and then protein and moisture after. dryness during a color process is usually a bigger problem IMO.

 

[BERlin]

Thank you for the responses.

I've only used jamila henna on my hair, probably for a year and a half. From what I've read there is a possibility of a reaction with the henna and dye chemicals, but pure BAQ henna should be good to go. I'll give a call to the Mehandi office tomorrow and do a strand test with my hairdresser.

 

[SummerSolstice]

try an aveda salon. since the color is 97% plants the reaction should be less