Well, I am chagrined to say that my hair coloring of a couple days ago LOOKS great, but I feel chumped, nevertheless. And I plan to share my concerns with my new stylist, as I'm guessing she may be in the dark about L'Oreal's relatively new hair coloring line, INOA.

If you Google INOA, you'll see that it is *supposedly* a NO AMMONIA based hair coloring line that uses oil-based infusion to color the hair strands (vs ammonia or hydrogen peroxide, which MANY folks are allergic/sensitive to). Well, golly, then how come one of the KEY ingredients listed on the back of the bottle is, um, how shall I put this, "ammonium hydroxide" - which is basically ammonia in water? (Read for y'self at: http://www.organiccolorsystems.com/does-inoa-stand-for-inaccurate-no-ammonia)

The good news: I have fabulous, total coverage in a very natural-looking shade of medium brown with a bit of gold. I'm HAPPY! Oh, and there was absolutely no itching or burning on my scalp when it was applied, left on for 45 min, and even massaged INTO my scalp for good measure. By contrast, the Wella line my previous stylist used on my head itched like the dickens, burned like a slow torture, and drove me NUTS. Since she is a small shop, there will be no L'Oreal INOA for her to use.

My new stylist told me that one needs special certification by L'Oreal to use the INOA color line. Additional research on the web shows that L'Oreal is going to make a shift from current coloring to the INOA line over time. So I guess that means lots MORE revenue for them in the form of certification fees? Ack. Whatever.

I just wanted to share this with you so you go into the salon with both eyes open. Know that even tho L'Oreal touts the INOA hair color line as NO AMMONIA, in a kind of Alice-in-Wonderland, Mad Hatter's Tea Party logic, it actually has .... AMMONIA.

I wish I could tell everyone I'm a gorgeous blond with double-Ds and fabulous legs .. but, um, I'm NOT. And I have a problem with BALD LIES.

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I bug you.

Well, Ammonia is NH3 and Ammonium hydroxide is NH4OH3. So when they say no "ammonia", they are referring to NH3 (liquid in bottle used for cleaning also). NH4OH3 is basically LYE. Both are different chem compounds. So, that's how they get away with saying; "No ammonia". Now, they formulate it so the NH4OH3 reacts with something else so you get NH3 ("ammonia") to get released and to react with the H202 (hydrogen peroxide).

Similar marketing tactic is used by companies marketing hair straighteners for ethnic market. They say: "No LYE". However, they are just using word "lye" to mean a specific lye compound; SODIUM HYDROXIDE. Instead they use CALCIUM HYDROXIDE. However Calcium hydroxide IS a LYE compound. Hence when they say; "No LYE" that is a LIE. LOL

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MissJ is correct, for example Chi color uses something called as part of active ingredient Monoethanolamine ( made from ethylene oxide with some type of ammonia)

I just started using Revlon-Colorsilk after reading a lot of great reviews and it is wonderful! I couldn't believe how beautiful the color came out, better than the salon treatments I got previously.

When I asked the hairdresser, who is certified to use IONA, she said if you have thinner hair it's not a good product. She didn't use it on herself because of that. It supposedly has great color but it can leave your hair flat due to it being oil based. I decided against it too.

Well, ya. If you mix ammonium hydroxide with something else, you can release the ammonia in the ammonium hydroxide. Easier to just add the plain ammonia to it but they do that 'trick' when they want to say; "no ammonia" LOL.

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There's no such thing as a free lunch.

They made it gentler, but it also has lost efficacy, apparently.

Good to know.

I'll be sticking with the cheap stuff.

The FDA is a GIANT joke.

Hennalucent? I used to use that in high school, from Sally's. I used all of the red, burgundy, brown, and black shades and they were all nice. Fading was gradual and they do not irritate or fry the hair. But hennalucent will not lighten hair.

Having gray hair is such a pain, especially when you are a brunette - the gray skunk line is much more apparent. My haircut and one process color is up to $91.00 and I hear that is comparatively cheap around here but with tip, it's still over $100.00 and the gray is back three weeks later. For touch ups that I do myself, I use a salon quality color that my niece bought with her cosmetology license (Matrix SoColor) and my stylist in the salon uses Wella. I try to stretch the touch ups to once a month but if I have a performance, it has to be three weeks. And coloring definitely makes my hair fall out. What's a girl to do? I want to move to Vermont, let my hair go gray, wear baggy clothes and Birkenstocks.

And don't get me started on the lighting! I can't even look at myself and I'm forking over $100! My stylist has moved to a new location and will be seeing her in that new salon on Friday, hoping their lighting is a bit less harsh.

would letting the grays grow out and just weaving bleach hghlights into brunette every now and then look okay? I am trying to avoid the every 6 week peroxide too.
Any pictures online of what that would look like?