Any hair colour experts??

[too_scared]

Please help!

I will start with some background and hopefully I will be able to get some advice. Please

Background:

My hairstylist moved away last fall. I live in a tiny town and couldn't find another stylist who was accepting new clients so I had to take my hair into my own hands. I was getting my hair highlighted with bleach in foils and then toned. The base was my natural colour which is a 7/6, getting darker as I get older. Since I was without a stylist I had do something. I decided that I would do my hair darker. I used to be a stylist myself so I figured I could do it no problem. I don't have access to much in my tiny town. Just drugstore products and not many at that. I decided to do a dark eggplant colour with purple ombre. I filled the bleached part of my hair (which was quite a bit) with a copper demi permanent colour and then I used Feria on top to do a really dark purple/black, or so I thought! It made my hair a darker copper colour! I redid it with the same Feria colour but cut the developer 1/2 and 1/2 with water to lower the volume. It made my hair darker but more red than purple. This all happened at the end of January.

I didn't colour my hair again until the end of May (it was a state!) and this time I used Olia dark garnet red (4.62). Soon after I decided that I wanted to cut my hair. Luckily there was a new stylist in town and I was able to get an appt! I got an appt for the beginning of June and she cut my hair from mid back length to a chin length inverted bob. I discussed with her at the time going back to blonde eventually. We decided that I would try to get my hair to fade as much as I could before her doing anything so it would be easier on my hair. I was too nervous to do any kind of chemical process to fade my hair so I bought dandruff shampoo and I used it for about 2 weeks before my next appt at the beginning of July. Nothing happened! It didn't fade AT ALL! Even though I was washing my hair SO much (usually I wash it twice a week, but I was washing it every 2 days or every day to try to fade the colour). I decided to get the red touched up instead of bleaching my hair like crazy. I don't know the brand that she used but the number was 6VR or something like that.

That was 3 weeks ago. I have decided I definitely want my hair blonde again at some point. I have to take more drastic steps. I would love some advice to help fade the red from my hair. Today I washed my hair with Dr. Bronner's soap but it didn't fade anything either! I am thinking about doing a shampoo cocktail. Or maybe baking soda and lemon juice?? I don't know. I figure my hair isn't in that bad shape since I got over 12 inches cut off just recently.

Please help! Do you think a shampoo cocktail (shampoo and bleach combo - maybe also called a bleach bath??) is a good idea? Does anyone have any other tried and true techniques to help get dark red out of hair??

Additional information:

I should mention my stylist is only a year out of school. I like her but I feel she probably needs more experience with coloring before attempting corrective colour on her own. She is a stylist working on her own. When I was just a year out of school I was working in a salon with other experienced stylists and could get help from them. That is how I learned most of what I know. She has a mentor of sorts but I don't trust the mentor, she was the first stylist I saw when I moved to this town. She fried my hair off three times before I moved on to the stylist who moved away. I'm too nice to have given her three chances. :S The last straw was when she put me under the dryer and left me there to gossip with another client. Even though I was watching the clock and multiple times lifted the hood. She kept telling me I needed more time...

I really need help. I figure if I can lift the colour myself enough then I can just get the new stylist to do bleach foils with a caramel-y base color in between them.

Shampoo cocktail or something else? Least damaging option is best. I have an appt in about a week and a half.

Thanks in advance!

 

[RaspberryK]

I'm no expert at all but I think I'd just go straight to the colour stripping stuff you can buy/get done at the salon. Ni don't think I'd try any at home made strippers, god knows what you could do to your hair.
Xx

 

[AP]

It sounds like you have a lot of color build up. There's two things you can do here before even thinking about a bleach bath (which can go uneven - I warn you!)

First of all check out colour removers. (Not to be confused with colour strippers) We have a product called Color B4 here, but I think you may have something like Colour Oops where you are? These can work well with dye build up, and you can use them up to three times before it's done all it can. It may try the hair out temporarily, so use a treatment when you are done.

Color strippers use hydrogen peroxide and therefore are bleaches technically. If you are planning to get foils, I would not recommend any bleach process this late prior to your appointment - you really need to wait several weeks between these processes.

I'd always recommend a colour remover over any bleach baths, they save a huge load of damage and give your hair a longer life.

 

[RaspberryK]

Yeah ap that's the box of stuff I meant, colour b4 xx

 

[too_scared]

Thanks.

I wish I could get a colour remover. They aren't available where I live. I will check when I go into town this week but I don't think I've ever seen them there either. Hopefully I can do something.

I wish I could trust the new stylist to do it but I can't. She said she just did the process to her own hair but didn't mention color remover at all. I know you can get professional color remover, I used some myself years ago.

Argh.

Hopefully I can find a solution.

 

[AP]

Could you order a box online? I know some places will deliver Color B4/Oops.
What makes you not trust the new stylist? Is it just because you've never had her before? how long has she been in the job?

 

[too_scared]

I can order one online but it'll take at least two weeks to get here. That's the crappy thing about living in the middle of nowhere.

 

[too_scared]

She's only been a stylist for a year. Like I said above that's not a bad thing, but she's working alone with no support from other stylists.

She went from red to blonde herself but used bleach and damaged her hair to the point of needing it cut short. I've already cut my hair as short as I want it.

 

[AP]

I can order one online but it'll take at least two weeks to get here. That's the crappy thing about living in the middle of nowhere.

She's only been a stylist for a year. Like I said above that's not a bad thing, but she's working alone with no support from other stylists.

She went from red to blonde herself but used bleach and damaged her hair to the point of needing it cut short. I've already cut my hair as short as I want it.

Newfoundland is new to me today

I know how scary stylists can be when it comes to bleach - i used to be one but in a salon you have limited access to products. red to blonde should be a gradual thing really, not something so severe you need the chop.

To be honest if this is a serious move to blonde you are making I think it would be wise to choose someone who has done this before and getting it right, even if it costs a lil more. better that, than damaged hair.

And maybe even wait until you can try the color removers. it will take a step out of the process for you, and the stylist you choose wouldn't have to process your hair so much.

 

[too_scared]

Thanks for your advice.

I really wish I could choose another stylist. I had a great one until she moved away. Cost isn't the issue, it's getting an appt with a stylist, period! There are none here that are accepting new clients! Going to another town isn't possible either because all the other towns are too far away. All over 200 km away.

I'll look for the color oops when I go into town on Thursday and if I can't find it I'll order some online.

Probably I'll just change my appt to just a cut until I can lighten my hair enough on my own.

 

[too_scared]

Update:

I got Colour Oops. I should have gotten 2 boxes

My hair went from dark red (actually red sheen, not copper) to about level 7 copper. Maybe level 8. I put light natural ash blonde on a strand test for 5 minutes and it went darker and red again.

I should have trusted my gut and mixed only 1/2 the Colour Oops so I could do two treatments. I had plenty to be able to do two applications

I can't get another box because it took at week to ship to me!

Plan now... bleach bath/shampoo cocktail? Help!!

 

[AP]

You can't use a peroxide mix dye after colour removers, you have to give it a few days and a few washes. This is why the strand test went back to red.

The minimum wait I've been told is 72 hours.

Honestly? I'd suffer a week wait so bleaching wasn't an option.

 

[too_scared]

Do do you think if I wait a few days and try the blonde again I shouldn't go back to red?

Thank you for your help.

Pictures of before and after...

https://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/w654/mindy_russell1/IMG_20140808_142130_zps8mmro0yu.jpg

https://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/w654/mindy_russell1/IMG_20140808_172338_zps1hy5rjvj.jpg

 

[AP]

Yes if you wait, wash like hell for a few days, it should be fine. I'm not so sure what shade of blonde you'll be, I'd strand test again in a few days. I'm not sure if your base colour is light enough to use the natural blonde but it might be just the photo

 

[too_scared]

Thank you!!

I will wash like crazy and then try to get the red out again. I got blonde because that is what it suggests in the info with the color oops. It says to go 2-3 levels lighter if you plan to color the same day.

I would like to do dark blonde/light brown without red/copper. I'm very scared it's not going to happen.

My plan is to try to get as close to my natural as possible and then bleach highlights. I hope it works.

 

[too_scared]

Another little update:

washing my hair lots, and it seems to have darkened a little. Still very copper but a little darker now. Looks like a gorgeous natural red colour. Too bad my colouring does not lend itself to this colour. I always loved this colour but it just doesn't work for me.

It turns out that the drug store in my home town actually carries Colour Oops! I didn't even think to check when we went to town last week since I had already ordered some online. My inlaws live there and there is a bus service that goes back and forth between our town and our home town every day so I am going to get my mil to get some for me and put it on the bus. So much better than driving 450 km round trip just for my hair! Haha!

I will post another update after I do it again. My hair actually feels to be in pretty good condition. A little dry but not that bad at all. I did a protein treatment on it after the colour oops and I will do the same thing again this time. The hardest part of the whole process is washing my hair so much after processing! 20 minutes is a long time! Haha!

Thank you again for all your help!

 

[AP]

So far so good hun. Sometimes, it does darken a little, (ive seen that happen at my initial tries!). You'll be fine to use colour oops another once or twice, it might feel dry but condition well.

A good tip I was told is:

Cover the application with cling film/shower cap (heat from your head will help!)

Use as hot as you can stand water at the buffering process. It'll open the hair and flush out the colour.

And rinse like hell. Rinse longer than it tells you to, if you can!

 

[MiniKiwi]

I'm not a hair colour expert by any means, just stalking since I'm curious how it's going to turn out

Hope you get the colour you want in the end, good luck!

 

[too_scared]

Thanks!

A plastic cap comes with it so I used that and also covered that with a towel. I heated everything up with my hair dryer before I covered it with a towel.

I used hot water and rinsed and washed like crazy but the hit water ran out just before 20 minutes was up. I still did the 20 minutes but I don't know if the cooler water had an effect.

I think this time I will use only 1/2 the bottle to start and mix the rest if I need it. I really don't think I will need it. Then I can do it a 3rd time if necessary.

Thank you again for your help.