Quis Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 I'm 18 and have been dying my hair with permanant home kits since I was around 15. My hair is naturally medium/light mousey brown, which I never liked because it was a bit too dull and plain. Because of this I've always dyed my hair a darker, richer brown with red undertones. But now I want to change! I want to dye my hair back to roughly its natural shade - a nice light golden brown. Over the space of about 4 months I have dyed my hair twice using the usual permanant home dye kits, but in a lighter shade than I normally use. It has worked really well on the top half of my hair and I have almost achieved the shade I want. The only problem is the ends of my hair; they are so loaded with dye (3 years worth of dark brown!) that they haven't changed colour much at all. So I'm walking around with hair that is light brown at the roots and blends into dark brown at the ends! It looks really bad. So my question is this: How do I fix this? I know it is possible to buy de-colourant kits to remove the exisiting dye from my hair before dying over top of it with a light/medium colour. Am I able to use decolourant on just the bottom half of my hair, therefore evening out the end result, or would that be a really bad idea? I'm really hesitant to use decolourant as my friend used it once and her dyed-dark-brown hair turned an unsightly shade of orange! I've already cut my hair from very long to above-shoulder length to get rid of most of the old over dyed hair...but I don't want to cut it any shorter! I can't see any real solution to this other than to shave my hair off and let it grow back my natural colour...and I'm not so keen to do that! Please help! Quis. Link to post Share on other sites
agnf666 Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Okay... Here's my advice... I have been dying my hair for over 4 years now. I have been just about every color... Basically in order for you to get back to close to your natural color would be either to bleach it out completely... WARNING... IF YOU HAVE ANY RED IN YOUR HAIR THEN WHEN YOU USE A DECOLORANT OR BLEACH KIT IT WILL MORE THEN LIKELY TURN YOUR HAIR ORANGE... So, you can use either one of those to fix your hair... I would suggest your whole head... then after a few days dye it to the color that you want. That should work for you. Doing just parts of your hair might now work too well... You want to make sure you leave the bleach kit or decolorant in your hair for the amount of time it says... Now with the bleach kit you might want to leave that in longer... Bleaching goes though alot of phases... Since you hair has red undertones there is a chance for orange... In which is not too bad... If you are afraid of doing this on your own you can go to a salon and get them to color correct your hair... tha tmight cost a good bit of money but they are basically going to bleach your hair out and match your roots with some dye... I had it done before... It was nice but I dyed over it... How often do you dye your hair??? Does it feel like straw or very rough when you wash it??? Link to post Share on other sites
jen_jen_heartbroken Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Get your butt into a good salon and let a professional fix the current problem -- otherwise, you will only make the situation worse. Then, when it is time to refresh the color, you should stick with a semi-permanent color. L'Oreal Color Spa is an excellent product. I have medium/dark brown hair and have been using this for several years with great results. It's very conditioning and leaves great shine and depth to your hair. I use it every two months or so. It takes just 10 minutes to apply in the shower. And it's very easy to switch between a lighter and darker shade within the brown tones. And at $6 a box, it's cheap. Link to post Share on other sites
Quis Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 agnf666: I dye my hair maybe every 2 or 2 1/2 months...basically it depends on how different the dye colour is to my natural colour and therefore how soon my roots start showing - the darker the dye the more often I do it. I think I'm really lucky because my hair is still in really good condition (or at least *looks* like its in good condition...). Its not dull or straw like at all. If anything, my hair tends to go towards the greasy side as its very straight and fine. Thanks for the advice Link to post Share on other sites
agnf666 Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 That is good that your hair is not damaged... They you can bleach your hair... As for me my hair is damaged and I want to get it back to brown or some natural looking color with out all the dark ends... We kindof have the same problem. I have had this problem before, so I know bleaching it will help or getting it done at a salon would be good too... Link to post Share on other sites
sexyLMC Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 i know it does some damage but im not sure how much.. think about me this is no lie. i woke up this morning and my hair is pink..lol.. that really is no lie.. aww well i love pink. x Link to post Share on other sites
jen_jen_heartbroken Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Oh goodie! Then I'll give you this pink lipstick I got suckered into buying at the makeup counter. It doesn't go with my brown hair. Link to post Share on other sites
sexyLMC Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 ha ha ha.. thanks jen.. na ita ok now, ive sort of sorted it out.. you know they say put conditioner on your hair and leave it for like half hour or so. will this provent split ends? Link to post Share on other sites
amaysngrace Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Get your butt into a good salon and let a professional fix the current problem -- otherwise, you will only make the situation worse i totally agree with Jen. go to a salon. they will most likely strip your color but then they can dye it whatever shade you'd like. only problem is it's going to be really harsh on your hair. you should get a really thick conditioner (basically a hair masque) goop it on... ALOT!...the good news is you have healthy hair so breakage should be minimum. Link to post Share on other sites
jen_jen_heartbroken Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 ha ha ha.. thanks jen.. na ita ok now, ive sort of sorted it out.. you know they say put conditioner on your hair and leave it for like half hour or so. will this provent split ends? Nah, it won't prevent split ends. It will just give you limp hair. Unless you have a lot of thick hair it's best to use a light conditioner every day. The best way to prevent split ends is: Get your hair trimmed every six to eight weeks Avoid perms and bleaching Use only ceramic brushes and heat stylers Minimize your use of heat by letting your hair air dry half way before using an electric dryer. Link to post Share on other sites
jen_jen_heartbroken Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 i totally agree with Jen. go to a salon. they will most likely strip your color but then they can dye it whatever shade you'd like. They may not strip the color at all. Sometimes the easiest way to correct uneven color is to apply piecey low-lights which will blend in the uneven shades. But either way, a professional will know which treatment process is the least damaging. Link to post Share on other sites
sexyLMC Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 aww thanks jen. xxx Link to post Share on other sites
jen_jen_heartbroken Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 aww thanks jen. xxx You're welcome. I still have an affinity for all things hair and beauty related, since I went to cosmetology school many years ago -- even though I left to pursue a different career. Link to post Share on other sites
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