# Advice on level 5 brown to read



## Maerlynsrainbow (Feb 14, 2016)

Hello. I will try to keep this as short and sweet as I can. I bleached, dyed, and fried my hair from the time I was 11 to the time I was 19. I dyed my hair every color, but most of the time I spent as a bleach blonde, and after that, a red head. However, my hair was so damaged that it would not hold onto the red color and it also struggled to grow. I always wanted very long hair, so I decided to stop processing it and let it grow out.
It is now 3 years later. I am 22, and my hair is virgin, mid-back length, and healthy. I trimmed the last couple inches of the processed hair off in December, 2015. However, some part of my mind ALWAYS planned on going back to red, but now I can't decide. Here are my arguments for both:
Red is fun, red gets you noticed, I think I carried it really well and always got compliments, and reds are just gorgeous colors to play with!
However, natural hair is also incredibly beautiful (any shade) because it has its own natural highlights, its healthy, and dark hair/dark eye combination was always beautiful to me. I have spent 3 long years nurturing my hair back to health and length, and I really do love it. I also want to enjoy my natural hair color before I start to get grays. There is also no upkeep on natural hair (like roots).
My natural hair color is about a level 5, and looks similar to this.
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 When I went to Sallys for a second opinion on my level, the employee told me with quite a bit of certainty that I am a level 5 ash, and that ash tones may make the hair look darker than it is. Either way, I purchased 20 volume developer and L'Oreal Mega Reds MR3 Intense Red Copper (which I have used once years ago, with great results), found here: http://www.sallybeauty.com/mega-reds-haircolor/SBS-500094,default,pd.html
MY QUESTIONS TO YOU: 1) If I used the Mega Reds MR3 with 20 volume developer on my natural hair (~level 5 brown), how do you think the results would turn out? I would be aiming for something like this (a bit lighter would also be ok):
	

		
			
		

		
	



2) Do you think I should enjoy my natural color, or take a chance on red?
TLDR; Spent 3 years growing out hair, can't decide if I should leave it alone or color it red. If I do decide to color, would L'Oreal Mega Reds MR3 give me a desirable result?
Thank you!


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