From black to dark ash brown?

Feb 6, 2015

Vallerie B.

Hi there, I've been thinking of slightly lightening my black dyed hair to soften it a bit, maybe add a bit more dimension. My natural hair color is a dark ash brown, it looks a bit golden in the sun. Any tips on how to soften the black to match my natural hair color?

Feb 6, 2015

Sarah B.

You will have to bleach your hair to lift the black out. Depending on how long you've been coloring your hair black, you will have to make bleach intensity higher or lower. Then, once lightened up 2 or 3 levels, you will have to recolor your hair with a formulation that is closest to your natural. I would consult a professional, it's quite hard to change from black to anything else.

Feb 6, 2015

Les N.

Just a question but why don't you just go to a salon?

Feb 6, 2015

Vallerie B.

I love dark hair, I just went a bit too dark last time I dyed it and was looking for a way to soften it at home without breaking the piggy bank since I'm not looking for a dramatic change. I've gone red, blonde, brunette by myself and have never encountered any major catastrophic problem (Been really careful and somewhat lucky). I figured you guys could share some tips.

Feb 7, 2015

Kelly V.

This really isn't that simple. while it sounds easy, it's not. black is very hard to lift from the hair. you look like you have a lot of hair, and when removing color you have to work fast so it won't get lighter in some spots and stay darker In others. if you are not familiar with bleach or color remover, you can damage your hair. also, putting box color over the bleached hair can lead to unevenness and a splotchy look.

Feb 7, 2015

Kelly V.

Yeah I understand. but what I'm saying is that black can be a hard color to remove. you have to work fast to get an even result. it's not that easy to lift black hair with out any orange or brassy tones. a lot of times box color won't correct that. if her ends are more porous then they will be harder to lift resulting in lighter top and darker ends. there's all kinds of stuff that can happen when removing black color.

Feb 7, 2015

Stephanie G.

Black box dye is super harsh. You need to go to a professional. I went from black to dark brown. I had to use a bleach, and you could clearly see after the color had lifted where I had used box dye 3 years earlier and when I had started going to a salon. Box dye doesn't lift easily. If you value the integrity of your hair, I would spend the extra money. There's a reason cosmetologists spend so much time in school.

Feb 8, 2015

Alyx T.

I completely agree with Kelly and Stephenie. Lots of weird things can happen when you bleach black hair. Even just using color oops, which only works on some hair, on some dyes, and if you completely follow instructions. And it smells awful and half the time does nothing. It can turn yellow, orange, whatever color you had underneath the black, or sometimes it goes bright green. My sister dyed her hair black once, with a box dye and when she bleached it to go dark brown it turned straight up green. She ended up paying twice as much after going to the salon, had to cancel plans to spend the extra time getting her hair fixed and had to get an extra hair cut because she had no idea what she was doing, despite having common hair knowledge and have always been dying her hair herself, having been blonde, brunette and a red head before. You never know what is going to happen, you learn that in cosmetology. It's kind of how doctors sometimes can't access your injuries until they crack you open. You can never tell exactly how the clients hair will react (especially to bleach) and you have to access and change plans accordingly.

And box dye is never going to be even with at home bleaching. There's no way you could work fast enough without that training of how to do it correctly, and hair doesn't lift evenly anyways so sometimes the ends are stubborn and the time it takes to lift, you can end up with bright blonde roots. Box dye would just make the situation worse in the end, it likely wouldn't cover any strong tones and since her hair would be more porous afterwards, it would have to be watched closely or it could easily go to dark.

Feb 8, 2015

Kelly V.

Alyx, I would like to carry you around with me at work so you can explain these things to pain in the butt clients who don't listen. I read your responses to hair threads and sometimes I think that you know more then I do...and I've been doing this for 14 years!

Feb 8, 2015

Alyx T.

Haha Kelly if you constantly give me a piggyback I totally will follow you around and explain things to stubborn clients. ;)

I read a lot. I went to cosmetology class in high school, I didn't finish due to personal issues but I kept the text book (and my teacher was awesome and gave me the ones for the level above me). I am super interested is cosmetics and cosmetology so I do the research. And I do my own hair (minus the bleaching because I know I'd mess that up), my close family's hair, and I have a cousin who is a hair dresser (10 years now I believe) and my hair dresser is a good friend of mine so we discuss science bits of hair processing lol. So I've got lots of information and experience in weird ways. But I looove it. Especially the science of it. People don't understand how much doing hair is like science class lol. Like when I dye my mom's hair, I buy dye from my hair dresser and she gets confused when I mix the developer in and it changes colors lol. And people on here make me want to cringe sometimes. Like no please don't bleach your henna out or put vodka in your hair to lighten it. And you can't go from black to bleach blonde without bleach. No matter how many box dyes you think will work lol.

Feb 8, 2015

Kelly V.

Alyx, I hope you decide to enter the hair industry. even if its not behind the chair, there are still so many other options in this career field...you can be a color chemist!! there are a lot of things that people don't understand about hair...you hit the nail on the head with that one. it is very scientific and sometimes I feel like a chemist at work. I also cringe at people here when it comes to hair questions because some of the stuff they suggest is dangerous. bleach and color removers can burn the hell out of your head, and sometimes certain medications and antibiotics react with the color and make a bad situation. I had a lady come in for color, then come back in a week later and yell at me for burning her scalp. when I asked her if she was taking medication or did anything prior she said "no I just use apple cider vinegar as a rinse " I about beat her with my frigging brush!! her PH was so off and acidic and that's why she had welts all over her head. I swear, pinterest and instagram have done damage to my job.

Feb 9, 2015

Alyx T.

Trust me Kelly I'm trying :) I actually was offered by my hair stylist to apprentice at her barber shop this spring. I'm definitely going to go for. Cosmo school is so expensive, and normal school setting isn't easy for me. But I am planning to barber for a while, make some money and save, then take some more science classes and hopefully get something in cosmetology.

Oh I know, the people that ask for diy lightening.. Cringe worthy. Honey and vodka and lemon. And Kool-aid... Ugh I just want to smack people who recommend that. And pinterest is horrid. There's even been people who steal my dye pictures and add captions like "get this on black hair with____ tea and two drops of x and 3 boxes of y powder" It's like no, you get that with bleach and veggie dye lol. I love the Internet, but it's horrid for diys. Though you get paid to correct a lot of hair diys at least lol.