[Befera]

Hey, all.

I dyed my hair black for Halloween at a salon (from a natural dark/chestnut brown), and I'd like to dye it a vibrant burgundy red before I go off to college in a few weeks. I'd be doing this at the same salon, most likely, but I'm concerned that the first thing my stylist will do is strip the color. She did the same thing to my younger sister's hair about a year ago because she wanted some lighter brown highlights from her black hair, leaving her with permanent damage. My sister and I obviously have the same hair type, so I'm not so sure that I'd like to risk stripping it.

My other option is just to put the burgundy in and see what happens. I've never been able to get very bright red in my hair, and that's bothered me. I usually only see the red I want in the light and at the roots of my hair, and I want more of an all over effect. I don't want to get stuck with the same annoying dullness and then have to try again once I get to college.

I've heard that dandruff shampoos work well at fading color, and I'm tempted to try this for a couple of weeks and see if the burgundy I want will be more vibrant. Otherwise, could I just have my stylist put a brighter color in my hair over what's currently there? Would that heighten the vibrance at all or would it just cause damage?

Thanks a lot for your input! I've wanted this hair color for years now, and I just want to make sure I do it right the first time. :)