About 5/6 months ago, I decided to dye my dirty blonde hair with light blonde highlights. The colour result was nice and even though it was slightly patchy I grew to like it. But once the roots started showing I started to hate it. I didn't want to start using another product, because I didn't want to ruine my hair, so I changed my parting so the roots were much less visible.

But after a while, my hair texture was fine again, so I thought I'd try and die my hair a very light brown. Just a tone darker than my natural colour. It was Boots own brand semi-permanent. The colour was all right, a bit plain and didn't make much of a difference, but was quite nice. It only lasted about a week though.

So, as that hadn't made much of a difference, about a month and a half later, I decided to die my hair a richer darker brown, (in semi-permanent) and I chose the colour visually, as aposed to what the name of the colour was. And the nicest colour there, was "Rich mahogony", so I bought it, and it was the same brand as the semi-permanent brown dye I used before from Boots.

I followed the instructions, apart from I didn't do a strand test. Silly me, thinking "who on earth actually does the strand tests?" Well I was naïve, as the colour it came out as was BRIGHT PURPLE. That very day I washed it 20 times in the same day, but nothing seemed to be making any difference..

Could someone please give me some advice on how to cure this mess?

Thanks x

I am a stylist... firstly try to remove as much as you can by doing this... shampoo your hair with a clarifying shampoo ( Paul Mitchell Shampoo One is my favorite) mixed with about a tablespoon of baking soda... it will make a kind of paste... apply it like you always do shampoo, work it in and suds it up... leave on for 10 minutes, rinse. Condition well with a good moisturizing conditioner as it will leave it feeling stiff if you don't. This will not work overnight but will slowly fade the color. If you can do this a couple times a day for a week or so and try to get it to fade a little I can help you from there. Email me a picture of your hair so I can see what I'm dealing with if you would like help... [email protected]

Thank you very much for your help :) that sounds wonderful. I will do as you have suggested.

But yesterday, my friends mum said to do this: dilute hydrogen peroxide donw to 10 vol by mixing with shampoo and put it on your wettish hair and leave for 5 minutes. Then comb through and rinse. Do this until the solution runs out. She gave me the solution today. Shall I do as she suggested?

X

No. Hydrogen peroxide won't help... it is a catalyst and can't do anything by itself. Developer is designed to work with color or bleach.

You don't think it will help at all?

X

I can't imagine it would but I've never tried it... I don't suppose it would hurt your hair so I guess try it... I just can't see it doing anything

Thankyou; well I have been using it and it has worked a treat. The purple is now just a faded tint, whereas before it was extremely bright and in-your-face. It's much more subtle now.

When you said "try the baking soda and i'll help you from there", what was your next step of advice going to be?

X

If you are still not saitsfied with the color you could strip the color out... however I would only recommend you try this if your hair is still in pretty good shape, and not to try to get it too light if you do. It is a process , unfortunately, and you shouldn't do this with the intention of lightening it extremely, only enough to get rid of the harsh dark color. You won't get it back to a blonde, only about a medium brown without ruining it. If you decide to go this route, go to the beauty supply store and buy bleach and 20 volume developer. Pour the packet of bleach into a bowl and add 4 ounces of the developer and a handful of shampoo. Wet you hair and towel try well , then apply it with a brush, staying 2 inches away from the scalp . Do this all over, making sure to saturate the hair well. Wait about 15 or 20 minutes, and if you can see that it has made a significant difference , apply to the scalp area . If not, check evey 10 minutes until it is a medium orange- brown, then apply to scalp. Leave it on until the roots are about the same color as the rest, not letting it get lighter than the ends, Remember, this isn't supposed to make it blonde. Shampoo . Towel dry well. Then apply ( also from the beauty supply store ) a demi-permanent color level 6 0r 7 with a green base and process according to directions. If you cannot find a demi-permanent with a green base, use a permanent color with 10 volume and when you mix it add a handful of shampoo. Leave this on about 30 minutes and shampoo out. Condition well... good luck

:):)
You can try a professional product by Rusk it removes only the artificial color not your natural hair color, go by the instructions... you will have to watch it... when your hair gets to the level you like, rinse it out and shampoo and condition. If you look at the color wheel the color opposite will neutralize that unwanted color. Hope this helps :)

I am dying my hair for cancer and I want something that doesn't wash at in one wash but does stay for a month as I am going to thailand and don't want to have bright purple hair. Do you know what type of dye I should use?

Since you are a stylist maybe you can say if this suggestion will help. A malibu? I remember one time I used a supposedly light brown... yeah my hair came out nearly black. I went in and they did a malibu on my hair and it did fade somewhat.

To the OP. Yeah I learned to do a strand test. Luckily for me it wasn't after I put it on my hair. I was using a dark red brown and for some reason decided to do a strand test (never did before) I Was sooo lucky. The strand test came out to be bright easter egg grass pink.

Around last month I tried to dye my hair dark brown, my natural hair colour being light brown, but it turned red. It is semi permanent but it won't come out. I have school in 2 days and my school are really strict about hair dye, how can I get it out without spending too much money?

I did the same thing! My hair was dark blonde and one day I got bored and a dark brown color that was suppose to come out in 28 washes. Well it turned purple. Eventually it faded a little and I added another 28 day washout color (blonde) now my hair is red... It's pretty but I miss the blonde!

Well, if you dyed it a bright purple it most probably won't come out depending on the colour of your hair..

Obviously a semi permanent purple ill not come out depending on the colour of your hair

Manic Panic hair dye I think is the best semi permanent dye, I dye my hair a different color of the rainbow every 2 weeks to a month, never disappointed by this brand

Same thing happened to my bleach blonde hair recently. I put a dark brown rinse through it and it turned BRIGHT PLUM/PURPLE with ORANGE blotches! I washed it 20 times with my shampoo and no difference... then I read on a blog to wash your hair with dishwashing detergent.. the moment I put the dishwashing detergent in my hair the water turned brown... I have been washing my hair 3 times a day for 3 days and its almost all gone... Looks a nice natural blonde now.

DO NOT STRIP OR BLEACH YOUR HAIR.. it will make the result more permanent... I know I have done it before because I couldn't wait for it to wash out... It turned an ugly colour and never washed out...

Try semi permanent :) Get it from walmart :) They have pink blue purple red green and blonde :) (:

Use any of the Crazy Colour range, they only last about two weeks, but they leave kind of a tint.