[mabhappy]

I have naturally brown hair and usually get blonde highlights. A couple of months ago I had my stylist add more blonde for a summer look, it looked great but was a lot of maintenance and $$ to continue. I decieded I would like to go back towards my natural color and my regular stylist wasn't available so another stylist from the salon dyed my hair to what was supposed to be close to my natural. Before we started I told her my hair pulls very red or orange so not to use any warm tones. However, she must have because my hair ended up very dark almost black and deep red. YIKES. So I called the next morning and she said to come in and both stylists worked on it. They first did a toner to try to minimize the red but I was still too red - so they then did a soap cap and then redyed a shade a step lower. When I woke up this morning I thought it would be okay as it looked less dark and red, however, throughout the day the red continues to be more visible, you would think I dyed it red. I have washed with a clairifying shampoo various times and the overall color seems just a little lighter however the red is still there. Now what? My stylist has me coming in day after tomorrow to use a toner again, but I'm afraid that just won't be enough. Is another soap cap and redye too much for my hair? What should I do now? I have heard to use Prell, but will that take all the color out, or just fade the red? I'm afraid that when it fades it will look orangey. What should I do now?
Please help

[Hairdesigner]

Well your color is going to fade very fast since you have all those highlights underneath it. As long as your stylist is only depositing color and not lightening your hair over and over you'll be fine. When she applies the toner has she mentioned anything about adding some green into the formula. I know that sounds scary but adding green (the complimentary color to red) tint to the toner will cancel out the red tones. It may take a couple times. Even though red is the color that fades the most quick it's the hardest to completely remove. Good luck. And on behalf of hairstylists thank you for going to a salon and not coloring your hair at home.

[PrettyLady]

Don't try to fade the color, it will result in an orange shade. Go back to the salon and let the stylist fix your hair. The stylist will need to use a green-base hair coloring product to counter-act the red tones in your hair. Let's hope that you get the results you want. Good luck.

[mabhappy]

Thank you for the advise. I did go back to the salon and the stylist used another toner to try and tone down the red once more. All of the toners they have used have been an ash color to try to contradict the red, it looks a little better, however still pulling red. The stylist said she couldn't believe how red it pulled, and continues to pull, but that it will eventually fade. So I guess now I will just be in the waiting game until it fades more and my natural color grows in! Any other suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks again for the advise!

[PrettyLady]

Dark hair contains a lot of red pigments, so you will still have some red/orange hue in your hair after using an ash base color. If your hair has red tones in it and starts to fade, it will result in an orange shade. You can try using a hair color that's one shade darker than your natural color, such as dark ash brown. I would recommend leaving the color mixture on your hair for ten minutes then rinse it out. This might tone down the red tones.