Hi!
Sorry to hear about your hair...I have my cosmetologist license-and you need to be very careful with double processing your hair. (either perm/color or color/color-like coloring it all one color, and then highlighting streaks over it, etc.) I am glad that it was able to be salvaged though-and that you feel better about it all.
I would like to offer a few words of advice for everyone here-to maybe avoid some future mishaps.
Yes-all costmetologists did the same thing to get their licenses...but not all are created equal. (Think about the valedictorian of your high school class...and the stoned guy who slept in class and barely skeezed through!)
1.) Be wary of a hair stylist who doesn't ask questions. If you come in with obviously colored hair-roots showing or highlighted streaks, etc.-and they did NOT perform that service on you-they should be asking about what is on your hair currently before they perform any chemical service. If they are going to perm or color your hair-they should find out if you got a professional highlight or you used "Sun-In" yourself...or if your hair is colored all over whether it is a permanent color, semi-permanent, henna, Nice N'Easy, or what the heck it is.
2.) You must be very careful what chemicals you use if you are going to double process. (perm/color or color/color-like colored all over with highlights on top of it, etc.) If you are going to perm/color double process-like you had-it is really only recommended if you are using a semi-permanent (washes out in a few weeks) hair color-not a permanent (grows out and leaves roots) one. If someone's hair was heavily highlighted, or bleached-I would make them sign a waver before I would agree to perm...and that was after trying to talk them out of it.
3.) If you color your hair at home-learn a little about color.
Temporary-washes out in a shampoo-has no effect on the hair shaft-as it only coats it on the outside.
Semi-permanent-washes out in a few weeks. Will say this on the front of the box somewhere. This type of color DEPOSITS color into the hair cuticle-it deposits only, therefore s-p color cannot lighten hair. It can only add tones or darken-and it slowly fades over time. If you use s-p color-it is totally safe to put the color all over your hair each month when you do it-because it doesn't really change the hair composition all that much.
Permanent color-grows out and leaves "roots". Highlights are also a permanent color. Permanent color changes your actual hair color permanently. It can darken, lighten, or do whatever. It penetrates and alters the entire hair shaft. If you use permanent color at home-do NOT put it all over your head when doing a touch up. It is a pain-but part your hair in 4 sections-and clip them-and do the roots of each section. (Have someone help) and only put it all over the rest for the last 5 minutes of the process to freshen the rest.
Have you seen the women who have orange roots, honey blonde hair for the most part, and then the last 3 inches of their hair are frizzy WHITE straw? They put the hair color all over every time. Or the woman who has pretty brown hair at the roots-and the further you go down the darker and more fried it gets-until you get to the almost black fuzz at the ends? And it is permanently fried.
In the salon-our haircolors are not in "boxes". If a blonde, a redhead, and a brunette all come in wanting sandy beige hair-I would mix up a different formula for each one of them. Hair colors in the store are one sie fits all-so it is recommended that you not try to do anything yourself more than 2 shades lighter or darker than what you have-because the peroxide in the developer will not be strong enough. If you are a dark brunette and buy light ash blonde-it is likely you are going to end up with strawberry orange.
If you have colored hair and want to highlight over it yourself-there are a couple brands in the stores that are for color treated hair-they are gentler-use them even if they are more expensive. Excellence Cremelights comes to mind off hand.
If you highlight yourself with a kit-and the kit comes with a plastic hook-you will get much better results if you buy a metal tiny crochet hook in the yarn section and keep it in the bathroom. Use it instead. The tiny metal hook will grab smaller pieces of hair-so it looks natural and not like "stripes" and it is less likely to rip the little holes in the cap, causing the color to bleed out on the rest of your head-making "spots" on the scalp. They only cost a dollar or two-and reuse it. Those cheap big plastic hooks are a disaster.
Perms are not created equal. In the back of a salon they should have a minumum of 4-5 different formulas-everything from strong (to perm stubborn wiry gray hair on little old ladies) to a very gentle formula for color treated hair. If the stylist doesn't ask what is on your hair currently-TELL THEM ANYWAY. If they seem more interested in smoking their cigarette in the back room while you process, or talking with the other stylists-speak up. They should be timing your processing like clockwork-if the buzzer goes off-they should be getting to you and rinsing within a minute or two at MOST.
I have worked with many a 'stylist moron. (Used to manage a salon before I married and had kids.) Some of these women (and men) are dumber than a bag of hammers. It amazes me that they give some of these people licenses...especially to color and perm-which essentially is a chemistry class.
Shave my head?
Who was I to tell them it was monofilament plastic? 
You're a lovely girl, and I bet you'd look great without hair. 
Saved!
I'll just stick with the contacts for now! 
