Hair colour removal disaster

Gongoozler

I tried to remove my colour of dark brown with a tint of purple with colour b4. My natural colour is medium brown. I did it last night and now I'm copper! It's pretty bad. Anybody any idea why this happened? And how to fix it? I was hoping to dye it again, either brown with an auburn tint or maybe ash blonde,that was if it went back to my natural colour.

Help please!

Taboola

Isn't that what it's suppose to look like? And then you dye back over it with a colour close to your natural colour?

Gongoozler

No its meant to remove the colour, and just leave you with your natural colour

Taboola

You might find your answer here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1056768&page=9

MinnieMinx

Ok, Very basic hairdressing lesson:

When you colour your hair with a permanent colour, the oxidation process will lift your natural colour slightly. If you re-colour the same section of hair, it will again lighten the natural colour slightly.

Because you are using a darker colour over your natural colour, the dark colour fills out the hair and effectively hides the lighter natural colour.

When you use a colour remover, you're left with your lightened natural hair. It's ginger looking now because if you are brown naturally, your hair contains brown, red and yellow pigments and after lightening it a bit, the red pigments are now dominant.

I strongly recommend that you don't try to bleach it blonde at home but go to a good colourist. Preferably one that uses Olaplex and can help repair any damage that you might have.

Dolbert

You can put in a semi permanent light ash brown in over it to temper the colour, something like Nice n Easy. It's OK to put this type of colour in right away after the Colour B4.

Gongoozler

Thanks dolbert, that's what I'm thinking I'll have to do.

I wasn't ever going to try to bleach my hair, let alone by myself at home.

If every colour lightens your hair I don't see how the remover is meant to work on anyone's hair.

Dolbert

Just make sure it's a very light brown as your hair will be more porous now. It worked ok on mine but my natural colour is a light ginger anyway

Gongoozler

Yep was thinking it would have to be very light, really don't want just dark brown. I wonder if dark blonde / light brown would be ok.

Dolbert

I think a medium ash blonde would be perfect.

Gongoozler

Dolbert wrote: »

I think a medium ash blonde would be perfect.

For going light brown? You think? I've yet to look at a range of colours to try find something suitable.

Dolbert

This is the one that's recommended for after Colour B4 AFAIK:

http://m.boots.ie/h5/cat_hub?path=%2Fen%2FNicen-Easy-No-Ammonia-Shade-73-Medium-Ash-Blonde-up-to-24-Shampoos_1445674%2F&unCountry=roi

It's quite mild and the ash tones down the red.

Gongoozler

Yeah you're meant to go for temporary colours alright and yeah maybe that colour would ensure it doesn't go too dark.

Gongoozler

I just had a quick pop in to boots on my lunch, and could only see a very small few semi permanent colours, no temporarys. You're not meant to use anything with peroxide in it. Anybody know where I could find a temporary line?

Dolbert

I think I have a box stashed somewhere if you want me to post it?

Gongoozler

Dolbert wrote: »

I think I have a box stashed somewhere if you want me to post it?

Awh you're very good, thanks. But I was really hoping to dye it this weekend. I think there are some semi permanent colours that have no ammonia and I just have to see if they have no peroxide too. Will look again today

Dolbert

They really should sell it alongside the Colour B4 as it so often needs correcting afterwards!

Gongoozler

In fairness I think of they were clearer as to who it will or won't work for, it wouldn't be as big an issue.

If I'd known it wouldn't work for me I wouldn't have used it, just head and shoulders'd the sh1t out of it and dyed over.

Gongoozler

Well I got a semi permanent with no ammonia and no peroxide. Got a dark blonde as I didn't want to go too dark. Did it this evening and well it's pretty much proper copper / ginger now. It looks a bit more normal, but yeah still far from happy with it.

Will just have to dye over it again in a few weeks with a colour I like, and hope for the best.

MinnieMinx

That's the risk of DIY when you have no training and choose the wrong advice to follow. :-(

Gongoozler

MinnieMinx wrote: »

That's the risk of DIY when you have no training and choose the wrong advice to follow. :-(

People do their own hair all the time with 'no training' and are just fine.

I don't know what advice you think was given and I ignored. the only advice you gave was not to bleach it myself. I didn't.

PinkLemonade

Gongoozler wrote: »

People do their own hair all the time with 'no training' and are just fine.

I don't know what advice you think was given and I ignored. the only advice you gave was not to bleach it myself. I didn't.

Did you use an Ash Blonde colour?

Gongoozler

PinkLemonade wrote: »

Did you use an Ash Blonde colour?

Yep

MinnieMinx

Sorry, I meant the advice on the product instructions.

You should always use an oxidising colour after using this sort of colour remover, so not a basic semi or temporary colour. It must contain an oxidising agent.

Also, if you don't agitate and rinse the hair adequately (at least five minutes solid rinsing) then some of the original colour will be left behind to re-oxidise.

It's really not as simple as bunging over another box dye if you want it to look healthy and natural.

Gongoozler

MinnieMinx wrote: »

Sorry, I meant the advice on the product instructions.

You should always use an oxidising colour after using this sort of colour remover, so not a basic semi or temporary colour. It must contain an oxidising agent.

Also, if you don't agitate and rinse the hair adequately (at least five minutes solid rinsing) then some of the original colour will be left behind to re-oxidise.

It's really not as simple as bunging over another box dye if you want it to look healthy and natural.

As far as I recall there was nothing in the instructions about how to dye over it if this happens.

Scott Cornwall himself didn't say anything about having something oxidising in the colour, when I asked him. He said to use a colour one shade to lighter than the colour I want to go, and to not use a permanent one. One with no ammonia or peroxide. That's what I did. Also found a thread on boards from a few years ago where he suggested using one of two products, one of which is no longer in production, the other is the one I used.

I rinsed for just over 10 mins as my hair is thick, as the instructions do suggest.

My hair has never felt in better condition as it happens.

ShaShaBear

I think the point another poster was trying to make is that colouring your hair can permanently change what your "natural" colour looks like. So while you remember it being brown, it could have altered to a coppery orange/brown. So while you look at your stripped hair and freak, it's actually natural.

My natural hair colour is a light ash blonde. But I've been colouring it for years and would be utterly daft to expect it to still be that colour with the amount of chemicals I've added to it!

I've used Colour B4 three times now, and each time it more than did the job it was supposed to. It makes my hair come out a coppery blonde (which makes sense as I have used a LOT of red based dyes over the years) and I simply tone it with an ashy dye, Touch of Silver shampoo or recolour with whatever it was I was planning to use.

I definitely don't think its a case that they arent clear on who it does and doesn't work for. I think people have drastically unrealistic expectations on what their hair is going to look like afterwards.

Gongoozler

I know now that the previous colour was after 'lightening' my hair, but as to how an ordinary person is meant to know that, I don't know. It doesn't say on the outside of the box. And I only came across the part about it potentially not working on purple, inside the box, at the back of the instructions, after I had put it in.

I was working in the, quite reasonable, assumption that it would remove the colour. I know now that it doesn't for most colors.

Lesson learned.

But anyway I came in asking how to fix it there's not much point just telling me of course it doesn't work for purple hair! Is it?

ShaShaBear

Gongoozler wrote: »

I know now that the previous colour was after 'lightening' my hair, but as to how an ordinary person is meant to know that, I don't know. It doesn't say on the outside of the box. And I only came across the part about it potentially not working on purple, inside the box, at the back of the instructions, after I had put it in.

I was working in the, quite reasonable, assumption that it would remove the colour. I know now that it doesn't for most colors.

Lesson learned.

But anyway I came in asking how to fix it there's not much point just telling me of course it doesn't work for purple hair! Is it?

Hence fully reading the instructions before application

But as others have said, I've had no problem correcting the coppery colour with either an ashy dye (and I have used bog standard permanent ones with NO issue) or Touch of Silver shampoo.

Gongoozler

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Hence fully reading the instructions before application

But as others have said, I've had no problem correcting the coppery colour with either an ashy dye (and I have used bog standard permanent ones with NO issue) or Touch of Silver shampoo.

I did fully read the instructions before application.

The dark ash blonde has toned it a bit, but it's light brown / ginger. I'll have to dye over it again in a few weeks.

ShaShaBear

Gongoozler wrote: »

I did fully read the instructions before application.

The dark ash blonde has toned it a bit, but it's light brown / ginger. I'll have to dye over it again in a few weeks.

Tbh I never bothered with the temp/semi permanent ones. I always got a permanent one. And usually left it in close to an hour rather than 20 minutes or whatever. But then that's just me!

Gongoozler

Yeah I was just trying to play it safe at that point. Next one will be a permanent one