Help! Hair Disaster

Jan 22, 2013

Tima S.

Hey girls,

Caught in a little dilemma, someone please help me out :(

So, my friend wanted to dye her hair an ashy brown colour. She naturally has dark brown hair, (almost looks black) and she hasn't dyed her hair in two years, so we assumed she had virgin hair, because her hair looked the exact same colour as her roots.

After consulting several hairdressers, we were told to buy 8 NA hair colour, and mix with 30 volume, rather than 20. We bought Mirage loreal colour in 8.13, an ashy beige blonde and mixed it with 30 volume and applied to her ends first, and then towards the end, we applied the colour to her roots.

We waited 35 minutes, and washed the colour out, and unfortunately, her hair had turned a brassy, reddish colour, but the worst part was, it was three different colours. The roots had more of an orange tinge, the middle was brassy red/brown and the ends were almost brown black. I don't understand how that could have happened, because I was told that usually ash colours kill the red pigment in hair.

What did we do wrong? And how can we fix it :( Please help....xx

Jan 22, 2013

Racheal P.

I have had this problem before ! Bleach it.. Then your gonna need a toner, which will take the brassiness out then try an light brown color ! It's alot of damage though :( good luck 

Jan 22, 2013

Stephanie D.

1. Dye stays in forever. The only virgin hair she had on her head was at the root + 2 years worth of growth.
2. The ends were black because her hair was dry and porous (even if it didn't feel like it. product is a wonderful thing) and it absorbed more of the pigment.
3. The roots had an orange tinge because the heat of her scalp caused the color to develop faster, or in this case, caused the color of her natural hair to lift faster. Also because THAT hair was virgin, you probably didn't leave the color in long enough at the root.

Since you're aiming to make her hair lighter than what it naturally is, you're going to have to bleach it. Frankly, I would not recommend doing this as her hair is already dry. She would be better off if you corrected the hot roots and cut off the dark ends. 

Jan 22, 2013

Jessica S.

The hairstylist told you to use 30vol! There for it lifted the root. Not enough. It sounds like it only lifted 3 levels. Best advice- let the professionals do it. I honestly cant stand when clients proceed to color their own hair then it turns out bad then i have to fix it. Shame on those who gave you advice, they should've just had you come in and let them do it. I can tell you all day long what to do but you as the client not the professional dont know what you're looking for. Just because you havent colored your hair in 2 yrs does not mean its "virgin". If the hair is long and your not cutting it, its still there, on the ends. The only way to remove it is to cut it off. Dont assume you know about color. Youre better off getting it professionally done. Its worth it in the long run. Trust me- us colorists dread when our clients try and take on a big color job on their own. In the end, we are the ones who end up fixing it. I dont mean to lecture- ive been a colorist for 25 yrs and see this all the time. 

Jan 22, 2013

Jessica S.

Oh and besides- color can not lift existing color. Bleach is a color eater- so there for it eats the color out of the hair. Just go to a professional.... 

Jan 23, 2013

Tima S.

Will do ^ Thanks for the advice, was just really confused as to why an ashy colour would turn reddish