The root of hair coloring dates back at least to the ancient Romans and a lot of societies have made use of herbal remedies to dye their hair. Contemporary coloring started in 1909 when a French chemist came up with the initial commercial hair color.

What is the definition of color?

Color is a compound topic but let simply say it's the way light reflects from pigments. Alter either the pigment or the type of light and you modify the color we see. There are two major types of color: red-yellow (warm shades) as well as red-blue (cool shades).

How do I make out what type of coloring I have?

1. If you have:

A skin tone of ivory, peach, creamy beige, light or dark golden brown, or coppery colored and your eyes are blue, blue-green, hazel, light green, amber or coffee colored. Then you have warm coloring and should choose a warm shade for your hair (gold with red highlights, gold or honey brown, copper or mahogany).

2. If you have:

A skin tone of rosy pink or beige, dark olive, dark brown or ebony and your eyes are light or dark blue, deep green, brown or black. Then you have cool coloring and should pick a cool shade for your hair (burgundy highlights, ash or platinum blonde, brown, dark brown, black, gray, or white).

What is the definition of hair?

The hair comprises of a shaft which is visible and its root which is below the skin in a follicle. The shaft is lifeless. The existing part is the follicle and the few cells just coming out from it at the base of the shaft. That is the way the hair grows, by cells at its base subdividing, pushing upwards, hardening and developing pigment. Normally, each of our hairs grows at about ½ inch per month and survives anywhere from 3 to 5 years or a little more.

The hair consists of keratin, the similar protein that's present in our fingernails as well as skin, in addition to some other proteins and a pigment referred to as melanin. There are two types of melanin: eumelanin and phaeomelanin.

What are the components of permanent hair color?

There are two major ones, ammonia as well as hydrogen peroxide. Ammonia opens the cuticle of the hair shaft so the color molecules can penetrate efficiently. Hydrogen peroxide bleaches the hair so that fresh color can be added to create the desired look. A few permanent colors come with more natural ingredients than others but will probably still have some synthetic chemicals.

How is hair color altered?

The hair shaft is similar to a tube. The exterior is the cuticle and inside is the cortex with the pigment. Any applied coloring goes through the cuticle to the cortex but it may or may not work together with your natural pigment.

If you have a shady hair and want it lighter, there are two steps you can go: first your color is bleached and secondly the new color is added

If you have light-colored hair and want it darker, only the second step is required.

Hair coloring is in three levels based on how long the coloring last.

Level 1, semi-permanent color - The color molecules are very small. They go through the hair's cuticle into the cortex where your normal color is located but they don't interact with your natural pigment well enough. For the reason that they are so tiny, they disappear from the hair more easily and so this coloring level isn't enduring. Averagely it lasts through about 6 to 12 shampoos. It also doesn't lighten your hair since there's no peroxide or ammonia nor does it cover gray more than about 50 percent.

Level 2, demi-permanent color - The color molecules are once more very little and they go through into the cortex. At this time, they join with each other to form larger molecules. As a result they don't wash off as fast, lasting through a couple dozen shampoos usage. This sort of coloring contains some peroxide which allows it to subtly lighten the natural shade and mix together better with gray.

Level 3, permanent color - Once again, small molecules penetrate the cortex but this time they react to the natural molecules and develop to a size too big to be washed off. Ammonia and peroxide are used at the same time, so the hair is initially lightened and then colored to the desired result. Because the final shade is a mixture of your natural color and the added color, it will be exceptional to you.

Hair coloring has become so common these days because it's so simple to customize and not just a woman thing anymore.  A lot of more men have discovered the fun of changing their look once in a while. So, why just pay attention to the cut and style alone? Why not be a little bit creative with the color too?