male hair dyes or female hair dyes what`s safer and better?

Most "men`s" hair dyes emphasize speed above all else. When`s the last time you saw "women`s" hair dye with a 5-minute development time?

The problem is, speed kills -- both your hair AND your results.

Generally speaking, the slower-acting the dye, the less damaging it is to the hair and the more consistent coverage you`ll get. You`ve undoubtedly noticed that products like Grecian 5, when applied to previously-colored hair, do little more than darken the already-colored ends even darker, yet leave the white roots nearly intact. Already-colored hair soaks it up, but virgin white hair needs 5 minutes just to soften up enough to START absorbing it.

I get generally good results by using two products on a weekly basis: Jheri Redding One `n Only color remover, and Clairol Complements semi-permanent dye. I`m 32, with naturally dark-brown hair that started going gray when I was 21, and was nearly solid white on the sides and temples by the time I was 27.

My usual routine:

Wednesday night, an hour before going to bed:

Mix batch of One `n Only and apply. Leave on for a half hour, then wash off. Basically, the One `n Only Colorfix works by smashing the chemical bonds holding together the oxidized and polymerized chains of hair dye clinging to the outside of the hair and wedged inside and re-liquefies the old dye so it can be washed away. It`s not 100% effective, but it does very little damage to the hair and DOES make a big difference -- especially for guys with short hair who have to color every week to hide the new roots for whom buildup would otherwise be a serious problem. At this point, the hair is probably orange. Don`t panic. It doesn`t restore your NATURAL color... it just removes the artificial color. The act of applying oxidative color DOES lighten the hair a bit (even if it claims otherwise). When demi-permanent dye ads claim to not lighten the hair, what they REALLY mean is that any minimal lightening is offset by the dye deposited at the same time. Strip the deposited dye away, and the truth comes out.

Give it 10 minutes to dry, then apply the One `n Only processing lotion, leave it on for 5 minutes, then RINSE it off (no shampoo). Basically, it`s peroxide. Its purpose is to neutralize any remaining One `n Only, and re-oxidize any hair dye that didn`t get removed. It`s obviously important to neutralize any remaining Colorfix, but reoxidizing dye that didn`t get washed away is important too. If it were left unoxidized, it would reoxidize and darken anyway when the new dye were applied... but your assessment of the current pre-dye color of the hair would be WAY off, and you`d probably end up with randomly bad results. At this point, my non-gray hairs are usually a deep gold color, and the gray hairs are mostly yellow.

Sleep overnight. This is important! It gives your scalp 6-8 hours to regenerate skin oil to replace the oil that got washed off during the color removal stage. If you were to color your hair immediately after scrubbing off the old color and neutralizing the colorfix, you`d probably end up with skin stains lasting longer than the dye on the hair. Way uncool.

Get up, eat breakfast, and assess the hair`s color in front of a mirror in a room with indirect natural sunlight AND fluorescent lights that are turned on. This is the fun part... figuring out what color needs to be applied to turn it back into the color it was yesterday (sans white roots). It`s easier said than done, and the exact formula you need to use WILL change from week to week.

My goal is slightly yellow medium brown. My usual progression over the course of 4 weeks is something like:

Week 1: hair cut wednesday night. Thursday morning, the dominant color is new gray growth (most of the previously colored hair is gone). Non-gray hair is beige-brown, slightly yellow. Time for Level 5 natural base ("Lightest Brown").

Week 2: the dominant post-removal color this week is gold. I don`t want it to get TOO dark (because new white roots will show up faster), so I drop down to level 6 natural base for this week. If the non-gray hairs on top are more yellow than orange, I`ll add 1/4 tube of level 4 red plum and more developer to the mixture.

Week 3: usually a repeat of week 2. If I didn`t add the level 4 RP last week, I`ll almost definitely have to do it this week. On the other hand, it`s rare to need it two weeks in a row. In either case, the main color is still level 6 natural base.

Week 4: By now, 3 weeks of weekly coloring is starting to take its toll. The non-gray hairs on top are definitely more orange at the tips than the still-golden brown roots. The new white roots stick out like a sore thumb. Yuck. This is a compromise week -- I need to use level 5 natural base to sufficiently neutralize the tips up on top and keep them from winding up as yellow or gold, but the hair overall ends up a little darker than ideal, and the gray roots will be showing by Sunday night.

Then, Wednesday rolls around, the old hair gets cut off, and I can look forward to once again being able to pass for 24 for a few days before the roots become noticeable again.

My only major complaint with the Clairol Complements is their lack of Semi-permanent blue intensifier. Yes, their "permanent" blue intensifier can theoretically be used, but it never gets good results... the ammonia causes extra lightening that throws off the color balance for 6-8 weeks until the hair all grows out and gets cut off, it simultaneously causes the semi-permanent dye to act more like permanent dye and become next to impossible to remove with the colorfix, and the blue pigment itself washes away within a matter of days.

Additional "first aid" supplies to keep around that can Save the Day™ --

Artec Coco Bean color-enhancing shampoo. A grayish-blue shade good for tweaking results that are just a tiny bit too orange.

Artec Blue Orchid shampoo. A dark blue shade good for tweaking results that are definitely and noticeably orange.

Artec White Violet color-enhancing shampoo. A saturated blue-violet shade good for neutralizing results that are too yellow and nudging them closer to brown.

Artec Cherry Bark color-enhancing shampoo. A less-saturated, slightly more red than blue shade. Most useful if the hair ends up looking slightly yellow-green.

The ColorFix is usually cheaper at Sally`s than mail order ($11.99 vs $18+), but Clairol Complements is significantly cheaper if you buy it by mail. Artec shampoo is ONLY available (to mere mortals) by mail.

whyever would male hair dyes be any different!?

does anyone know if male hair dyes are safer and contain gentler ingredients than female hair dyes, since it`s believed that
males are more prone to baldness and thinning hair than females