I am a 43 year old female and have been coloring my hair for 15 years.  First with semi-permanent; then with permanent for the last 10 years because the semi stopped covering my gray (I am very gray in several patches).  The problem is that my hair condition has gotten worse and worse.  It is now like straw if I don't deep condition every time I shampoo and very broken even though I treat it with care and never brush it, only comb it gently with a wide-toothed comb.  (I have medium long hair, about 4 inches past my shoulders -- I look awful with shorter hair, so cutting it is not an option).  I tried switching back to semi, but my damaged hair grabbed the color and went very dark even though I used a level 6 dark blond; and the semi will not cover all of my gray, so I have very dark hair with gray streaks now.  (My hair is naturally medium to dark brown, probably level 3.5.)  I normally use a light golden brown permanent (level 5) every 6 weeks or so.  It looks great on my hair and covers the gray beautifully, but it's killing my hair.  What do I do?

If anyone can please help me with this problem I would really appreciate it.  Thanks!

let me guess...when u colored ur hair and then each time u did touchups you kept redoing ur whole head rite? this is what has ur hair porous so that when u tried a semi again it soaked up waay more pigment than what it normally which made ur hair really dark! Remember only the roots should be covered w/ permanent color. Umm theres a long list of things i could say but i think the best thing rite now is to go to a good colorists who specializes in corrections. Here's a helpful link: http://www.haircolorist.com/ - http://www.haircolorist.com/  

Have u tried conditioners with silicones? It's supposed to help with damaged hair.

The problem is, its tricky to remove semi-permanent hairdye from the hair as most color correctors are mainly designed to remove oxidative permanent dyes. There is one called phantom color corrector and its a 100% stress free product which dissolves dye molecules rather than strip them from the hair and its also possible to use it on semi's according to the product description.

In the meantime, i suggest using a dandruff shampoo to strip the semi permanent color. Btw, what haircolor did u use?

Hope this helps somewhat!

Yes, I did re-color my whole hair everytime (stupidly, I know) but it took 9 of the ten years of permanent coloring to find the perfect shade.  I kept changing shades (and brands), so I kept re-coloring my whole head every 6 weeks or so.  I know this is incredibly dumb of me, but I am apparently a slow learner.

I can live with the too dark semi (Clairol ColorGloss 6N) as long as it will eventually wash out -- it will, right?  I can't afford a professional colorist right now.  What else can I do that's cheap?  You already mentioned using dandruff shampooo.  That I will try.  On a side note, will another application -- in several weeks -- of my permanent color, which is lighter than my current dark, take out the remaining semi color that's too dark?  I know it's damaging, but will that work?)

Okay, so I need to only color the roots (Loreal Preference 6 1/2 G).  What can I do to get my damaged hair feeling better and more managable?  I know I can't technically heal it as it's dead.  Any other helpful advice?

Thank you for all your help!  I appreciate it so much.

The problem is that color will not lift color so that's basically not possible but I could recommend a product thats ok for you in that case. It's phantom color remover by schwarzkopf and you can get it online and this link: http://www.adiscountbeauty.com/page32.html - http://www.adiscountbeauty.com/page32.html  

Once you do that, you could recolor but do a strand test first, also strand test with the color remover before applying.

As for damaged, regular trims are a must. I also heard that protein packs are good for using on damaged hair. Another good thing is to use a hair serum like Silk by Farouk which makes hair feel soft when applied to wet or dry hair. One though, that i really recommend is a good strong leave-in reconstructive conditioner for damaged hair. Any prof beuaty supply will carry such things.

Good luck!

Oh one more thing, go to http://www.sallybeauty.com - www.sallybeauty.com and http://www.folica.com - www.folica.com and sally's site has info of all the reconstructive hair treatments/conditioners and folica gives reviews for hair and beauty products.

Thanks for all your help as well as the product recommendations.

I've been looking for a good protein conditioner but haven't found one that I like yet.  The ones I've tried never leave my hair feeling as soft as the conditioners without protein.

Is the phantom color remover available at Sally Beauty Supply?