Thank you, Pretty Lady. I would most certainly do that if it weren't a one-man salon. I'm currently on the hunt for a colorist who specializes in correction!

Ms. Green

Okay - so I used the Color Oops and it is closer to brown - though very reddish near the roots. Luckily my hair is thick enough that it is not too noticeable and I think I can hack it for a bit. My goal is to let some roots grow so the colorist knows what my real color is - I don't have any decent pics and finances require I wait a bit. Is this a bad idea? I am wondering if leaving the cuticle open is worse for the hair.

Would an ash toned "Beautiful Brown" take to the reddish sections and seal the cuticle? (These are ammonia free, deposit only colors). Are there other ways to close a cuticle up - even temporarily?

This experience has made me very thankful for what nature gave me and when I feel awful about my head, I just open my eyes and look around. There certainly are people with far greater worries on this earth.

Thank you to everyone for some great tips. I hope everyone has Happy Hair and a Happy New Year!

Yes, a green base ash hair color will neutralize the reddish tones. Since you're not trying to go lighter, it's okay to use ammonia free, deposit only colors. Keep in mind that some ammonia free hair color are permanent. If you want to a temporary color, you can use a semi-permanent or temporary color.

Okay, my problem is the opposite of this thread. My hair is naturally black and I decided to dye it lightish brown. I don't really like it that much, so how do I get it back to black? I'm using Head & Shoulders Dandruff shampoo right now... I just want some of the light brown to fade... Thanks.

If you want to go from brown to black hair, you can use a permanent black hair color. It's easier to go darker than it is to go lighter.

Hi, I'm a new user here. I have shoulder-length dyed blue-black hair; I've been dyeing it that color for about eight years (I've been growing it out for about 9 months though). I want to go super light blonde, but I keep hearing conflicting opinions from people. I was in a pricey salon with a friend a while back and I asked a stylist about it and she said it could be done but it would have to be stripped multiple times and dyed on top of that, and would cost like $300-600, and while it would damage my hair, it wouldn't be too bad. My co-worker used to be a stylist and she says that she wouldn't recommend it, and that if I did it, it would totally kill my hair. She said to grow it completely out! THEN, my stepmom's friend, who is a retired stylist, said it wouldn't work and my hair would turn out orange. And one of my friends who changes her hair color in salons every few months says I shouldn't need to pay hundreds of dollars, but I should be able to get it done right in any salon.

So what's the deal? If I go to a salon, will they be able to dye my hair blonde? How much should it really cost? And how badly will it damage my poor hair? And as far as salons go, how do I find a good salon? Sorry for all the questions but I'm really sick of black hair and I really want to be blonde, but I don't want to end up spending $$$$ and getting a bad dye job, then just having to dye it back to black again!

In order to go from black to light blonde, you have to do a double process, bleaching and toning. I do not recommend doing this process yourself. Hair bleaching should be left to the professionals. It would be best to go to the salon and have it professionally done. Different salons charge different prices, it depends on where you go. You might want to check out some salons in your area and see what they offer and talk to them regarding your hair.

OK, horrible think happened to me today.
Winter snow day today (woopee) so I have been wanting to dye my hair for a long time. Its medium brown to dirty blonde and a little light blond from summer. I am a total (or was) a total virgen to dying aside from a rebellious purple semi-permenant faze,
So I bought lorel stuff to make my hair darker. I dyed it yesterday and it came out RED!! I am in 8th grade and I'm going back to school tomorrow should I do?! 1? I cnat go to school like this! Not that I'm superficial but its RED! Help pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee!! :eek: :confused: :eek: :confused: :eek: :confused:

Hey, this thread looks really good, so I thought I'd ask the experts. I just joined the forum because I'm afraid I've just made a bit of a mess of my hair...

I had mid chestnut brown colour hair on Friday and like an idiot I dyed it with Virginia, by l'oreal recital. It came out too dark and killed all the red in my hair. Then- and this was the biggest mistake- I went out and bought nice and easy's medium chestnut brown which made it this REALLY dark mahogany colour. I tried to put a bit of a copper colour mouse on it to tone it down, which was OK but it washed straight out again.

My problem is my hair rather than being a reddish mid brown, is now a purplish dark brown.

I'd like it back to the brown, and I wouldn't even mind it being a slightly orangish colour, but at the moment its dark brown with a reddish purple tinge. I'm really fair skinned so it looks way too harsh. I thought nobody would notice but my mum said "what's happened to your hair?? you've ruined it!!" argh! :(

I can't afford to go to the hairdressers right now and I live in the uk, so we can't get this prell stuff I don't think. I've never heard of it. I've washed my hair about seven times at the weekend and the colour keeps coming out but it still has this horrible synthetic bright reddish sheen to it. I wish I'd never done it. Has anybody any advice? I was considering puttting a few highlights in just to lighten it, then dyeing it an ashy brown to tone it down, but I'm worried I'll make a mess.

My hair is thick and wavy and shoulder length and coarse and my hairdresser says its in good condition. To be honest I'm not bothered about the condition, I can fix that, but I can't fix this horrible deep purply colour!

Thanks in advance. X

OK, I'll tell you to do what I did. (what I did to my hair is above your question)
I wash it, instead of shampoo, with Tide and Dawn. It has lightened the color a bit but because I used a dye with no amonya in it, I'm assuming my natural color is underneath (well hopeing) It has lightened and I'm coming to terms with it.

For you, you might want to do this and wait for it to grow out. I hate to say it but you've kind of runined your hair. :(

No fear stelly, I think I've just devised a uk anti hair dye step plan! This forum link should be on the back off all dyes in america and the u.k I think! Thanks to pretty lady for her patience with us all!

First of all, I washed my hair loads to get the excess dye out. Yesterday I put my hair up and hairspayed it as I read on another thread this can cause colour fading and I left it in all day. Tonight, I put hot olive oil in it and washed it right out and dried it. Then, and this was the biggie for me- I figured that you guys in the us have tide which is a detergent, right? So I used surf with stain removers on my hair (uk washing powder.) it was pretty rank and mum said "are you mental??" lol. I'd advise wearing gloves because my hands are a bit icky now and I put some water in the sink as hot as I could stand it and scrubbed scrubbed scrubbed, and lo, the water was this horrible cloudy dark purple. Bingo! :)

What's cool about this is, my regular shampoo got the reddish tones out, but god knows how but surf got the dark purplish tones out. The water was so dark puple I told my brother to come and see! I rinsed it out of my hair with anti dandruff shampoo, and I conditioned with a deep conditioner. I used simply brunette by john frieda.

Now, my hair is still wet but I think it has made a difference. If any of you guys are struggling with dark dyes, I'd certainly say give this process a try. Anna. X

Yellow or gold-base colors will neutralize the purple tones. But, since your hair has a lot more red tones in it, using an ash brown color may neutralize the unwanted tones.

Hi,

Great thread, with good information.

I need to vent a little bit. Here's what went on with me.

Like a previous poster, I have dark brown, curly hair with some gray, which I have always had covered with lowlights. No, all the gray is not covered, but that's OK with me. I've always gotten a nice, natural look, with a few gray strands, and have enjoyed my natural hair color everywhere else. The non-gray hair was virgin, never dyed.

Last week, I went to an expensive salon in town for the first time, hoping to find an alternative to the hour-long drive to my former salon. The stylist was highly recommended for curly hair.

I asked him to redo my lowlights. He looked and said that because the previous colorist had colored too much of the gray, the roots were showing in a very obvious way, and he didn't think he could do it so that it would look good. He then asked a colorist to consult with him on it. The colorist said that she thought I'd be happy with a weave for the lowlights. But he kept telling me that it wouldn't look good, and that I might as well have had all-over coloring because of the way the roots from the grown-out lowlights looked.

I kept telling him that I just wanted the lowlights. I told him that my hair had never been colored overall and I didn't want to do it. He told me that he didn't think it would look good. I finally said to him that if he didn't think he could do it, maybe a salon colorist should do it instead of him. He then went to consult with the colorist again. He came back and continued the pressure -- for 20 minutes by the clock.

I had a headache and also had an appointment for just after the cut and color, and finally just gave in. He put in the low-lights in permanent and also an overall glaze. The glaze came out a horrible black color. All of my natural dark brown highlights are completely suppressed.

I am 45 years old and still get carded, but let me tell you, with this black in my hair, that won't happen again soon. I look like a desperate 50+-year-old with this harsh, harsh hair. I've gotten exactly one remark on my new hair, and that from a non-friend at work, who after a tough meeting spent arguing with him told me with a big smile how much he likes my hair. Not a good thing.

So. I've used the Prell several times. I sat today for a half-hour with it on, then rinsed it out. It doesn't seem to be leaching the color out. (However, the Prell is turning my hair into frizzy straw.) I tried the V05. Now what? It's been a week and a half since the color was put in. The hairdresser said that glaze is semi-permanent, but I'm unfamiliar with glazes -- how long will this last?

I guess I just can't understand why a hairdresser would spend 20 minutes pushing a client into something she didn't want done. Why not just choose to do no harm and do no coloring, if it doesn't seem possible to do it right?

Oh, one more thing. This horrible all-over black -- it cost me $70, on top of the charge for the low-lighting and the charge for the haircut.

Thanks for letting me vent. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. If at all possible, I'd like to just gently encourage the black color to leach out, and not do anything more to my non-graying hair, which has already been abused enough. I just want my natural color back.

sallyonsunday, this goes to you

Congrads on your un-dying! :) I wish I could say the same for me. Even though I said I was coming to terms with it its still pretty bad... now what's this surf wax that works so well? I don't have surf wax but if you could describe it maybe I could produce a USA equivalent :rolleyes: (hopefully)

Oh, and I totally agree on having this on the back of dye-s!

This forum seems like a lot of help! I've already found some great advice on here and on the webpage You Got What In Your Hair? that someone mentioned up near the top ^^^.
My situation is that I dyed my hair a temporary black hair dye in September 2006, my natural colour is light blonde, it's faded a lot more than it had a few months ago, but it still is a really dark brown with blonde splodges and blonde roots! I've seen a hair dresser and she has taken a sample to test with hair dye remover, but for now I'd rather come up with ways to fade it. It's in a good condition, so it isn't dry or anything.
So anyway, this evening is an attempt to fade my hair;
right now I'm sat here with shampoo patted on my dry hair. I'm leaving it for a half hour, then rinsing it all out really well and applying fairy washing up liquid and leaving that for about 10 minutes, then rinsing that all out, then applying a hot oil treatment without heating it, leaving that for 45 minutes and washing it out, then applying shampoo and LOTS of conditioner, cause all this will dry out my hair.

Sorry for my blabbing on, hope everyone's hair gets on a mend soon :) I'll get back to you all with the news on my 'hair fading evening' (lol) and let you all know what I found helpful!

Thanks for your patience :) xx

My question is a simple one but problem is not so simple. My hair is currently light at the roots (I used Feria's hi-lift brown) and then slow gets darker as it goes towards the ends. There are several "lines" where you can see that I have dyed the roots previously. Since my hair is going gray dying is a necessary evil. The ends were almost black but the Feria did change it to a dark brown. It is still very healthy, almost to a fault the way it holds the dye! I have been dying my hair for years and have never had a problem with it darkening like this and I don't know what to do. I read through this thread and don't know that the Prell or Dove trick will work. Any suggestions??

Pretty Lady,

I read all the posts and I think you have given people very good advice.

I have naturally dark brown hair with a white streak in front. I have been using a demi-permanent to darken the streak to a shade or two lighter than my natural hair to appear as highlighted. I like the color at the roots and at the ends, but there is a middle portion that is too dark.

How would be the best way to fade or lighten this area; in what order should I try these: Original Prell? Anti-dandruff shampoo? Hot oil? Loreal Color Zap? Color Fix? Color Oops?

How long should I leave these on?

Thanks.

News on my hair, the things I did to it the other day (mentioned above) have made it fade a tiny bit, but not too noticeable. Ah well :( x

This thread helped me last night, so I am going to provide what I was told and what I have done in the hope that someone else out there can use it.

Last July I had a botched job at a hair salon which required them to strip my hair and recolor it - I wanted it blonde with highlights and eventually that is what I walked out with. I was happy but after while didn't feel like being blonde anymore. Early Feb of this year I dyed my hair "medium brown" which I was surprised but I actually really liked. However this faded and about 6 weeks later it was becoming light brown, and you could see the blonde influence beginning to show through. I wasn't a fan, I wanted to go back to that dark brown I became attached to. Well, thinking I would be able to avoid this light brown fading issue, I picked up "Darkest brown". Mistake!! Darkest brown is actually black, please please please believe me if it is not too late for you lol. I was not a fan of black, black washes me out. I washed twice with dishwashing liquid and while I could see the foam turn purple the first time, the hair looked the same. In the morning I called the phone number on the box and asked how I could fade the hair to be a few shades darker. Well, of course the first thing they said was, "See a professional" Since I had mentioned that I had stripped my hair before. After I told them I did not want to do that, what they said is that I should pick up a box of "Born Blonde" which is a bleaching/lightening agent. I eventually found it at Walgreens for about 10 bucks. It is made by Clairol. Do NOT pick up just a blonde dye from Clairol, it is just hair color and not bleach, it will not help you. You can not put a light color over a very dark color and hope for any result. You MUST pull the color out. I originally could not find Born Blonde and tried Ultra Light Natural Blonde instead. 50 minutes later, I still had black hair. Born Blonde pulled the color out. You put this on your head, but you don't get at the roots, you get all but about 1 inch worth of roots. (leave about 1/3 of the dye for this later.) Once your hair starts turning reddish, then you add the rest of the dye on your roots. Once your hair is a red/gold color, or "pumpkin", wash it out. Yes it will be orange. It will be scary. Hopefully you read this whole message through before you went and did this lol. Then recolor over the orange to the brown you originally wanted. Me I went with Medium brown and got pretty close to what I meant to get the first time. So overall I'm happy. Hope this helps someone.

WARNING: ONLY do this if your hair is in decent/good condition. Some people's hair can be stripped & bleached twice (like mine) without too much of a problem. However, If your hair is dry or brittle, and you go through this process, it is VERY possible that your hair will break from all of this processing. If in doubt, go to a professional. To me, looking and feeling good about myself is worth more than broken strawlike hair, but I thought I would be safe and it turned out I was. However, your hair and scalp may not act like mine. You've been warned!

Good luck!