Hi! I've been dyeing my hair various shades of red for the past 10 years (it's naturally dirty blonde). I always wait probably 2-3 months between colorings, when my roots are very obvious & it HAS to be done, but I know the longer I wait, the better it probably is for my hair. Also, I've been told that mixing your own hair dye from Sally's is much better for your hair than boxed color, so i've been doing that, too.

Over the past several years, however, it's gradually gotten darker, while i've been using my same favorite shade of Wella Titian Red Blonde. I like the dark auburn, but my main problem is that when i dye my hair, it's a bright red at the root, and gets gradually darker and darker all the way down, the darkest towards the bottom (it's about mid-back length), and it stays that way, gradually fading like reds do, but still light to dark. I never had this problem until I started using this color. I've been using neutral protein filler before coloring for the past year (which seem to help slightly), comb my color through when applying like always, make sure to mix the dye to a pudding-like texture, use deep conditioners & leave-in conditioners every time I shampoo, try to fade it with clarifying shampoo before re-dyeing, and have regular haircuts. I would also like the color to be a little lighter (maybe a shade) that it was when i started using this color. If I just use a lighter color, will it be lighter?

I know that my roots are lighter from the dye taking to the natural blonde, so maybe i shouldn't wait so long to re-dye it, but what do you suggest for the dark to darker parts? A friend suggested stripping the color & re-dyeing (i didn't know if she was meant a color remover or what) but i'm afraid of damaging my hair. It's fairly healthy, a bit straw-like towards the ends. I don't want to cut it all off. What should I do? Please help me, Pretty Lady, or anybody!!

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give you all the details.

jenn4094u

I am a stylist...The resona your end are darker is that the you sre leaving the color on the end too long ...this is also the reason it feels like straw on the ends. You have two options...cut it or strip it, and yes, this will damage your hair. Color will not lift color, so using a lighter shae will leave you with the same problem , only more noticable. The good thing about cutting it is that you can take all the dark ends off a one time and let it fade for a few months, then try a shade lighter. Or, you can trim off a little at a time and deal with the difference in color , and not apply to color to the ends until the last 5 minutes. The other thing I would suggest is to find a line that has both permanent and semi permanent color so you can color your roots as usual and use the semipermanent color on the end, as this is not damaging. good luck!