Ask Me Help Desk - Get out and KEEP out the red in my hair

[F]Over the last few years due to I guess:confused:, meds for an illness, my hair has turned red. Now this is not a natural looking red, but a fake:eek: red. I haven't taken these meds or any others in over a year, but my hair is still the same color. I have tried to use a toner but have not gotten the result I was hoping for. If I bleach out my hair first and then use a toner, will that do the job? What kind of toner should I use and should I bleach all of my hair? I naturally have a med. brown hair, it does have gold and auburn highlights, just NOT this RED! HELP ME PLEASE...................

Quote:

If I bleach out my hair first and then use a toner, will that do the job? What kind of toner should I use and should I bleach all of my hair? I naturally have a med. Brown hair, it does have gold and auburn highlights, just NOT this RED!

I've never heard of anything like this. Nevertheless, if you use bleach, yes you will get rid of the red. If you have haircolor in the hair, you will have to use ColorFix or Color Oops first to get out the artificial pigments so you can start with a fresh slate. And, yes, you should bleach all of your hair unless you wish to do highlights (for example).

You no longer have naturally brown hair, you are a natural red head. The hair color that grows from the follicles is the "natural color" that colorists have to deal with. I question whether the color is natural because I'm not sure if the color you're claiming is partially dyed or not.

As for what toner? That depends on what color you want your hair to be. A toner is simply a hair dye. If you want it brown, you may not have to bleach it at all -- it depends on how light the red is and what color you want your hair to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perito

I've never heard of anything like this. Nevertheless, if you use bleach, yes you will get rid of the red. If you have haircolor in the hair, you will have to use ColorFix or Color Oops first to get out the artificial pigments so you can start with a fresh slate. And, yes, you should bleach all of your hair unless you wish to do highlights (for example).

You no longer have naturally brown hair, you are a natural red head. The hair color that grows from the follicles is the "natural color" that colorists have to deal with. I question whether the color is natural because I'm not sure if the color you're claiming is partially dyed or not.

As for what toner? That depends on what color you want your hair to be. A toner is simply a hair dye. If you want it brown, you may not have to bleach it at all -- it depends on how light the red is and what color you want your hair to be.

Thanks for your reply...
I have used a haircolor several times, it will not cover the red. Or maybe I should say the red bleeds through. My hair looks like someone that is letting a bad dye job grow out. My roots are brown I just can not get the rest of my hair to match them. That is why I had the question about bleaching, then using a toner/haircolor to get as close to my natural color as possible. I have long hair, I don't want to cut it if there is another way to solve my problem. I don't like to look as if I don't care about my appearance so this is a concern for me.

You should be able to use an ash brown to get your hair the color you want. If you've tried that and it simply doesn't work, then there's something quite strange about your hair (but you seem to already know that). I'll reiterate that you can bleach out the red and then dye it back. However, you'll have to be careful not to get too much of the red out. If you went all the way to yellow or pale yellow and then dyed it with a brown dye, it would have an unattractive greenish tinge to it. I won't go into all the reasons for it but it boils down to the fact that brown hair dyes rely on the hair having at least some red in it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perito

You should be able to use an ash brown to get your hair the color you want. If you've tried that and it simply doesn't work, then there's something quite strange about your hair (but you seem to already know that). I'll reiterate that you can bleach out the red and then dye it back. However, you'll have to be careful not to get too much of the red out. If you went all the way to yellow or pale yellow and then dyed it with a brown dye, it would have an unattractive greenish tinge to it. I won't go into all the reasons for it but it boils down to the fact that brown hair dyes rely on the hair having at least some red in it.

Thanks for your help...
I think I will try again to use an ash brown... do you think that it may be the shampoo stripping the making it red? If you feel this could be some of the problem, can you suggest a good shampoo for hair that has been color treated.

Fading and stripping from shampoos is very, very common. Nevertheless, they don't usually take brown hair to red (though you can get a red tinge).

One shampoo isn't necessarily any better at causing or preventing fading than another. There are clarifying shampoos, and those will increase the fading to its maximum. Just find a gentle shampoo and you should do fine.