Hair color is the rage. Why? Baby-Boomers. There are more people in the US with gray hair than ever before in history.

There are several ways to cover the gray:

• With Permanent Color: Most permanent color uses peroxide (10 to 40 vol.) and ammonia. It covers gray the best. The drawback is re-growth of new hair. It is a different shade and will leave a line of "demarcation."
• With Demi-Permanent Color: Uses peroxide in low vols. (5-7). Many have no ammonia and leave little damage. Perma of Paris® color is the best (only in salons). Perma of Paris® color will cover 80%+ of gray for 8+ weeks. The positive is that when the color fades, it does gradually. It leaves no line of demarcation.
• With Semi-Permanent Color: These are "fun" colors, meaning they will last a short time (1-4 weeks). They usually cause not damage to the hair. The best to expect is 40% - 60% gray coverage (with Perma of Paris® - most others will give you 10% - 50% gray coverage).
• With a Color Rinse (semi-permanent): These are fun but a waste. Go with a demi (I like to cut to the chase). Rinses are great as toners. They are great to cut down unwanted tones in the hair. For the money go for a demi or permanent color.

It may sound a bit odd but your hair is a mixture of 3 colors: red, yellow, and blue. These are the primary colors. Secondary colors are orange, green and violet. If you look at the "wheel", a color opposite (directly across) will "negate" that color. This means that if your hair is an orange color, green will make it a brown color. If your hair has a yellow tone, violet will cancel it out.

One of the most important elements of hair coloring is determining the hair's "underlying pigment". When you choose a color in a swatch book, your hair may not come out that color because of the underlying pigment in your hair.

Underlying color + Artificial color = Final result