Kind of OT: Bad dye job, any advice? - YouLookFab Forum

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Kind of OT: Bad dye job, any advice?

Steph

Veteran

I am hoping some of the hairstylists on the forum, or perhaps those of you who are hair-savvy, can help me out with a problem.

I have never really had my hair dyed. My hairstylist does individually color the few grey hairs I have--he uses a color pretty much identical to my natural color. Yesterday I had an appointment and decided I wanted to be a redhead. I have thought about this often, and decided to just go for it. I showed him photos and told him I wanted something that looked natural. We chose a color together and discussed it.

When the color came off, it looked awful. It looked fake and had a purple-red color. After looking at it for a few hours, I returned to the salon and asked if it could be fixed and he said it could. He said he would make it look natural, and there would be a little bit of red left. When we were done with the second treatment it looked even worse. My formerly medium brown hair is now very dark and very red. The red color looks like a bottle of burgundy.

The question is: what would you do? The stylist said I should sit with it for a few days and if I hate it, there is still more he can do without damaging the hair. The color is demi-permanent, and although I hate it, I am wondering if I am better off just waiting for it to wash out. I am worried it is going to get worse if he tries to fix it again (this is a stylist I have been going to for six years, by the way). If waiting for it to fade/wash out is my best choice, are there products I should be using or things I should be doing to speed things along?

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19 replies

Latest reply was from Steph

Scarlet

Veteran

Don't know too much about the topic, but I heard that the color "settles" (fades a little?) in the first week or so, so I would definitely wait at least a couple weeks before tinkering with it any more. I am sure someone can help you sort it out!

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Reds can be tricky, and IME so-called semi-permanent reds tend to be faker-looking than permanent reds, for whatever reason. It would be difficult to go back to a medium brown from your current state without having to bleach your hair and then redye. (Not as damaging as most people think, if it's done right, but it is a bit of a process - then again, if you hate your hair, waiting for it to wash out or grow out can take a long time.)

There is a color stripper available which might help it fade faster - I would go to a professional beauty supply place that allows the general public to purchase there, and ask someone for a color remover. There are also some shampoos that are known as being really harsh on dyed hair, and so paradoxically might help you out - I'm thinking that Prell is one of them, and that one that smells like orange - Citrus something... Some strategic googling might help you more than my poor memory.

(Slightly OT: I am not a fan of semi-permanent color because of situations like this, because all they can do is go darker, not the same or lighter than your hair, and it's really easy to deposit too much dye or leave it on too long, in which case you're screwed. For a lot of people the dye ends up being essentially permanent anyway. And if you're doing it at home, the dye stains surfaces much worse than permanent ones.)

BTW, I am not a beautician, just someone who's spent way too much time doing chemistry experiments with her hair.

Louise

Veteran

How awful. Don't give up on red though I have red streaks and love them I'm going for plum next time. I wish I could ship Kerrie my hairdresser over to you she's a great colourist
I've heard a detoxifying shampoo (like the sort for removing build up) can help strip the colour away quicker x

Polly (thunalata)

Veteran

Ouch! Just sending waves of sympathy your way and hoping the colour settles down a bit. There are a few ideas here and should be more soon.

Kristine

Veteran

Oh no! I've been there, only with black! Is it possible to post a picture, could it just be a matter of getting used to it? If not, you could try plain dish soap, I've read it helps strip the color out. Hopefully a professional will weigh in.

Steph

Veteran

Thanks for the advice everyone. Laura, your post made me even more terrified! I really hope this isn't something I have to grow out. My understanding was that eventually it would fade and wash out, so I'm hoping for that! I am definitely not going to bleach my hair and redye it--I worry it will ruin my hair.

Kristine, I have heard the same thing about dish soap. I do worry that my hair is going to become dry, brittle and damaged, but I bought a special conditioner yesterday to help guard against that. Louise, I did buy a detoxifying shampoo (here they are called clarifying shampoos). Actually, my stylist gave me a bottle for free.

If Taylor or any other pros, or any other color mavens, have any advice, please feel free to share. It's just so sad that I have never dyed and the one time I got up the courage to do it, it turned out so horribly wrong. Louise, I am afraid that I have sworn off red forever. I actually like being a brunette, and I'm terrified of ever having another experience like this.

Louise

Veteran

What a rotten experience, I'm so cross on your behalf! Perhaps go for foils next time if you feel up to it. I have a half head of foils (streaks) in a colour then the rest semi permananent close to my natural hair colour x

morethanbeige

Veteran

I can sympathize. I have had my own color disasters. My experience is that it is the worst when it first happens and then it gradually becomes less of an issue with time and repair. You won't have to wait for it to grow in. There is so much experience out there with this kind of thing. Sending you hugs.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

My personal experience with red semi permanent colour is that they fade fast, i really hope this is the case for you. I would recommend washing your hair a little more frequently than you normally would, I always find semi permanent colour leaves a residue which comes off after half a dozen washes. i really hope this is the case for you Steph.

Ariadne

Veteran

Lots of sympathy here-I just dyed my hair (which I always do myself) using a new brand, a "natural" one, and it was supposed to be medium natural brown. It's almost black! I'm still not used to it and I hope it fades quickly. I'm going to try the dish soap thing since my hair is so short, it doesn't really matter if it gets dried out.

agrace

Steph,
I had a kind of similar experience happen about 6 weeks ago. There were a ton of helpful replies, including some from our ever knowledgeable and helpful Taylor. THe thread is here: http://tinyurl.com/28wcd8n

I hope that helps! I am glad you let the salon know you were not happy. In the end of my ordeal, we settled on 50 % my next service b/c I was pleased with the way they handled it and truly had my best interest at heart. To me, that's a great thing.

Good luck!

Steph

Veteran

Thanks for the advice everyone! I did go out and get Dawn dishwashing liquid and washed my hair with that. I saw a lot of red going down the drain, which was a good feeling. Of course, my hair felt really brittle and dry when I was done with that, but I had purchased a therapeutic conditioner and used that, and my hair feels okay now. My hair is long, so I have to be careful not to dry it out or damage it. (I have always been so proud of my natural, healthy hair...what was I thinking?!)

Agrace, I remember your thread about your experience. It's great that they offered you a discount. My stylist did attempt to correct it for free (although I really think it is worse now), but there was no offer of a refund. I paid over $200 for the cut and color (and obviously should pay for the cut), but don't want to ask for money back because I have been going to him for six years and it just feels awkward. To be honest, I don't even care about the money--if someone could put it right, I would pay double to make that happen. I just want my hair back!

I bought a really fun headband at Nordstrom yesterday: a skinny band with all of these feathers sprouting out of the side of the headband. It's totally ridiculous (in a great way) and made me smile, so I bought it. I figure if I have to have a ridiculous hair color, I should try to rock it as best as I can.

taylor

Veteran

Poor Steph!! sorry you experience this. Your stylist is putting you off, hoping you will just get over it. But your hair should be beautiful when you leave the Salon!!

Red hair dye, particularly semi perm does fade VERY quickly. To put it as simply as possible the red molecule is too large to penetrate the hair shaft and lies on top of the shaft and sloughs off rather quickly...the bad news is reds tend to fade into some weirds pinkish color all too often.

No worries though. the damage done with semi permanent is minimal and you should be able to return to a natural color and perhaps add highlights (subtle) to get rid off the flat look often presented with the temporary colors!! I would gladly repair this for you of I could!!

Steph

Veteran

Aw, thanks Taylor! If you want to take a trip to DC, I would gladly let you fix it.

The problem with the hair is kind of two-fold now. One is that it is so red and unnatural it's ridiculous. But everything I read says it fades, so I'm feeling a little better about that. The other problem is that when he went to correct it, he put on something that was supposed to neutralized the red, but all it did was make the base of my hair look really, really dark. I'm worried that won't fade as easily. The big problem, in addition to being so dark, is that there is no warmth in the color at all, and my face looks really sallow. I have very yellow undertones, and this is pretty much the worst color for my skin.

So Taylor, if you don't mind me asking you a question: would you recommend I go to someone who is very experienced in color to see what they can do to make things look better, perhaps once the red has faded a bit? Or do you think I should just grit my teeth and ride this out?

What's crazy is that I'm looking at everyone else's color so much more since this has happened, and today I saw a woman with the exact same color as I am currently sporting. I think some people might actually legitimately go for this color? I can't fathom why.

taylor

Veteran

Oh Steph...I hate to see you stuck with this and be unhappy. It can take forever to grow out esp on long hair
Can you get someone to put some highlights in and tone down the entire situation? either this person @ no charge or someone new?

Steph

Veteran

Thanks Taylor. Honestly, I am more than happy to pay any amount of money to get this fixed. Growing it out will take years--I was hoping it would wash away, but it sounds like it won't wash back to my normal color. One good thing I did was get him to cut a lock of my (untouched) hair before we dyed it, so I could definitely take it to a colorist and get some advice.

I think I'm going to look online for whoever is considered the very best colorist in DC and just go there. I'm worried they will tell me there is nothing they can do, but hopefully not. Do you know if I would have to bleach if I were getting highlights? I don't want to do that....

AlexSue

Prell shampoo (the classic kind) is awesome for lightening/removing semi-permanent dye gradually, especially if you leave it in your hair for a bit (20-45 min), then wash it out with hot water.

Scarlet

Veteran

Maybe you should post a photo. Maybe it is not ideal but not as bad as you think?

Steph

Veteran

Hey Scarlet, I can't post a photo because I can't find my camera battery charger anywhere! The fact is that I DO see some people who seem to be going for a similar look with their hair color, so I'm sure some people would say it isn't that bad. But at the end of the day, I hate it, and it's exactly what I didn't want because it looks really unnatural.

Dawn dishwashing soap did seem to help a bit yesterday, so I'm going to wash with it again today. My skin is hating me for taking so many showers!