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    Genevieve's Avatar
    Genevieve Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Aug 30, 2006, 08:55 PM
    Dying dark hair red
    I'm going to give a lot of background so forgive me for being wordy.

    I have naturally dark auburn hair. Actually, it's more dark than it is auburn but the red highlights are definitely there. In fact, I have a natural streak of true carrot-top red on my front hairline and I really love it (my mom is a redhead with a blonde streak in the same spot, lol!) I would like the rest of my hair a similar color and since my hair is already pretty red I think it would be easy.

    I want my hair a few shades lighter and sort of a fiery (but still natural-looking, none of that nailpolish color) red. I tried using a ruby red dye at home but being new to hair dye I didn't realize that it would only put bright red highlights in my hair instead of make it lighter, lol. I really don't want to try flat out bleaching it as I'm not sure my hair could take it. So far, it's stood up really well to hair dye but bleach just scares me. I've heard that lighter permanent dyes will lighten hair only a few shades but if one wants it lighter than that (say my natural color to platinum blonde) bleaching is needed, preferably by a professional. Luckily, I only want a few shades of lightening.

    I'm using A Touch Of Sun right now to give my hair a bit of lightening as gently as possible. People warned me that that stuff, if used on dark hair, would turn my hair red, but I told them that that's what I'm going for anyway! It's going really slowly so far and I haven't seen much progress yet but maybe that's a good thing. I've heard that hair that's resistant to bleach is very thick, coarse hair that won't damage easily. I've bleached my arm-hair before and it definitely wasn't an easy task! I hope that's a sign of thick, healthy hair. :)

    Anyway, I still have a couple weeks to go before the instructions in my last hair dye package said to dye again, so until then I'm doing as much research as I can to see if I can get the shade I'm looking for. I don't want to majorly lighten my hair, just a few shades. Right now if I'm standing indoors away from direct light my hair looks like just a regular dark brown with no red visible. If I go outside or stand under a light only highlights are visible but they're very bright. I want a noticeable difference without direct light. I want my hair to look red no matter what amount of light I'm standing in.

    I've been thinking about using a strawberry blonde or very light auburn shade on my hair. Since my hair's very dark it would go a shade somewhere in between which is about what I'm looking for. Also, the peroxide in the dye is what lightens the hair, but it's like bleach isn't it? It would cause my hair to go red. Therefore, a nice, bright medium red would result, right? I hope?

    And this is why I'm asking here, because I don't know if my plan would work. I have a lot of art training so the color wheel is extremely familiar to me. I've also been told I should go to beauty school because I have a natural knack for it, so hopefully these things will help guide my hand on my quest to hair-dying. :)

    So what, in your professional opinion, would get my hair the shade I'm hoping for with as little bleaching as possible?
    PrettyLady's Avatar
    PrettyLady Posts: 2,765, Reputation: 332
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    #2

    Sep 4, 2006, 08:42 PM
    Since your hair is dark brown, you must first lighten the hair and then you can apply the desired color. To get a bright red color, you will need to bleach your hair a level lighter than the color you want to achieve, then deposit the color. A one step process is possible. Most hairstylists can do a one step process and achieve good results. But when people attempt to do at home, they usually end up with unwanted shades in their hair. It's best to have your hair professionally done.
    Genevieve's Avatar
    Genevieve Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #3

    Sep 7, 2006, 10:52 AM
    Just to let anyone who's reading this for their own advice know, I bought a haircolor kit (because I'm poor and can't afford professional coloring). It was the lightest shade of red I could find, Garnier's "Light Reddish Blonde". I was hoping I would get a color somewhere between that one and my natural shade... which I did! It worked like MAGIC. My hair's now a nice medium red and it looks very natural, too. Or at least, people tell me it does. They could be lying but I think it's looks great anyway.

    I'm now thinking very seriously about going to beauty school, lol. ;-)

    Thanks for your advice, PrettyLady!
    Ms Thang's Avatar
    Ms Thang Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #4

    Aug 15, 2007, 01:23 PM
    I know this question was asked a long time ago but there's a few points in both the question and the answers which need to be addressed.

    First off, about professional hair dyes: There is nothing magical about them--they are the same stuff that they sell in boxes in the store, and it's way, way cheaper to boot.
    Once you buy the bottle, gloves and the bottle of peroxide(s) which will last you many, many, many hair colorings all you'll have to buy are the tubes of dye--which are even more fun because they're packaged better so you can use as much or as little as you need at a time--AND you can even blend the colors and add intesifiers once you get over the initial fear of using "pro dye".

    You buy pro hair dye in tubes, and buy the peroxide in a separate big botlle and mix it at home in your own, reuseable forever, needle nose hair dye bottle.
    The peroxide developer cream or liquid is literally a few dollars a gallon... you only need about 2 to 3 oz's of the stuff per tube of hair color... which is only about $3 to $8 per tube depending on brand.

    The dye you buy at the stores usually only comes with a 20 volume peroxide... which is not going to do a whole lot to lighten or modify DARK hair if they're planning on going to a lighter color.

    To understand peroxide volumes, 20 volumes on DARK HAIR will lift hair color 1 level or 1 shade, 30 volume peroxide will lift DARK hair 2 levels or 2 shades.

    To initially go a bit lighter all over, you would mix your hair color with 30 volume peroxide, and continue to maintain the color with 20 volume peroxide which is usually strong enough to lighten the virgin hair at the roots for maintenance purposes...

    If you're hoping to lighten your hair more than 2 levels, you could attempt to use 40 volume peroxide which will lighten DARK hair, 3 levels but at that point, the lightening may prove to be somewhat inconsistent and bleaching should really be the way to go...

    And for the love of all those around you that don't want to lie when you ask them what they think of your new look---, if you're going to lighten your hair significantly--don't forget to lighten hose BLACK or suddenly TOO DARK eyebrows... or you'll look very funny! Use a lightener specifically made for bleaching facial hair.. :eek:
    firefly07's Avatar
    firefly07 Posts: 10, Reputation: 1
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    #5

    Jun 28, 2009, 12:33 PM

    Just wanting to say one thing... usually, when dying hair red, after a few washes, the dye washes out leaving it a gingery colour... I know this from a lot of experience of dying my hair red, and am also trying to find an answer to how to stop the colour from washing out.
    eveyreborn's Avatar
    eveyreborn Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #6

    Jul 17, 2009, 11:28 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by firefly07 View Post
    usually, when dying hair red, after a few washes, the dye washes out leaving it a gingery colour.... i know this from alot of experience of dying my hair red, and am also trying to find an answer to how to stop the colour from washing out.
    I've heard of that before. Have you found solutions? FYI, I'm asian with solid black hair. I want to dye to a dark red color, and I definitely don't want a brown or blonde look. If you have advice for keeping dyed black hair red, it would be very helpful. Thanks in advance!
    tammy9999's Avatar
    tammy9999 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #7

    Nov 3, 2009, 07:56 PM
    Hello, I have medium auburn hair naturally. I dyed my hair a dark auburn but there is a section of my hair where the tips (two inches from root to tip) is almost black. I want to lighten these tips. Would using Peroxide Volume 20 mixed with shampoo do this?
    jenpartch's Avatar
    jenpartch Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #8

    Nov 5, 2009, 12:25 PM
    I have the same hair as you. When I was growing up it was really auburn-red, but over the years it's gotten really dark. I found that if I try to dye my hair blond with the lightest blond I could find (the type that says not recommended for dark hair), it always turns out light auburn. I don't use the ones with bleach so it doesn't dry my hair out but it does lighten it about 3-4 shades.
    Reetz19's Avatar
    Reetz19 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #9

    Dec 25, 2009, 07:25 PM
    For those of you who want to keep the red in your hair, it is by far the most difficult pigment to keep in and ultimately you will have to dye it more frequently if you want it to remain as vibrant. To help you can use products specially formulated for red hair because they disperse a small amount of red pigment to your hair and also contain less stripping agents that volumizing shampoos use. You can also use baby shampoo as the detergent level in it is very minimal unlike volumizing or clarifying formulas which have loads of alcohol in them to dry up the root so that the cutical of the hair shaft is roughed up and looks more voluminous. Keep conditioning locks and use leave in conditioner with a UV protector in it which will keep the sun's rays from fading your locks :) Hope this helps, I've been a red head for ages and have mastered pretty much any colour you can imagine :)
    Reetz19's Avatar
    Reetz19 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #10

    Dec 25, 2009, 07:34 PM

    Tammy 9999- I am sure what happened when you initially first dyed your hair was that you put it all over your head and waited for the dye to develop? This is what would leave your ends darker than the top of your hair. A trick I learned is if you are lightening your hair anything over 2 shades always apply the hair colour to the ends first, away from your scalp let that delvelop for about 10-15 minutes and then spread the remainder through your roots and leave that in for 15 min. (developing time 25-30 min) :) I will tell you why, the heat from your scalp speeds up the developing process thus speeding up how fast your hair lightens that's where a lot of people go wrong when doing hair on their own for the first time. Also, virgin hair that's never been dyed will pick up colour a lot quicker. When you apply the colour to the ends first if gives them a head start to lighten and will end up matching beautifully once you rinse.
    fallenangel927's Avatar
    fallenangel927 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #11

    Jan 6, 2010, 02:05 PM
    I know from experience dying dark auburn hair. (though I think my hair might be a little more brown than yours. No matter what hair color you dye it (even if it's another shade of red) your original shade or red hair will be there without the use of bleach. Also be wary of dying your scalp. So many girls try to dye their own hair red and wind up looking as if they suffer permanent head trauma. Also be careful because you've probably dyed your hair multiple times and to the naked eye the last color you used (let's say a dark blue) seems like it's gone and you go to dye your hair red and you might have a purplish look to it. It is best to either getting it removed professionally or not dying it again for about 30 to 60 washes (depending on difference of colors). It's also good to invest in a clarifying shampoo and an awesome conditioner (I would recommend mine but I make my own). About every few washes with regular shampoo use the clarifying to get rid of build up and help you color leave even faster.
    ebemrich's Avatar
    ebemrich Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #12

    May 2, 2010, 12:16 AM
    I have naturally dark brown dark dark brown hair and I had been using box red hair dye from the store for years and never got the red I wanted... I startedf using Loreal Red for Dark Hair from Sallys last September and got bright red hair and I have been experimenting with the shades every other month and I love it . I have red hair. This month I did two boxes of "intense red" on the bottom and sides and one box of "magenta" with highlights on the top (all with 30 developer)and I got Dr Pepper red hair (like on the dr pepper can) I had not dyed my hair in two months and had one and half inches of dark brown roots half an inch of blonde (dont'know where that came from) and the red. Since using the loreal for dark hair dye I have not had a problem with fading the only problem I had is the dye never washes all the way out my shower looks like the bates motel every time I wash my hair and the wet hair bleeds onto pillow cases and shirts but with Shout stain remover always comes out.
    ebemrich's Avatar
    ebemrich Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #13

    May 2, 2010, 12:16 AM
    I have naturally dark brown dark dark brown hair and I had been using box red hair dye from the store for years and never got the red I wanted... I startedf using Loreal Red for Dark Hair from Sallys last September and got bright red hair and I have been experimenting with the shades every other month and I love it . I have red hair. This month I did two boxes of "intense red" on the bottom and sides and one box of "magenta" with highlights on the top (all with 30 developer)and I got Dr Pepper red hair (like on the dr pepper can) I had not dyed my hair in two months and had one and half inches of dark brown roots half an inch of blonde (dont'know where that came from) and the red. Since using the loreal for dark hair dye I have not had a problem with fading the only problem I had is the dye never washes all the way out my shower looks like the bates motel every time I wash my hair and the wet hair bleeds onto pillow cases and shirts but with Shout stain remover always comes out.

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