Post # 1
Member
1621 posts
Bumble bee
Argh. I just wrote out a whole post and WB ate it.
Long story short: I have naturally level 3-4 neutral brown hair that was dyed in January to match extensions (a very similar colour but she dyed it too dark, like a level 2-3). That has faded but also I have some white hairs coming in so I thought I’d cover the white with a golden brown permenant dye, thinking the white would go golden and the rest would get a golden tone but stay at the same level. Well I got hot roots 🙁
I read lots of reviews about Color Oops but my stylsts says she has never heard of it and that the only way to lighten previously dyed hair is bleach, which I refuse to do. I thought the Color Oops would take out the dye, return me to a level 4ish (perhaps slightly lighter due to to the dye job) and then I could cover the whole head with a semi-permanent a shade or 2 lighter than my natural colour (assuming it will take darker due to the porosity).
Thoughts?
Post # 2
Member
1505 posts
Bumble bee
I’m not a hair expert by any definition, but I have done this on a friend’s hair a couple times now and it works great. You have to make sure to keep the product as warm as possible, so wear a shower cap and continually massage the hair. She is naturally a moussy brown, had dyed her hair deep brown/almost black and her hair ended up at a light auburn.
Post # 3
Member
1621 posts
Bumble bee
MissLibra: Thanks. Did it damage her hair at all? Also, is the smell as horrid as some people say? I’ve read some reviews that say it’s not *that* bad, and others that say a stanky smell lingers for a week! I don’t know if I can handle that haha.
Post # 4
Member
97 posts
Worker bee
I’m not a hair professional, but I have done my own hair processing quite a bit, including Color Oops and bleach.
It is damaging to your hair, yes. It has a similar effect on your hair as bleach as well, meaning, the color you’re left with will be the underlying base color depending on how far you’re able to lift it (so your hair will be red, orange, or yellow).
If your hair is in decent shape now, it’ll probably be fine. If you need to lift it quite a lot, you can’t do it all at once, it must be spread out to give your hair a break (it doesn’t sound like this would be necessary in your case, though). Just plan on really babying it afterwards with deep conditioning treatments and minimal heat styling. At one point, I went black to light blonde over the course of 2 weeks, and my hair was okay (even felt pretty soft afterwards). However, over the course of the following year, I had to get it trimmed a lot more often than usual.
Good luck!! 🙂
Post # 5
Member
1475 posts
Bumble bee
As a hairdresser, I can tell you that your hair stylist should have some professional form of colour remover available besides bleach. At my salon we use something called Vanish, which actually works quite well.
Now, the colour remover is never a guarantee…it’s usually a first step in the lightening process. Results are usually extremely brassy/orange if anything, so obviously a follow-up process (usually an all-over colour or colour + highlights) is required. But it saves your hair the damage of being completely bleached. If you wanted to go super light, I would agree with your hairdresser that all-over bleaching would be necessary. But since you only want to go a few shades lighter, she should have recommended a colour remover instead.
All that being said, corrective colour is a tricky process, and can be very damaging if it’s not done correctly. Not to mention that it can turn out atrocious. I would NOT do this at home – leave it to a professional. Since your hairdresser offered no colour removal option, do some research online and find a well-reputed salon in your area that specializes in creative colour. Call and ask if they offer a colour remover as part of a corrective colour service. For corrective colours, many salons want you to come in for a (free) consultation before they decide what services to use and how much to charge, but they will be able to tell you over the phone whether or not they carry Vanish or a similar professional-grade colour remover.
I hope this helped.
Post # 6
Member
794 posts
Busy bee
cdncinnamongirl: Quite honestly, I’ve done and had everything done to my hair at one point or another. I’ve found that all the products avaiable for stripping the hair are horribly damaging. They made my hair weak and straw-like. After a lot of awful experiences, I took coloring matters into my oan hands and have restored my hair’s health and shine (and beautiful color). I started by using a high level blonde color and 30 volume lotion (bleach) from Goldwell Topchic (2 parts bleach to 1 part color). I took my hair from a very dark, ugly, reddish-black to a beautiful light ash brown. I use a dark ash blonde color and 20 volume lotion (1:1 ratio) on my roots when they come out and it matches pefectly every time. I’m not saying it’s for everybody. I get why people are scared to dye their own hair, but it’s the best my color has ever been. All I can say is never ever ever EVER use golden tones on yourself. Ash and neutral are the safest. I can’t tell you what to do! I can just tell you from trying so many options, going the bleaching route was the best option and did no damage to my hair. Good luck!!!
Post # 7
Member
1621 posts
Bumble bee
applecat: Thanks so much for your insight! I really have no desire to drastically change my colour other than perhaps to add a slightly warmer tone. In other words, if I had my natural undyed hair, I’d use semi-permenants to richen up the colour and fade in the white hairs. But given the dye job in January and now the golden brown roots, I’m just not sure how to procede without bleach and also without a whole-head dye that will darken my colour (which I also don’t want). I just want a nice, mid chesnutty golden brown, wah!!! I figured the Color Oops (or Vanish) would take out the previous permenant dye which would let me do a semi permenant and achieve a consistent colour root to end and fix the hot roots. I’m trying to grow my hair, which is already thin and I just think bleach might be too damaging, although I do think that some high and low lights would blend out the hot roots well enough.
Gah. Every single time I colour my hair it ends up f’ed up, professional or not.