Hi, I'm new to this but am desperate for any advice. Right, here goes! I have long hair which was dark brown base (almost like my natural colour) with bleached blonde panels going through it. It looked fab and it was even in good condition. Then lo and behold on the 8th September just gone I had a stupid idea and decided I wanted the blonde panels red instead. My colourist duly did this and I have to say the result was gorgeous. However, after just one wash the red had faded so much that the panels were now orangey/grey. So the following week my colourist applied another red colour with deeper purple undertones hoping that this would "stick" more to the bleached hair. Again, result was fantastic but (you know what's coming here!) after 2 washes (using "fade defy" products I might add) the panels have now turned lilacy/ashy/pinky and look absolutely disgusting. My hair is now also in very dry, bad condition. My colourist has suggested putting my brown base colour over my whole head to cover the panels but I am scared that having 3 lots of dye put on in the space of a month will cause my hair to break off/fall out and I don't know what to do for the best. Also, will the brown fade too and what colour would the bleached hair show through as then?? I need to do something as I can't walk around like this but I am scared of making the wrong decision again. I am frantically deep conditioning every day and came across a recommendation for a product called "emergencee" from Nexxus which I have just ordered off eBay. I would just really appreciate any advice as to which next step to take. Thank you so much guys xxxx

If the colors that your stylists put on the highlights faded or washed out after a couple of shampoos then it wasn't permanent color she was using thenand it would be safe for her to take you back to your brown permanently w/o your hair falling out. However, I would lay off the color after that for about 6 months. The nexus product is good, but so is Extreme by Redken..

Well first things first you need a new hair dresser any hair dresser should no that applying red to bleach blonde without working up first is going to make it go orange. Emergencee is a good conditioner but one of the best that I would recommend is ausie youcan get it from boots also get the shampoo for elasticity (frizzy hair) you can buy them for about £11 each but they are really good. You need to have your hair stripped of colour most good hair dressers will do this from around £30 to £60. It will damage your hair but it already is so its worth ago. After this have your hair trimmed every 6-8 weeks and deep condition it 3 times a week but no more or you will damage it. Do not die it for up to 6 months after the strip to regain its healthyness.

I have been a colorist for many moons. Your stylist needs lessons. First, when ever you apply red to bleached panels red will fade faster because the molecules are large and will not hold as well as say... ash.

Your colorist should have done two things...

1. Applied a filler prior to adding the red and added a product called tcr, which holds color longer. Then he/she should have placed you under a very lightly heated dryer for about 25 minutes.
2. He/she should have told you that red would fade quicker and suggested that you go back in two weeks to add the SAME color again. Each time he/she does this, eventually the color would have held.

Your base color is brown now so what will happen is that your brown will hold better but when it fades you will see the red peaking through. Bleached hair is tough to hold color because you have stripped the color essentials out of the Cortex layer. DO NOT USE PERMANENT COLOR ONLY SEMI PERMANENT... they will hold much better. The higher the volume on the developer used, the more the color will lift and then deposit, which damages the hair so make sure that the volume in the developer is no more than 5%.

Let me know where you live, I may be able to find a colourist that is great in your area.

Hi, thanks so much for your advice. Since posting I have been very ill and have not had anything else done except last week finally had a good day and decided to try and get myself sorted out. My hairdresser (same one) put red first then deep chocholate brown over my whole head. She said she had to put red first otherwose the brown would turn the blonde sections green. Anyhow it looks great aprt from since washing I've noticed that in the sunlight it has a tinge of orange which I presume is the underbase of red? Would I be better off applying a box of semi permanent brown from the chemist? I am into hospital next week for big op so not bothered much at the moment but once recovered I really will need to sort this out. Anymore advice would be great. Thanks so muchxxx

I usually find when I'm applying a colour ontop of bleach panels, I use a semi. WHY? Because the molecules for the semi are much bigger than the permanent colour molecules. Therefore when depositing colour (which is easy on bleached hair as it's porous) into bleached hair, it sticks, because the colour molecules are big and they are now trapped and cannot get out.

Because you are going into surgery you will be subject to all types of drugs, which will change your hair texture and resist color for the time being. I would give it a break until the drugs have worn off... about one month or more. Your hair is a dump area like your bowels and skin. If you take an aspirin you will find the residue in your hair shaft 12 hours later. Chelate shampoos will not only take chlorine out of hair but chemicals that have deposited from surgery's, etc. But do this treatment a few weeks after your are feeling better and off drugs, condition and lock in the moisture.

You can deposit brown but make sure it is slightly on the ash side, which will kill the orange.

Hi I have dark brown hair with red panels and I found some products to stop them from fading so fast.
Delorenzo cherry red shampoo- which actually adds a little bit of colour to the hair without damaging and its perfectly fine to use once or twice a week.
Also you can get toners for red hair I use a dark coloured purpley red (which stops orange tones) once a month and have never had to put up with that faded red since.
That's just in case you ever decide to go red agian:)

As for the faded parts of the hair, I also had that problem after colouring over the red, because the hair has been previously lightened it will tend to fade quicker. I just applied a dark brown over the top that helped for a while.
Ps you really should change your hairdresser.
Good luck:)

I've experienced almost the same thing. My hair is a light blonde and I dyed it with PERMANENT burgundy. It looked great-for a week, then the ashy pink set in-ahhhh what a disaster! Permanent hairdye will wash out if applied to hair that is too light to accept it [I'm a cosmetologist and I can't tell you how many times a 'hair experiement' turned bad =]. My advice would be to go to a Sally Beauty and pick up 'Color Fix' for permanent hair dye removal-theres no bleach it simply shrinks the color molecules [just dont use step 3-trust me it I still wonder why its in the kit =]. It wont harm your hair but it will take out that horrible pinkish tone-trust me. If you need more help email me directly. Good Luck!

Ok I have a question. I have naturally brown hair but have lightened to a very light blonde (never used bleach) but it's super light. I went to my hairdresser last week because I wanted to add some brown just to kind of get away from the white looking hair. I'm wanting to go back but I'm afraid! My hair dresser put some brown in my hair but I feel like it's turning green on me! It's mousey brown. She did not use ash because I told her that ALWAYS turns my hair green. So what do I do? I have very damaged hair (this particular hair color makes my hair look like carpet) so I'm thinking going back to brown would make it healthier and shiny again. How/what do I tell my hair dresser to do to get it back to brown without it going green and p.s. I hate red in my hair so I don't want any red. I'd rather be a chocolate brown. I do think I have natural red (a tint) in my hair and I can't stand it! Help me please?!

Use color oops, it will get rid of any recent coloration and it will not do bad things to your hair, however there is a drawback, if you died your hair a month ago or longer, it will not work quite as well just don't wash your hair first.

I had my hair highlighted yesterday and want to know if it is safe to put permanent color on 24 hours later.

Nicolize1001 - Do not put anything permanent on your hair especially after highlights... the hairshaft has been weakened from the highlighting process and could fry where your highlights are located. Your best bet is to wait at least a couple weeks before doing anything to your hair, because you'll end up killing your hair... been there done that. Goodluck!

Hey, I bleached my hair blonde is it safe to put a red hair dye on in the same day? Or will it not take.

Hi, I have bleach blonde hair and my hair dresser was supposed to dye the ends a deep red but instead she dyed them a Burgundy Blush color. My school does not allow this "purpleish" color and I need to know how to either make it fade, or strip it out without going back to my hair dresser. Also if it fades out what color will it turn... need help fast!

Just throwing this out there for anyone with damaged hair that feels spongy when wet and is VERY stretchy. If you have a Sally Beauty Supply near you, try the Aphogee 2 step protein treatment followed by the Aphogee 2 minute keratin reconstructor.

So I was fed up being a blonde and after reading the bad experiences on here I think I just will stay one and just get a new hair style ( not colour!! )

I have light blonde hair and very light brown underneath I want to have a change I want to dye my hair red velvet because its my FAV!! :) also I'm scared that I will look silly and will be a caplet disaster but its very hard to get it to blonde again so should I do it or not I'm really scared please get back to me soon before I do it :) thank you so much bye xxxx

I like red velvet the best out of all hair colors but I have blonde hair as well and I am scared to like you!! :) so just go for it but if it doesn't tern out well then OPPS :)

My hair was bleached blonde and I just had it dyed red. I want a strawberry blond look. I want blonde highlights but the stylist won't do it on red hair. He told me this after he dyed my hair. I should have asked more questions. I've had this done before so I assumed it wasn't a problem. I just don't like the red on me without some highlights. It's a pretty red, but I want more. How soon can I add the highlights?