Correcting Too-Dark Color
43 comments

Coloring hair is not something that every hair stylist should do especial if you don't have experience in color ..... I have been a stylist for 33 yrs we in the field make it look easy .... When the color is right its easy ....when is not call a professional

My hair is naturally very dark brown. I have been having it hilighted for about 8 years. I want to get back to natural and had my regular hair stylist do it. It is now very, very, very, dark brown and black. (the color was level 3, blue violet base w/a drop of warmth, what color is that?) How do I fix it. I want to use a semi permanent color on the roots in the future to cover the gray. What color should I use?

I always tell my clients to ONLY use black hair color as a LAST resort, or unless you plan on sticking with it for a while. When I first started beauty school, the majority of my clients (which were friends and family) had black hair and wanted to go lighter. Although I did get their hair to a lighter shade, it was a pain in the rear!!! Not only is it very time consuming, it usually takes more than one try, and the damage it creates... Let's jus say, some of my clients hair are still damaged towards the ends. You also need to find a haircolorist, not a stylist, who knows what they are doing in that department, which will likely cost you more than you'd like to pay. Color will not lift color, there for the only choice you will have to remove black hair color (or any dark color that you'd like to be lighter) is to bleach the color out. Ladies, please... Stop using box colors, and stop coloring your hair by your self without some knowledge in color theory, it not only makes our job much harder to correct the damage you have created, but it will also put a huge dent in your wallet to get your hair professionally corrected. (Unless you go to a beauty school, were you'll get it done for cheap, but the results will vary depending on the student)

you can not lighten color with color. you have to use a color remover which is like beach and removes pigment. It has to be watched closely. usually recolored to desired shade,that is why professional color correcting is recomended. You can put hilights in to break it up a little too. previously colored hair will always take differently then the new growth area. where the color is closer to the scalp,there is body heat involved,color will come up differently then away from the scalp. you can nuetralize unwanted red with a demi or semi permanant ash color.use 2 shades lighter. do not use on new growth!!I hope this helps

I am 50 yars old so my roots are coming throught salt and pepper, mostly salt. My natural hair colour is dark brown and its wavy. Ive put a permenant colour on it and although the colour was medium brown the ends, apart from the natural root part has grabbed and gone really dark. I would like to be a medium brown all over. What can I do?

I would suggest that you all DO A STRAND TEST BEFORE YOU COLOR!! That way you will know, before you do it, what will happen to the color of your hair. And go semi permanent first, that way if you don't like it, it will wash out sooner. The reason your roots are lighter when hair is touched up, is the rest of your hair is saturated with color, and the roots are new, untouched hair, so naturally they will respond more quickly to a color.

I am a natural dirty blonde,been coloring hair different shades of browns using boxed products for approx. 4yrs. How do I get back to my natural color?

Is it true that baking soda mixed with shampoo will remove color from the hair that has turned out to dark during color application. If this is a way to remove color how long do you leave it on for.

FIrst, I understand all of you when you were blonde and went too dark. the reason why salons are reltuctanct to do the service is because it is what i call a bleach blowout. it damages the hair immensly. but you should try to get a professional to do it. contrary to popular belief all cosmetologist are not masters in hair color. usually you need to go to a color restore specialist. it will cost you and when you do achieve the blond you misses, it is very hard to maintain. on the scalp hair bleach is the only way to achieve this professional grade. needs to be watched carefully and needs to not lift higher that a pale blonde. because you are diffusin the pigment in your hair, the toner used to calm down the brassy will fade and you should reapply every two to three weeks. it is not a one time fix. because you have no pigment left after a color correction any color be it semi or demi will sluff of the hair because it is so porous and does not have any natural pigment to hold on to. you must add a little pigment being ligh ash blonde to help the toner hold on longer. i can so color correction, and i am going to attempt to correct my once bblonde daughter to auburn and now back, her own doing. my suggestion is to start with highlights, and lowlights as well as a little of your natural color. always do a swatch test, because you can burn your hair and nothing will repair it but cutting it off. good luck.

I had medium brown hair with highlights, when they grew out I tried to redo them myself, it went too light, then I covered it with a brown and now I have nearly black hair. I really want my natural brown with a few highlights. How can I achieve this?

When the heck is someone gonna respond to these?
my hair is naturally a dirty blonde with natural highlights. 5 months ago I dyed it black. A month later i dyed it brown and it turned out black. Both times i used a box. Then i let my roots grow out a bit, and dyed it an auburn last night. Now my roots are a gross red and everything else is still dark. Please help and please respond. I don't wanna go bald.

My real hair color is dirty blond...iv always had it professionally done and it was a Extra light ash blond color, then one day i decided to dye it dark brown, and i did. I bought Hair dye from the box that said it would be able to change the darkest hair color to extra light blond hair, i tried it, and its not strawberry blond with orange and red tones, would re doing the blond dye again make it the light blond color i want? Or what would i have to do....PLEASE HELP S.M.H (SAVE MY HAIR)

Well im in the same predicament as many of the other people Med Brown, i had highlights then i dyed my hair chocalate brown (Lvl 5) & it turned out nearly Black! Its been 2 Months now & i haven't touched it, it has faded alot but it is still darker in the front & sides of my hair! What to do? Stylist wants to dye my hair Chocalate brown again But i cant! It washes me out terribley. I was wondering if i could get a mesh in it? Maybe a light brown, a medieum & maybe a redish. Something natural looking, is it possible? x

My daughter used semi permanet Natural Instinct med chocolet brown on natural strawberry blond hair it's been 8 weeks and now it has a green ash look to it. How can we correct this?

I recently dyed my daughter's hair brown, she had a black base. Her roots are now brown but the rest of her hair is still black what should I do to make her hair a medium brown her natural color.

i had complete colour correction from very dark brown/reddy to light brown, the light brown was lovely at first but after my first 5 washes or so the colour started coming out and the colour from underneath (orange from the bleach) is starting come through.
the whole point of the colour correction was to get rid of the gingery red, what should i do?

hi, im naturally dark blonde, but iv dyed my hair quite bit, from dark red to purple. I had a bit of a dye disaster when my hair went orange, i also had to be somewhere that day so i quickly went out and got a dark brown and dyed my hair, but now all i want to do is go back to my natural colour, i know it will really damage my hair and im worried that it will go wrong. Iv got an appointment on friday to get it taken out, will my hair eventually be back to normal and undamaged?

How can I highlite my already colored hair?

hi i dyed my hair a very dark brown from blond which i have done about 3 times now but the thing is i really want it out now i seem to dye it more when it is brown that i ever did when it was blond the only thing is it has a very red tinge to it now and all the hair salons around where i live refuss to do it! is there something i could do to help get myself back blond again

my hair is naturally blonde but been colouring dark chocolate. i want my natural hue back so been leaving it to grow but its doing my head in and the roots are blonde with dark 4 inch ends.. ive short hair so highlights would look mad! help, please....thanks.