I agree with Charz about Aveda my stylist Adam did a great job coloring my hair and he was very considerate of how he combed and washed my hair. I went in with my hair blownout but I left with it curly because that's how I wear it 99% of the year. I started getting my hair colored in 2006 red, light brown, then blond hi-lights but the stylist who did it was not a good colorist and I had some orangey(sp?) hilights it blended in after a few months but it was not what I wanted. I started to get a lot of split ends and my hair was extra dry so I started to do a lot more research because I was cutting off too much hair. I found this site in 2008 and a few others, Long Hair Care Community and British Curlies, on the british site they had a discussion about preparing hair for color to keep hair it in good condition after the process, this was for people going to salons to get it done and also DIY coloring they had good result doing a coconut oil treatment before coloring this it the thread they got the info from: http:/forums.longhaircommunity.com/ showthread.php?t=10459. I did a protein and moisturizing DC for three hours and then put Chi silk infusion and coconut oil from root to tip and braided my hair to air dry. I flat-ironned my hair and used heat protectant on the day of the appointment and it was very soft and moisturized. I didn't go curly because the salon caters to a predominantly white clientele and the stylist Adam said it would be easier to color my hair straight and I didn't want him combing throught my curls and besides I was leery of what the outcome would be, I've been lied to before. The results came out beyond my expectations, the color was great and my hair was still very soft. I followed up with a protein and moisture DC three days later, and so far no hair breakage and minimal split ends. It's been five months and my hair is still growing well, I will go back to this salon next time I get a touch up. Sorry for long post.!! Good luck in your healthy hair journey.