Ok so I am completely new to this forum and I decided to turn to here after the disaster the past 24 hours have been. So, I naturally have long, very dark brown hair. I went ombre for the first time last year during the summer and loved it, but in the fall decided I needed a change and went dark again.
This past May I wanted to go ombre again (and I did) and it was AMAZING! Better than the first time - went to someone new as I moved across an ocean it was a beautiful gradient of dark brown to medium brown to blonde. I am going on vacation again this Friday and made an appointment yesterday for a touch up (with someone else because my girl was on vacation). So I tell the girl to just retouch the ombre and make it more blonde…and a little lighter (brown) at the top. So basically she made me a SUPER light brown at the roots and blonde from middle of hair shaft, down. It was horrible – I am ethnically Middle Eastern so this color does not look good on me at all. I said no way and asked her to darken it. So she basically made my roots almost to my natural hair and then added black to my blonde ends…when she washed it out the ends were GRAY with a blue hue…I was mortified. I asked her to darken the ends to match the roots, so she did and now my ends are JET BLACK. Much darker than my natural color. I think they turned super black because the ends had been completely bleached and then they absorbed all the black color…vs. the roots of my hair which had been brown so they didn’t turn out so dark.
Now my hair is soooo dry and damaged and it looks horrible – this jet black does not do anything for me or my hair and because it’s so damaged it just sits there and is limp. I am so upset, I started crying at the salon. So I came home did an egg yolk/olive oil protein mask and washed it out. I’ve also been putting in oil like crazy and my hair is soaking it up like no other. I can say however though with the oil my hair is maybe 40% less dry than yesterday. I plan on doing a coconut oil mask today too.
So this morning I also noticed that parts of the top/middle shaft of my hair are like an ashy brown? I have no idea how she missed this or why it turned this color. I am going back on Wednesday to another girl (I moved to Kiev from Washington DC and this salon speaks English and caters to expats) to see if she can salvage it.
I just want the brown ashy parts to blend in with what my hair is now, but I also want to add some color/dimension to the ends. These jet black ends are just horrible do you guys think it’s okay to rebleach and tell the girl to do a dark-to-medium brown at the ends? I just don’t want to go blonde again. What should I do? I’m so upset. I know it’s probably not the best idea to rebleach my hair at the end but I really can’t deal with this jet black. I need some life to it…even if it’s bleached and dyed medium brown (and becomes more dry) I will prefer it over jet black. Please help
I'm attaching photos for reference:
1st - the awful blonde
2nd - the ash brown that now shows up randomly
3rd - how my hair was / what i want again
4th - same as #
Your first step should be to complain to the salon manager. Even if you don't want them to fix your hair you should let them know what a bad job this girl did.
Then I would get a colour remover. Something like Colour B4 or Decolour Remover if you are in the UK, Colorfix or Color Oops if in the US. This will take the dye out, there is no need to bleach hair that is already lighter underneath dye. Colour removers are not damaging like bleach, just drying, so you will need to deep condition afterwards. Depending on what that leaves you with (probably back to something like your first pic)you can then ask the salon to re-colour using only true semis (no peroxide, as your hair is already damaged) or do it yourself. Natural shades of blonde are quite tricky to get right, you need access to professional products ideally.
Your first step should be to complain to the salon manager. Even if you don't want them to fix your hair you should let them know what a bad job this girl did.
Then I would get a colour remover. Something like Colour B4 or Decolour Remover if you are in the UK, Colorfix or Color Oops if in the US. This will take the dye out, there is no need to bleach hair that is already lighter underneath dye. Colour removers are not damaging like bleach, just drying, so you will need to deep condition afterwards. Depending on what that leaves you with (probably back to something like your first pic)you can then ask the salon to re-colour using only true semis (no peroxide, as your hair is already damaged) or do it yourself. Natural shades of blonde are quite tricky to get right, you need access to professional products ideally.
Thank you so much for your reply Wicked Pixie...really appreciate it, especially during this time (I know maybe I am overreacting but this has been really traumitizing for me) I am definitely going to be complaining on Wednesday...the receptionst/girl who was translating even said herself "oh my gosh, thank you for not throwing a fit"...the thing is though, I am living in Kiev, Ukraine so not really sure what their standards of customer service are as compared to US or UK but this place caters to expats so hopefully they will understand.
I called my hair stylist back home and he basically said I should have them lift the color and do a medium/dark brown (level 5 or 6 is what I think he said). No more highligts or ombre, just one color. Which I am sad to not have ombre again but I am more concerned about having (somewhat) healthy hair at this point. So do you think it would be a good idea to tell them just cut two inches off the end (take off the completely lifeless, jet black hair) and then just try to to a dark brown all over? Do you think this will work? I'm just so scared of these brown patches at the top...no idea where they came from and they are so ashy!
I wouldn't allow any bleach or peroxide based dyes near your hair or you risk further damage and breakage. The colour remover is the best option at this point.
You are not over reacting BTW I would be fuming if someone did that to my hair.
I wouldn't allow any bleach or peroxide based dyes near your hair or you risk further damage and breakage. The colour remover is the best option at this point.
You are not over reacting BTW I would be fuming if someone did that to my hair.
Ohh okay, I am still new to hair coloring so I had no idea that even brown hair dye could potentially contain peroxide haha. This salon is using the "Organic Color Systems" brand and when I clicked the link to read the ingredients of the "Dark Brown Semi Permanent Dye" I don't see peroxide listed as an ingredient. http://www.organicsalonsystems.com/hair-color/no-limits-semis/no-limits-semi-dark-brown.html -- for reference.
So should I have them use a color remover on ALL of my hair? Or just the ends? And then use a dark brown color all over?
What do you think about me cutting off two (or more inches) from the bottom to just get rid of this dead jetblack hair...I hate to lose length but I just want relatively healthy hair again 🙁 If I did cut off the bottom, would I still have to use a color remover? It's not completely jet black at the top/middle...just the end so maybe a dark brown and color over? My guy back home said just use a remover on the ends and then dye all dark/medium brown. He also said something about a "soak cap" which he described as "shampoo, lightener, and developer. it's a gentle remover" -- in this case, what is lightener? Bleach?!
So sorry for all the questions, but my friends don't really know the answers to these questions and living in Kiev there's a huuuuge language barrier lol. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me...it really helps and is comforting to know there is some sort of support system out here 🙂
OK, that is a direct dye so totally safe to use. Most salon dyes require mixing with a developer, which is peroxide.
Is that what the black on your hair now is? If so you might not need a colour remover, as these colours shampoo out.
A Soap Cap is another name for a bleach bath, so yes it is bleach (lightener) peroxide (developer) and shampoo. It is more gentle than straight bleach, but can still be damaging especially on hair that has already been processed several times.
Most salons do not use genuine colour removers, which work by shrinking the dye molecules so they can be washed out of the hair.
If your ends are truly damaged rather than just dry, cutting them off is the only solution. If they are just dry you can get them back to health with the right products.
OK, that is a direct dye so totally safe to use. Most salon dyes require mixing with a developer, which is peroxide.
Is that what the black on your hair now is? If so you might not need a colour remover, as these colours shampoo out.A Soap Cap is another name for a bleach bath, so yes it is bleach (lightener) peroxide (developer) and shampoo. It is more gentle than straight bleach, but can still be damaging especially on hair that has already been processed several times.
Most salons do not use genuine colour removers, which work by shrinking the dye molecules so they can be washed out of the hair.If your ends are truly damaged rather than just dry, cutting them off is the only solution. If they are just dry you can get them back to health with the right products.
Okay, I will make sure they use this dye only and no peroxide or anything. To be honest I have no idea what color this girl put in my hair (if she used this or not). One thing that is scaring me is that when I came home on Sunday I did the egg yolk and olive oil mask and when I washed my hair out the water was colored! First a medium brown and then an purple-ish color! Yesterday (monday) I put a coconut oil mask and when I went to wash it again (I know I should not be washing my hair this much) the water was still colored! Same as before...brown (i assume from the color she put at top) and indigo (i assume from the jet black).
Okay I had never heard of a Soap Cap so thank you for explaining...I don't want to do this and probably shouldn't (like you said). He said to just do it on the ends but I think they are so messed up that I can only cut them off.
That being said...do you think if I cut off the ends (jet black hair) I would be able to dye the rest of my head dark brown (without using a color remover)?
Also as you can see, she had brought the blonde so high up that once she put black in my hair it created the ashy brown chunks and they are sooooooooo dry and brittle and awful. What can I do with them? Do you think they can be dyed over? It looks like someone just took rectangle shape chunks of hair and painted them. And this morning they are lighter brown (almost coppery) -- I assume this is from me washing my hair so much and the dye is fading.
If colour is coming out when you wash your hair it is almost definitely a direct dye with no peroxide that they used. I would suggest washing your hair with anti dandruff shampoo as this strips colour really well, but you will need to condition it loads afterwards as it will make your hair feel dryer. You should be able to get the black part a lot lighter, especially as its the first application of the black semi dye.
The ashy chunks will be able to be dyed over with a direct/semi dye such as the one your salon has suggested as they are non damaging.
Also I'd do a deep condition on The ends to see how they feel afterwards, if they're just really dry you might not have to cut them off. If they still feel bad you know you haven't lost out by cutting them off.
I agree with what Marthakins has said, it is almost certainly a direct dye which is great news. You should be able to get it out without damaging your hair or using any chemical processing. I like to put a lot of dandruff shampoo on just damp hair. Rub it in, cover with a cap and apply the heat from a hairdryer. Leave to sit for 30 mins or so, then rinse with very hot water. This pulls out the most colour for me