I haven't colored my hair for about 4 weeks. It is a very faded red color and my natural is the infamous "dishwater blonde" I plan on going maybe a shade or 2 darker, but I'm not sure how to get as much red out as possible. Most people agree that the ash neutralizes the red, but I guess the real ? is should I use a stripper. I always go to my stylist, but my hubby has been laid off for 3 months!!!

If you don't use a color remover (as opposed to a "stripper") like ColorFix, Color Oops, or Color Zap, your final color will probably be too red. However, I can only guess without seeing a picture. I'd recommend using one of the above color removers. Don't use Effasol (a stripper). That will over-damage your hair.

Yeah, I figured. I guess I should rephrase the "stripping" part. I'm actually looking into the Loreal color remover since most on here has had fairly good results.

L'Oreal makes Color Zap and Effasol. They work exactly opposite of each other. As I said, I strongly recommend against Effasol.

Great! Thanks a bunch. Believe me, If I could, I wouldn't be cheating on my stylist :)

K I ended up using the color fix. I applied it twice and it really did a good job putting me at almost a strawberry blonde. I used 25lift and Clairol 4A and 7A one being a chesnut brown (undertones green) and a medium ash blonde. To my surprise, it damned near got me back to my natural color. I must say I am pretty proud of myself!!!

Congratulations.