[Jennifer1124]

Good afternoon.. I have somewhat of a sandy blonde to a dirty blonde natural hair color. I get my hair highlighted every 2-3 months, however, this time I decided to try a demi color that was purchased at Sally Beauty. I believe it was a 10 color (if that makes sense). However, when I removed the color the hair closest to my scalp, which was a darker blonde (natural) turned a goldish color...

I wasn't happy with the gold color so I decided to go to a 7n-1.0. A little darker than my nautural hair color. This time, when washing it and drying it I was amazed to see that my hair had turned a very dark brown.

I called the store where I purchased the product and they suggest that I use Dawn dish soap, so I did. The color has faded VERY little. I would love to get this dark brown color out of my hair... What do I do??

[Perito]

Try ColorFix, Color Oops, or Igora Phantom. These are haircolor removers that dissolve the artificial pigment from the demi color (or permanent color, if you have any) so it can be washed out. You may have to tone or color it again with a lighter shade after the haircolor remover does its thing.

[Jennifer1124]

Perito, will it turn my hair gold?? Thanks for your help.

[Perito]

The "gold" you're referring to, that people seem to worry about, is the remaining color of the *NATURAL* pigment still left in the hair. Removing the pigment that counteracts that may well leave your hair more yellow. That's why you have to re-dye the hair after you do this. ColorFix, Color Oops, Igora Phantom, or other haircolor removers aren't intended to leave the hair a nice color. They're only intended to remove the artificial pigment. After that, you have to add back in different artificial pigment to make your hair the color you wish it to be.

The goldish color nearest your roots is what remains of the natural pigment. When you treat hair with a single-process haircoloring, the hydrogen peroxide in that haircoloring has two jobs. 1) it lightens the natural pigment and 2) it reacts with the dyes in the colorant and causes the pigment to deposit in the hair shaft. When #1 occurs, the hair becomes redder and yellower. The exact shade it ends up depends on the color it started as.

When you use bleach on hair (as you do when you highlight), you bleach the natural pigment past the red/orange/yellow stage to the "pale yellow" stage. That is a more natural-looking color. If you tone it, it also is easy to make it whiter by using violet in the toner.

[Jennifer1124]

Well, used the ColorFix from Sally and it seemed to lighten up the unnatural colors in my hair. So, I colored with a Demi 10na-10 with a 10 developer. 1 part color 2 parts developer. It still looks the same. Can I re-apply the ColorFix and leave on for a longer period?? Possibly making it lighter (third time is a charm) and I could only color the roots, if necessary?

I have read in several of the questions on this page that the final step of the Colorfix tends to darken with steps 1 & 2 have done. Would it make any difference to skip the last step and continue with a deep conditioning?

Dumb question, but is a toner the same as a color?

I should have left my hair the way it was, I want my blonde back. Thanks Perito, you have been a great help.

If you or anyone else could answer this last question, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Perito]

Yes, you can reapply ColorFix. You can use it several times in succession if the first application doesn't get it all out. Remember to use the "lotion" after all applications. This will "redevelop" any pigment that's left in the hair. It's really a test for you to see if it all came out.

Yes, a toner is the same as color. True toners are designed for use on hair that has been lightened to a pre-determined stage (either yellow or pale yellow, depending on the toner). You don't find as many true toners as you did 40 years ago.

[MyraV]

I recently colored my hair with a demi color 5 days ago it came out to dark so I been washing my hair twice a day leaving the shampoo in my hair as I shower and then I put a hot oil treatment and slept with that in my hair over night and it is getting lighter I had blonde hair and I put a level 6brown and it came out med. Brown .Anyway I also herd that dandruff shampoo will strip it out but the hot oil seems to be working.