Going from dark brown to a vibrant deep red..

Misticles

hi guys, thinking of doin this from the DIY box.
Any recommendations for colours.
My hair is Bitter Sweet Chocolate from the Schwarzkopf Live range...
Would I have to lighten my hair first?

Looking for a deep vibrant red.... like in this pic...

cherrycool

You shouldn't have to lighten your hair, I used to dye my hair red for years and red is such a strong colour that it covers pretty much anything!

I have found L'oreal to be the best for reds. Recently I've been using the Chocolate Cherry colour from Excell 10, but thats quite understated. If you're looking for a more vibrant colour I'd reccomend one of the Feria colours; I think there's one called 'pure spice power' that used to be very rich.

Check the colours on the box and find one you really like; pretty much every shade I've used has turned out the way it was meant to if you follow the directions correctly.

fend

It may take 2 or 3 goes to get it super red.... The first go will probably just give it a noticeable tinge... Wait a week or so and throw another box in, it will gradually become redder and redder...

Just make sure you condition a hell of a lot.

Misticles

Oh I condition alot as it is-- dam blonde hair damage
I was thinking it might take a few goes alright..
Cherrycool- have ya seen any colours that resemble the one in the pic?

cherrycool

Lol, I'll take you through a history of the shades I've used

I used Henna for a while, then a Garnier shade that came out much more purple than the lovely girl on the box, and then I switched to L'Oreal.

This is the first one I used to use, came out pretty much exactly as the colour on the box. My natural colour is a very light brown / dark blonde.

http://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/hair-colour/all-over-color/feria/p67-scarlet-power.aspx


Following that, I switched to this one:

http://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/hair-colour/all-over-color/recital-preference/666-babylon-intense-red.aspx


Then I toned down the red and switched to a more reddish brown:

http://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/hair-colour/all-over-color/feria/p52-pure-bordeaux-auburn.aspx


Finally, I toned it way down with this one:

http://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/hair-colour/all-over-color/excell-10/5-5-6-auburn.aspx

This was all over the course of about six years, and I've been using that last one for almost two of those years, and then I got my hair stripped a few weeks ago back to my natural colour. Red fades very easily; some of my friends were dying their hair blonde, and only ever got their roots touched up, leaving the rest of their hair alone as the blonde colour remained, but I had to re-dye my whole head of hair every time I did my roots, because the colour would fade noticably in comparison the the strong colour my newly dyed roots would be.

Hope that helped a bit

Misticles

thanks a mill
your a dye connosiuer thingy bob ha

I'm thinking the Babylon Intense Red is the closest to the pic I have up above..
Doubt i'll get it that vibrant first time.

I've dark eyebrows cos i'm naturally dark, dya think this colour might be too much? Don't wanna look like a douche with my eyebrows standing out ha

also-- dyed my hair only about 3 weeks ago or so... think its too soon to go again?

bluedolphin

My natural hair colour is a medium-dark brown and I went pretty much that colour (if not slightly brighter) in one sitting last September, although I got it done in a salon rather than a DIY job. So I'd say you won't have much of a problem with one or two home tries.

My only word of advice is that I found the red very difficult to maintain.

Even using special colour shampoo/conditioner/treatment, I found the colour washed out after a few weeks (and it was done by a top stylist) and when my natural colour was coming through from underneath it made it a brassy-coppery-brownish-orangey tinge, which I wasn't overly keen on so ended up throwing a brown similar to my natural colour on to cover it, about 7 weeks after getting the red in (the brown has held up well on covering the red - haven't put anything in my hair since [the end of October/start of November] and it looks fine).

I did love the red though. While it lasted.

Misticles

aaww really
I used to be blonde blonde so I know what high maintanace hair is like.
I really like the colour but hate when dark roots come through..

Was speakin to a hairdresser- she said my hair would need to be lightened.
Might have a look at a few of the DIY boxes and see what the desired outcome is for my colour hair.

Shelga

bluedolphin wrote: »

My natural hair colour is a medium-dark brown and I went pretty much that colour (if not slightly brighter) in one sitting last September, although I got it done in a salon rather than a DIY job. So I'd say you won't have much of a problem with one or two home tries.

My only word of advice is that I found the red very difficult to maintain.

Even using special colour shampoo/conditioner/treatment, I found the colour washed out after a few weeks (and it was done by a top stylist) and when my natural colour was coming through from underneath it made it a brassy-coppery-brownish-orangey tinge, which I wasn't overly keen on so ended up throwing a brown similar to my natural colour on to cover it, about 7 weeks after getting the red in (the brown has held up well on covering the red - haven't put anything in my hair since [the end of October/start of November] and it looks fine).

I did love the red though. While it lasted.

+1. I have red hair now OP, actually it looks exactly like the picture you put up, similar cut/style too. When I first dyed it red I had never coloured my hair before, and was terrified of making a mess so I got it done in a salon. After that I used Schwarzkopf Vibrant Red and now I top up with that every 3-4 weeks. But as Bluedolphin says, it starts to look a bit coppery/faded after 2-3 weeks. I persevere though because I love the red!

Am thinking about going blonde now though Anyone know how they would change your hair from bright red to blonde in one go in a salon??

Misticles

I couldnt find that Schwarzkopf colour online- is that the name of it? Vibrant Red?

For goin blonde, they might have to lighten your hair a fair bit for it to turn out blondey and not brassy.
Ya could maybe start off with ome high lights and build it up slowly..

cherrycool

Misticles wrote: »

I've dark eyebrows cos i'm naturally dark, dya think this colour might be too much? Don't wanna look like a douche with my eyebrows standing out ha

also-- dyed my hair only about 3 weeks ago or so... think its too soon to go again?

Nah mine are quite dark too, its not that noticable really. And you can get stuff to put on your eyebrows if you want - like eyeshadow for eyebrows! Never used it myself, but I think its does work!

Hmm I don't think its too soon, I've dyed mine twice in two weeks before (ha didn't go according to plan the first time round...!) but like it depends on how you think your hair would hold up? Mine was in quite good condition but to be honest box dyes aren't as bad for hair as they used to be, just use lots of conditioner :-)

Shelga wrote: »

Anyone know how they would change your hair from bright red to blonde in one go in a salon??

Can't be done, I'm afraid! I've tried!! It will take a few salon trips, I got mine stripped a few weeks back, then dyed a medium/light brown over it. You can't put blonde straight over it because red is an impossible colour to remove entirely, and it'll end up brassy/ginger-y! So mine's very light brown now and I've to go back in a week or two to get some dark blonde highlights put in, and then just let it grow out from there. And to be honest I think brght red would be even harder, by the time I got mine done I'd toned t down to reddish brown.

I really, really loved my hair red, but it is just such a difficult colour to maintain, fades very easily. And if you're ever sick of it, its notorious to get rid of. Be warned!!

Shelga

Misticles wrote: »

I couldnt find that Schwarzkopf colour online- is that the name of it? Vibrant Red?

Yeah it's called Schwarzkopf Color Live XXL in Vibrant Red, it gives you the colour in the picture. The only place I've seen it is in some Boots branches, but I haven't really tried anywhere else. Superdrug and other large chains like that would probably stock it. Tried to find a link but the website's in German! :rolleyes:

cherrycool wrote: »

Can't be done, I'm afraid! I've tried!! It will take a few salon trips, I got mine stripped a few weeks back, then dyed a medium/light brown over it. You can't put blonde straight over it because red is an impossible colour to remove entirely, and it'll end up brassy/ginger-y! So mine's very light brown now and I've to go back in a week or two to get some dark blonde highlights put in, and then just let it grow out from there. And to be honest I think brght red would be even harder, by the time I got mine done I'd toned t down to reddish brown.

I really, really loved my hair red, but it is just such a difficult colour to maintain, fades very easily. And if you're ever sick of it, its notorious to get rid of. Be warned!!

I was afraid of that I know im hijacking the thread, but how many trips do you think it would take to go from the colour in the OP's photo (v v similar to mine) to a Cameron Diaz type blonde?? Not really interested in highlights... Thanks in advance!

Killer_banana

Try Schwartzkopf Live Luminescence. It lightens and dyes your hair at the same time. I have medium brown hair and I dyed it with the 'infa-red' (think that's the name) shade last year and it came out similar to your picture, maybe a bit darker. There's one or two more red shades in the range I think and they usually have them in Boots. One thing I should warn you about is I did stain my hair with this dye, I'm not sure if it was the colour or the bleach but some of my hair is a light ginge-ish-brown-ish-red colour (it's actually a lot nicer than it sounds and looks natural enough). My hair's weird though and a bit sensitive so it might not happen to everyone

As for maintaining red hair, it is a bitch. One thing that I found goes a long way it to wash it with cold water. Not exactly pleasant but it makes it last a lot longer in my experience.

Hope I helped!

Magenta

I second the Schwarzkopf Live recommendations and also I find that if you use sulphate-free shampoo and conditioner (there's threads on this forum about them) it doesn't strip your colour so fast.

Misticles

Cherry cool- have u seen that Loreal Recital colour around? The Babylon Intense Red one?
Was in Boots today and couldn see it.

princess-lala

Shelga wrote: »

Am thinking about going blonde now though Anyone know how they would change your hair from bright red to blonde in one go in a salon??

Not a hope of it in any decent hairdressers!

Misticles wrote: »

Cherry cool- have u seen that Loreal Recital colour around? The Babylon Intense Red one?
Was in Boots today and couldn see it.

Best home colour to get this colour would be Schwarzkopf live as mentioned, xxl or something like that, You will get it bright red with this, maybe not the first time but defo the second time.

To keep the red use Crazy colour Fire (Terry Sales sell it) it will keep it nice & vibrant!

Misticles

Didnt really like the Schwarzkopf ones... I stared at the dyes for about a half hour hhmmming and hawwning
Whats crazy colour fire? is it a shampoo or somethin?

princess-lala

Misticles wrote: »

Didnt really like the Schwarzkopf ones... I stared at the dyes for about a half hour hhmmming and hawwning
Whats crazy colour fire? is it a shampoo or somethin?

Crazy colour is a semi - will brighten up the red. Its a wash in thing but you have to have the colour in your hair before you use it!

Well I dont know what to tell you to use then, those would be the ones clients of mine would use and swear by!

cherrycool

Shelga wrote: »

I was afraid of that I know im hijacking the thread, but how many trips do you think it would take to go from the colour in the OP's photo (v v similar to mine) to a Cameron Diaz type blonde?? Not really interested in highlights... Thanks in advance!

I'm not too sure,but a good few I'd say... My hair wasn't as bright as that, it was more brown, and even after getting it stripped I can still see a very slight reddish tone coming through the light brown dye! I'm getting highlights from this point, but if you wanted Cameron Diaz type blonde I'd say you'd have to dye over a couple more times, using a lighter shade each time. Don't go by me though, definitely check with a hairdresser before you start doing stuff!!

Misticles wrote: »

Cherry cool- have u seen that Loreal Recital colour around? The Babylon Intense Red one?
Was in Boots today and couldn see it.

I always got mine from the boots in stephens green... now that you mention it though i don't actually know if i have seen it round lately. I used to ask at the counter what shades they ordered in, or if they knew of any other boots that stocked them? Reds are always such a difficult one to get hold of :rolleyes:

Shelga

Hi OP,

You've probably stopped checking this thread but realised I gave you the wrong colour- the one I use is actually Red Passion. Checked the box today! Vibrant Red is more of an orangey colour so maybe that put you off.

Misticles

Im staying brown for now dont want harsh upkeep at the mo ha

thanks guys

stressedcao

Hey guys , I was wondering does anyone know what shops in Dublin stock the loreal feria 66 ruby fusion shade. I have highlighted hair at the mo and would enjoy a change:)