Mamamia Team Monday 13 September 2010 4:19pm

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SPONSORED POST: It’s been a loooong time since I’ve had to break up with a hairdresser. From memory, I just waited until they moved salons or went to live oversease so I could slink away without causing a scene. I was younger then and far less assertive. But sometimes there are legitimate reasons why you need to move on. Sometimes, you need to do what’s in the best interests of your hair.

Would you like to win a hair make-over? I know. Who wouldn’t. Here are all the details in this special sponsored post brought to you by the colour professionals at L’Oréal Professionnel and written by Mamamia’s product expert Moira…

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“There are some people that I know that can really get me to talk, to open up and share my innermost secrets and stories.  It’s not my therapist, not my husband and not even my closest girlfriend.  My husband is a little jealous, my best girlfriend is a little relieved and my therapist is a little shocked but really, it is my hairdresser that gets to hear it all.Perhaps it’s because she massages my head without expecting anything (but payment) in return and perhaps it is because she has seen me at my worst – blue gunk in my hair, silver foils at the tips of my head and all finished off with a charming black plastic smock.  And of course she’s seen me in tears (those conversations can get very emotional).

I place a lot of faith in my hairdresser– not just when I tell her how I can’t get my son to speak politely to his grandmother, or when I tell her that my husband never  comes home from work in time, and I tell her all this with my hair swept off my face showing the line where I didn’t blend my foundation…. I also place a lot of faith in her because she is behind me with a scissors and a bottle of hair colour.

Cutting and colouring my hair is a big deal for me, I am not good with change and I am not good with allowing others to take control of my head so to speak.

And although I love my hairdresser, my world has briefly spun on a different axis and I have realised I may need a change.

You see, I enjoy having coloured hair.  I like the shine it creates, I like the fact that it makes my hair look

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really healthy and I love the fact that no-one can see my grays.  But I don’t enjoy the actually process. I don’t love feeling like I am sniffing acid, I don’t like my scalp getting burned and tingling with pain every time I have the dye placed on my head.    My hairdresser says it’s the ammonia, it stings a bit sometimes and the smell is very potent.  I thought I was allergic to hair dye. Mind you I also once thought I was allergic to tiger balm – it burns.But then a friend told me about her hair colour – and she spoke about the actual experience of getting it done favourably.  And might I add she looked shiny and gorgeous and lively – and that was just her hair!

Turns out that she loves to sit and spend time at the hairdresser and she says the salon she goes to uses INOA– a new product from L’Oréal Professionnel  that has NO ammonia but brilliant results.

INOA is a hair colour with respect.  Fancy that  - the product has respect for the hair fibre, respect for the scalp, and no odour at all  (so in essence it even respects your nose).

The Oil Delivery System that is unique to INOA is a big breakthrough because it allows permanent hair colour without harsh effects on the hair and there is absolutely no smell or discomfort caused by ammonia.  The result is hair that is not as damaged by the colouring process, it is shinier, smoother and more sleek and healthy looking than if coloured with traditional permanent colour.

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INOA also makes the hair really beautiful with lively colour results, not just a block of colour – it is multitonal as well as respectful.  Why wouldn’t you want to make the move to INOA?  You can read more about the product here(and also find a list of INOA salons).

So  you can permanently colour your hair without ammonia. It will look amazing, your salon experience will be transformed for the better and haircolouring will never be the same.

Have you ever had to break up with your hairdresser? How did you do it and what prompted you to make the change?  Would you change your hairdresser just because of the product they use?

I think I may be heading for a change to have an INOA haircolour. But what an angst ridden journey it is to break up with your hairdresser.  I don’t even know how to start.  Do I tell her?  Do I just stop going to her? Do I get her to send my records to my new hairdresser? I think I am prepared to go through the angst – I have seen my friend’s hair – and I want it.

Competition Time: You could win a L’Oreal Professionnel INOA hair makeover – just send in a picture of your boldest hair change.  If you haven’t done it yet send in an image of the boldest change you wish you’d like to make.  Readers can vote for the style they like most by using the thumbs up.  The three comments with the most votes (thumbs up) will be the lucky winners of a pain free, smell free, gorgeous and exhilarating hair makeover.

Competition is only available to Australian residents and entries close on Monday 27 September at 9am EST .  If you are a winner we would love to hear about your experiences here on Mamamia.  Send us a before and after picture. PLEASE.”

Please click here for full disclosure details

Have you ever had to break up with your hairdresser? How did you do it and what prompted you to make the change?  Would you change your hairdresser just because of the product they use?