We have all heard that using box color isn't good for our hair & we shouldn't use it......but why? Why do hairstylists secretly cry when a guest comes in with box colored hair? I'm about to spill all the dirty details so you can know exactly what is going on your hair & what you can expect to get rid of it. 1: Box color is not a magical formula that is a one size fits all. If you purchase a bright blonde color and your hair is dark brown....well the only thing that that is going to do it severely damage your hair and maybe turn your hair some ultra brassy color. Not even worth trying. Box color states to be able to achieve greatness but in 100% honesty, it will only harm your hair & get your hopes up. Just because it is cheap doesn't mean that it's good. 2: Harsh HARSH chemicals. Box colors contain Metallic Salts ,Nitro Dyes, Hennas, extreme amounts of ammonia & PPD. Each of those chemicals are cheap filler ingredients that stain your hair & are very bad if you have any skin sensitivities. Those chemicals are PERMANENT. That means that box color will be in your hair until it has been cut off. So the damage caused by those chemicals can make your hair feel extremely dry, straw-like and lead to extreme breakage. 3: But what about Sally's? Sorry to tell you sis, Sally's color IS INDEED BOX COLOR. The truth is, any color that you are able to purchase WITHOUT a cosmetology license is not good high quality color and you shouldn't be getting that stuff anywhere near your hair. It will only cause damage, lead to unwanted colors & ultimately lead to having to pay more to get it fixed then you would originally pay in the first place to get your hair done. 4: Dark Darker Darkest Every time you put box color on your hair guess what, it gets darker. That is how the chemicals are designed to work. They are permanent so they don't wash out. So every time you apply the color, another blanket gets added to the pile and the color gets a bit darker. That is why if you continually used the same color for a long time, you would see differing bands and soon you would see light roots to extremely dark ends. All because it was box color. 5: Color Correction Time Let's be real, you will not achieve that stunning Jennifer Aniston hair with that $7 box color. But do you know what that color will do for you? Allow you to invest at least 2-5X what it would normally cost you to get it done. Most times box color is used when we don't want to pay to get it done but look at it this way: You pay $7-$15 to purchase a box color. It then turns into a huge mess & you now need to get it fixed asap. (a scenario I've seen too often sadly) We then have to spend 6-8+ hours for 1 session to try to fix it. Most times it takes multiple sessions to help keep the integrity & health of your hair. Then for our first color correction session we were looking at $400-$600 instead of $150-$200 for a normal coloring appointment. And that is just one color correction session...... The reason that color corrections are so expensive is because when dealing with metallic salts, henna and nitro dyes and PPDS those can cause unpredictable chemical reactions so things must be done slowly in order to help prevent the melting off of your hair. Doesn't seem so worth it now does it? Believe me, box color cuts corners & doesn't provide any helpful benefits in the process. So if the chemicals, damage, unpredictability doesn't drive you away, hopefully the cost will.