So here's my (condensed) story. A bit over a year ago, I dyed my light blonde hair brown. I experimented w/ brown shades for about three to four months... reddish brown, blackish, dark brown, chocolate, light brown, etc. It was dyed about 7 times in a matter of fifteen weeks or so. It was still pretty healthy. That is, until I decided to go back to blonde.

I bought a bleach kit from Sally Beauty. Put it on, the hair wouldn't lighten past orange, and my hair was LITERALLY falling out of my head in clumps. I cried, cried and cried! I went to the professionals, who told me the best thing to do was deep condition and go back to dark again, because I couldn't leave it how it was. (It was a dreadful pumpkin orange!) They said more bleaching would break most of my hair cuticles and I would be left pretty much bald. So, they did their work, and back to brown I went.

It's been about a year since then. My hair (at the very tips) is still kind of dry, but it doesn't break much or fall out anymore. It's reasonably healthy as long as it is conditioned well, and it's about chin length, which is sad because it started past my shoulders before all of this happened. I've gotten a lot of trims and barely touched it w/ color in the past year (maybe three times, and just the roots).

I REALLY want to go back to my native blonde! What can I put in my hair that will remove as much of the color as possible, without causing damage? I want to remove most of the color first, and then dye the hair a creamy butterscotch color, then lighten from there over the course of a year or so. I don't want to bleach it; I've learned my lesson there!

Any ideas?? I need something that won't damage the hair, because I'm afraid of what will happen given my nightmare last time I tried. Any suggestions are appreciated! THANKS!

Why don't you just put a regular dye kit in your hair?? Bleach is a strong chemical.. thats why it does that to your hair... but why don't you just find a normal dye and do your hair like that?? Its less harmful to your hair also..

In order to go from dark to blonde, it requires a double process (bleaching and toning). You will to lighten your hair to a yellow stage and then apply a toner. If you use a hair color remover or apply a permanent color over it, you will end up with very brassy undertones. If you attempt to do it yourself, you could ruin your hair. It's best to go to a salon and have this coloring process done. I recommend that you do a deep conditioning treatment once or twice a week to bring your hair to a healthy state before appyling the color applications.