Darken Hair Without Dye? How Can I Darken My Bleach Blonde hair without dye?

[RavenBaby]

Is there any ways to darken bleached blonde hair (even slightly) to match it so I have less of a contrast with my brown regrowth? I bought a brunette conditioner with cinnamon and cocoa beans extract but it didn't do anything. I heard of the coffee rinse but I just know my hair will be dried by it since it gets dry so easily. any suggestions at all? even just the make the blonde look less... bright and attention grabbing? thank you.

[laceyfairy]

Maybe some kind of tea rinse would help. I'm sorry I don't have better advice.

[spidermom]

You could have a hair stylist add toner. That's what my DD has been doing.

[turtlelover]

Aveda's color depositing shampoos and conditioners are stronger than most. Have you tried those?

[Vrindi]

I would say tea or coffee. To keep it from drying out, add some of whatever oil you like best. I like coconut or almond oil. I think almond oil is a little lighter.
Also, I've noticed that the apple cider vinegar rinses I do are bringing out some red tones in my hair, and it's helping to even out the dye line from growing out bleached hair. I also did honey treatments on the roots, and that brought out some highlights, breaking up the line as well.

[MonaMayfair]

I used to use Aveda Clove color conditioner on my hair when it was its natural color (medium-ish blonde) It was pretty successful in making my hair look brown, but I had to make sure it was all completely covered, or it went patchy. It's pretty expensive though, and i don't know if it would work well on bleached hair.
I don't remember it making my hair feel any drier than usual. If you found something like that that did work for you for the color, but made your hair feel too dry, how about using a spray-on leave in to finish (or an oil I suppose, but my hair doesn't like oil!)

[RavenBaby]

You could have a hair stylist add toner. That's what my DD has been doing.

Is there different kind of toners out there? I only know of the purple/blue/violet-ish toner that turns orange/yellow hair whiter (I used them in the form of a purple shampoo last summer) but I never heard of any other kind of toner. what kind of toner should i ask for when inquiring in a salon? is there a certain colour to it etc.?

[spidermom]

Apparently. My daughter's natural hair color is a mid-to-dark golden blonde, and she had a lot of highlighting done, then decided to grow it out. Our stylist used what she called a "toner" to darken the shade of the highlighting so that it blends more with the natural color. It has to be redone every couple of months.

[RavenBaby]

Ooh I think ill investigate that cause I don't think toners cost as much as lowlights or dying and are way less damaging I think, thanks ^^ I just hope the result isn't orange blonde but dark blonde instead :P

[Unofficial_Rose]

Another idea is Goldwell's Color Styling Mousse. You just apply it like a normal mousse and it tones down highlights. The darkest shade they have is 5N, it's a neutral brown. There's also 7G Hazelnut which tones highlights to a light golden brown. I am a brunette with highlights that I like to tone down inbetween colouring visits, can you tell? The Goldwell washes right out and doesn't make the hair stiff and crunchy like some mousse can.

I'd also second Aveda Clove, but the shampoo more than the conditioner (in my experience, yours may vary). You get a pretty honey-brown on pale blonde highlights.

[RavenBaby]

Problem with aveda is that they don't sell it in Ireland (i'm almost sure) and it's kind of expensive online and I kind of want a more permanent solution than something that completely washes out with each shampoo since I won't be lightening my hair again :/ I don't hate the two tone look but I need my highlights half as light/bright so I won't hate the way my hair looks >.< I fear that hairdressers won't know any other toner than the anti-brassy one, most hairdresser in my town seem REALLY uneducated in hair. either way I'll ask about it in a couple salons as it seems my best bet at the moment D:

[Micayla47]

clairol "beautiful" works really well and it has no peroxide or amonia. it's about $7 at Sally Beauty.

[RavenBaby]

clairol "beautiful" works really well and it has no peroxide or amonia. it's about $7 at Sally Beauty.

Awh. I read up on it and it sounds perfect. They only sell it in the USA though? my beauty supple store has like nothing and everything is so over-priced even without the VAT. lol. did you use this only on top of bleached hair?

[Unofficial_Rose]

You can get it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clairol-Beautiful-Collection-B018D-Darkest/dp/B000TBXACK

[RavenBaby]

:D thanks so much ^^ I bookmarked. I think it's a good fall-back option since I'm TERRIFIED to get my hair dyed by anyone but a professional. Do you guys think it's stupid to just want my bleached part dyed and have my virgin hair 100% untouched and undyed (over 1 inch)? i feel like a hairdresser will laugh at me for wanting this. I'm seriously devoted to having as much virgin hair on my head as possible. I tried to explain the situation to like 2 salons the other day but they're reaction told me that nobody asks for such treatment... they kind of said nothing. Is dying my bleached hair exclusively impossible unless they do foils? even then i'll need a filler/pre-colour first cause of fadage. UGH. I wish a hairdresser could relate to this haha.

[Unofficial_Rose]

Not stupid at all - once you've decided to grow out natural of course you don't want to slap some permanent chem dye all over your head. And that or foils seem to be what salons do. Actually it's always been rather difficult to find a deposit-only dye with decent coverage in the shops (I'm in UK). Can't even get Loving Care anymore but that's more to cover grey, I think. Much better stuff available online sometimes.

[RavenBaby]

haha, True. I found nice n easy loving care in two old chemists in my town for about 5 euro each. however i'm 99% sure they actually stop stocking new ones and they don't make it anymore. :/

The annoying thing is that I don't trust myself to dye my hair evenly and properly but I'm hesitant to trust a hairdresser to listen to my exact instructions. sometimes I feel they don't listen even though they're professionals.. weird >.<

What's worse? two tone hair of medium brown root and light blonde highlights or medium brown root and super faded brownish gingerish colour (which is what i'll probobly have after a week of getting it professional done).

[MonaMayfair]

I just Googled "Aveda in Ireland' and they do sell it there - but I understand you want a less temporary solution (though on me, it took several washes to come out completely.
I'm having kind of similar problems to you - not the same, because I don't want my natural color (blonde) but I am growing out henna. I have about 6" of roots and the rest is red.
What I've been mostly doing (apart from wearing hats!) is using Adore dye, which is a vegetable dye that comes in lots of natural colors as well as unnatural bright colors.
It only lasts about 8 washes, but at least there's no peroxide or ammonia. (I use a dark brown color to blend the 2 colors together)

[RavenBaby]

Thanks for the advice :D how much did you pay for your aveda? If I was to invest in a bottle i'd go for the conditioner because I don't shampoo my dry hair often at all. Ugh ether way I think It's just too expensive for me in reality.

Adore dye seems really mild ^^ Did you find any damage or dryness at all from it? I'm mainly concerned how long it would last, would it truly last 8-10 washes? how often did you reapply? I don't mind reapply like every month if the damage was totally minimal. I can get adore for 5.50 euro per bottle (with like 6 euro postage) which is fine if the dye was totally good quality. The ingredients seem healthy :D

[MonaMayfair]

It was ages ago I used to use the Aveda, before I started using henna, so about 4 years. Actually I have used it once since then, I tried the Madder Root one, hoping to make my hair redder, but didn't like that one at all.
I used to use the Chamomile, Blue Malva and Clove ones when my hair was all natural and they all worked well to enhance/alter the color - but it's totally over priced, you're right.
I think now, in shops, in about £20, which is a LOT! I used to get it online, so about £3 cheaper than that.

The Adore hasn't made my hair dry or damaged it. It's a lot like Crazy Color, which I used to use in "Orange" to make my henna'd hair more orangey red.
It really depends on your hair how long it lasts I think. It would be likely to take a lot better to the bleached bits, because those sort of dyes usually do. It does wash quite quickly out of mine, so I don't do it all the time - like I said, I've been covering my roots a lot with hats/hair bands etc. Harder now, they're grown out so much!
It does wash out completely - at least it does on my hair, so it might be worth getting one bottle and just seeing how it goes. Don't get too dark a color, in case it does last a lot longer in the bleached bits.
I don't know what to do in the future either - I don't want my natural blonde color, I love dark hair! But I also don't want to use permanent dye, and definitely not henna and indigo. I've had enough of henna!

[turtlelover]

I believe that years ago Aura -- an Aveda knock-off at Sally's Beauty Supply -- made color enhancing shampoos and conditioners, also. That might be an option if the Aveda is too pricey, if they are still in production. I haven't seen them recently, but then again, I haven't looked for them.

[RavenBaby]

I need honest opinions, like harsh ones. Is it totally completely stupid and ugly if I just let my medium ash-y brown roots grow and keep the rest light blonde? Note that at the moment I have just over an inch of root so no ombre excuses at all! haha. I might post pics.. but do you guys think it would just be so ugly and bad to have two tone hair like that? (focusing mostly on root being above ear length which should be until summer or something). opinions?

[MonaMayfair]

It's hard to say without seeing how the colors look together. I really like the ombre look personally, which you would get once it's grown out enough. If the colors worked together, you could maybe just try to disguise it with more temporary dyes/color conditioners until then.
As I told you, i'm growing out henna, and my 2 colors do NOT look good together, haha! But if yours do, I'd go for it. Some people don't like ombre, but if you do, go for it.
Try to post a picture so we can see what the 2 colors look like together (haha, I'm saying that, but I've been a member here for about 3 years, and never bothered to post a picture because I can't just upload one from my computer like you can on every other website!)
Remember, you might think it looks bad at this length, but when it's got longer, the contrast might look pretty!

[RavenBaby]

I'm terrified that the ombre trend has almost reached it's end D: but I do like it a bit :P I was actually trying on some headbands and yeah they covered the root really well but I look horrific in them :L I'll definitely post a pic after I wash my hair soon and see what you guys think of the contrast. I know I shouldn't care what people think but i'm worried what people will think or say about my hair - after all I only highlighted in the first place cause I felt my hair wasn't pretty enough and then I was trapped to re-do the roots :/ I like never see anyone growing out dye and when I do it's a slight contrast or ombre effect.

[DarleneH]

I saved the following from icompact.com several years ago. I haven't done it in awhile but I was digging it out of my notes because I am about to do it again, and thought it might help you. Maybe some other ladies can chime in here with recommendations on what level of color for you to try, but if I personally were doing it I'd try a color halfway between the light ends and the dark roots. That probably won't darken the roots more, and will get the ends closer to the roots. Then if that goes well, you can try a darker color to nudge even closer to the roots in a week or two. What I'm suggesting is try this in baby steps, and with as much conditioning as possible.

"Equal amounts of color and developer - I use 1/2 to 1 oz. of each.

Small amount of lightweight conditioner - I use maybe 2 oz.

You can use shampoo instead of conditioner but it doesn't deposit near the same amount of color as using conditioner does.

(Keep in mind my hair is 35" long though, just a little past my waist, obviously shorter hair will need a lot less...just keep the ratios the same)

If you only want a temporary color - more like the packaged color conditioners you can buy, skip the developer.

Mix only enough for one use, it won't keep. Apply to towel dried hair and leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse.

This is an awesome way of renewing your color inbetween dye jobs. You can use the exact same color you dyed your hair with - something you cannot do with store bought color shampoos/conditioners. I also use it to adjust my color - I can add more red if I want or tone down red with a brown shade.

I use the mixture with the developer maybe once a month, if that - the version without the developer, I've used a few times a week at times - this has NEVER DAMAGED MY HAIR IN ANY WAY when used with this frequency. YMMV, of course." (post by somebody named pamie)

[RavenBaby]

Thanks for the advice ^^ I'm a noob so just let me get my head around this - Since I'd rather not use any developer on my hair I'd basically add a little bit of lightweight conditioner with Permanent hair colour cream? and leave the developer that comes in the hair colour box untouched? (this would be good since permanent hair colour is cheap haha) also is permanent hair colour cream damaging on it's own from permanent hair colour kits? I know developer is since it contains peroxide which I never want near my head again. would I be better off just using a semi-permanent?

EDIT: obviously I'd use a permanent colour cream with no ammonia

[DarleneH]

Yes, you could follow that line exactly in the middle of all that I posted:

"If you only want a temporary color - more like the packaged color conditioners you can buy, skip the developer."

I'm thinking you'd be OK to do that with not too dark a color, see how that washes out over a few shampoos, and then make a judgement if this is worth continuing with darker colors. But I hope some other dye experts will chime in here for advice, because all I've done is an all over application of this with developer. Loved it because it didn't make my hair like straw after, so I'm going to do this again when I next color in February.

[RavenBaby]

I actually think I might be better of getting a couple reliable semi permanents in a warm brown because I think it'll work out cheaper for me since they last a couple shampoos and I think just using the colour cream will basically wash out with 1 shampoo.

I was thinking "Adore Dye" in "honey brown". I'm not sure which colour I should choose that will cover light blonde hair and match my medium ash brown colour well. Do you guys think honey brown is the right colour choice or would another one be better to put red tones into my bleached hair.
List Of Colours: http://www.beeunique.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=151 (theres a page 2 as well of colours)

[10000days]

I need honest opinions, like harsh ones. Is it totally completely stupid and ugly if I just let my medium ash-y brown roots grow and keep the rest light blonde? Note that at the moment I have just over an inch of root so no ombre excuses at all! haha. I might post pics.. but do you guys think it would just be so ugly and bad to have two tone hair like that? (focusing mostly on root being above ear length which should be until summer or something). opinions?


I'm in the same boat RavenBaby!! I've used Garnier Herbashine to darken my bleached blonde hair a shade or two (side note: I bought the ashy colours and they made my over-bleached bits turn green- but this washed out), but they DID darken my hair to a nice colour. But this didn't solve the mousy-brown regrowth situation, so what I plan to do now is to carefully do my own regrowth using the foiling method (to a blonde colour) which will break up the darker regrowth. Once I have about 2 inches of DIY highlighted regrowth, I'm going to find a hairdresser that I trust (in my experience, a freaking difficult task) and have them do my foils from then on. Since you want virgin hair, maybe the foils could act as your middle step so that the contrast between blonde lengths and darker roots isn't so obvious. Anyway good luck!

[RavenBaby]

Thanks ^^ I actually want my virgin root untouched by any dyes etc. and only darken my highlights (even slightly - but not ginger) - I'm done with being blonde and just want my natural colour back :P

I know what you mean about finding a hairdresser you can trust, I'm looking for a professional that can maybe dye my bleached parts only with foils filled with mousy brown dye (they'd have to do a pre-colour filler before the dye i'd assume). Basically I just don't want my virgin hair altered but I'm fine with my bleached parts being slightly more damaged. I know this can only be achieved with foils.

Did the garnier dye darken by much? did it damage your hair much? have you considered dying the bleached parts again only with a warm brown dye?

[MonaMayfair]

I actually think I might be better of getting a couple reliable semi permanents in a warm brown because I think it'll work out cheaper for me since they last a couple shampoos and I think just using the colour cream will basically wash out with 1 shampoo.

I was thinking "Adore Dye" in "honey brown". I'm not sure which colour I should choose that will cover light blonde hair and match my medium ash brown colour well. Do you guys think honey brown is the right colour choice or would another one be better to put









red tones into my bleached hair.
List Of Colours: http://www.beeunique.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=151 (theres a page 2 as well of colours)


I also started with the Honey Brown (the name appealed to me!) it is a nice warm color. It sounds like a pretty good choice from how you've described your hair. I know you said your brown is ashy, but I don't think there's a color more appropriate that's not too dark.
I was thinking of the Sienna Brown, but read that that's quite red (I want to hide my henna red as much as possible, so didn't try that one) These names are a bit confusing, but I suppose dye names usually are!
It's quite hard to tell from the Adore charts what the colors actually look like, so I go by what the color chart looks like (and that can be misleading, depending on your screen) anything I can read online.
The only other one I've tried (the one I've been using recently) is Mocha (but that would be too dark for what you want, I should think)
Incidentally there have been a couple of threads on here about Adore dyes, I don't know if you've seen them.

[MonaMayfair]

Incidentally, I don't know about the trend for ombre coming to an end. Different things are fashionable in different cities/countries.
I think it's something we'll see for quite a long time.

[RavenBaby]

I hope so cause I don't think I'll be able to avoid having it even if I do dye regularly :P

I'm glad you've tried honey brown so now I know it's not some crazy colour or something, is it close to a medium ashy brown in a way? :P It really seems like my best bet, I'd go for medium brown but I'm afraid it'll come out too dark on bleached hair and i think my bleached bits need a good amount of warmth to not turn green. The colour names are confusing - there should be a little description next to the name or something.

Ooh I think i'l search for those threads now :D thanks.

[MonaMayfair]

I hope so cause I don't think I'll be able to avoid having it even if I do dye regularly :P

I'm glad you've tried honey brown so now I know it's not some crazy colour or something, is it close to a medium ashy brown in a way? :P It really seems like my best bet, I'd go for medium brown but I'm afraid it'll come out too dark on bleached hair and i think my bleached bits need a good amount of warmth to not turn green. The colour names are confusing - there should be a little description next to the name or something.



Ooh I think i'l search for those threads now :D thanks.

There's also a few thread about Adore on www.hairdyeforum. I joined that while LHC was down for ages recently. There's a lot on there about semi permanent dyes. Actually, it might be a good place to ask questions too. There's a lot of people on there who (although they dye their hair) are very concerned with keeping it in as good condition as possible, and use some of the methods people use on here.
I wouldn't call the Honey Brown ashy, it's more warm. It will look different on different color hair though, and it will probably take differently on your natural and bleached hair.
I'm not an expert on dyes, because I've only ever used ones that wash out pretty quickly (apart from henna, which I used for about 3 years before getting tired of it)
I should think the medium brown WOULD be too dark for you (I'm going by what I've read online though)

[RavenBaby]

Thanks so much [: yeah once my friend used "brown" dye on her highlighted hair and it turned black in seconds. It was permanent though but still I'd rather be left with a light colour than risking dark brown/black for a few weeks which makes me look like a zombie or michael Jackson. I actually like warm colours on me and I'm fine with an ash brown and golden-y brown contrast on my hair. minimal contrasts are totally fine.

OMG honey brown looks gorgeous here - http://www.creativeimagesystems.com/adore/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=60 it seems the perfect level of darkness i'm looking for.

[spidermom]

Personally, I don't mind the two-tone look at all, and if I thought anything about it, I would think "oh - growing out bleach" and that's it. I know other people are much more critical than I am, though. I don't understand why.

I bleached in high school, got tired of it, grew it out. No big. I did the same when I tried henna. Once my grow-out got to about shoulder length, I cut the colored/bleached portion off.

[RavenBaby]

My friend was growing out a full head of bleached hair (it was basically light orange after two full head bleachings) and the contrast with her dark brown hair looked awful. I think that image of her hair in my head is making me worried. luckily I have highlights and not a full head of blonde so it should look slightly better and also the highlights are blonde not orange and the regrowth is at least a shade lighter than hers.

Wow you cut it off? brave! I'm growing my hair long as possible so no big chops for me, like ever. :P (i have minimal split ends at the moment.. that I can see) lol.

[MonaMayfair]

Thanks so much [: yeah once my friend used "brown" dye on her highlighted hair and it turned black in seconds. It was permanent though but still I'd rather be left with a light colour than risking dark brown/black for a few weeks which makes me look like a zombie or michael Jackson. I actually like warm colours on me and I'm fine with an ash brown and golden-y brown contrast on my hair. minimal contrasts are totally fine.

OMG honey brown looks gorgeous here - http://www.creativeimagesystems.com/adore/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=60 it seems the perfect level of darkness i'm looking for.

Yes, I looked at that site for ages before deciding what color to pick! I know box dyes especially, often turn out much darker than the color on the box (I know this from reading it on forums a lot, not from experience) so they always say go for the lighter one if you're not sure.
I don't know this is the case with dyes like Adore, but since they wash out, if they are a bit too dark at first they should soon lighten up. The other thing I've often read is that they might cling to bleached hair longer than expected (specially dark colors) If you want it to last, that's a good thing of course.
If you look at that other website, you'll see that most people apply those vegetable dyes for a lot longer than the instructions on the bottle. So if you get a color you like, you could do that in future for a longer lasting effect .
Oh also, I read today on that site, someone saying you can mix a bit of Adore with shampoo and/conditioner. This also prolongs the color!

[RavenBaby]

Wow that sounds awesome. Do you really think the dyes are as gentle as they say? the ingredients seem super gentle which is great but is it too good to be true? lol I'm so lazy but I better look at that people say about them on those sites.

Anyway I'm gonna look in Sally's tomorrow and see if they actually have adore or something similar. (I doubt it though)

[MonaMayfair]

I'm pretty sure you won't get it in Sallys. You can get it online quite easily, and there are shops that sell it, but I don't know about where you live.
If you look on this site, you'll see threads about vegetable dyes (the search function on here has always been a bit rubbish, so if I want to find anything I usually go to Google, put in want I want to look for, and add long hair community)
Lots of people do what I used to do, which is using this kind of dye over henna, to make their hair more red or more orangey (henna often looks bright red in strong light, but a duller browner color indoors, so those dyes make it nice and bright in all lights)
I know you're in a hurry to do something about your hair, but try to read up on everything first, so you feel reassured that you don't need to worry about what you're putting on it, and you have a good idea of what to expect.
I thought about using henna for about a year before I actually did it, lol!

[spidermom]

Perhaps try a dark blonde color first so as to avoid getting too dark a result. I've seen people do dark blonde and get a result pretty close to dark brown.

[MonaMayfair]

Perhaps try a dark blonde color first so as to avoid getting too dark a result. I've seen people do dark blonde and get a result pretty close to dark brown.

I thought about that too, but with Adore and similar dyes (actually Adore's about the only one that does "natural" colors) there isn't really a blonde option.
There is a color called Spiced Amber which MIGHT be dark blondish, you can't really tell from the chart!

[RavenBaby]

Actually thanks for reminding my that - Made me remember when a friend of mine told me that her hairdresser put dark blonde semi on her blonde hair and it turned to what look like a darkish brown.. adore doesn't do any blonde just ginger lol.

I'm confused - hair dressers say that bleached light hair can't hold or catch onto any hair dye but my friends hair was so porous that dark blonde turned out looking dark brown. I don't think my hair is overly porous (the ends might be). ugh i'm so scared the dye will end up uneven ):

[MonaMayfair]

I think you have to be prepared that it may take differently on the virgin and dyed hair, but since they're not matching anyway it might not matter? I know with mine (blonde roots and coppery red length) it's hard to get it looking even, once it starts washing out, but the only other option with henna, is to have it all cut off (and it's just past waist length now, I wouldn't mind having it mid back, which was what I was actually aiming for, but I don't want 6" long hair!)
I think the main thing is to make it look less noticeable that you have 2 colors, rather than being disappointed if it's not absolutely perfect at the first go. It might take a bot of experimenting!
Also, if you do get the Adore, I wouldn't leave it on too long the first time (not hours and hours like some people do)
If you have someone to help you apply it, that would be good too, it's hard to get the back of your head when you're not used to dyeing your own hair!

[RavenBaby]

Oh yes I'm hopeless at the dying my own hair thing, sadly. I'm gonna ask my friend tomorrow to ask her aunt who is a hairdresser how much it will be to dye my hair. it only cost her 10 but her hair was short so i hope mine is 20 which I can afford. she got her aunt to dye her bleached hair dark blonde semi perm and I think i'll ask for the exact same. As much as I love being in control of my own hair, I'm terrified i'll muck it up, like really. funnily enough her hair is still brown from the 1 semi perm dye (only faded a bit really) and she got it done in september!

[spidermom]

I think spiced amber looks like a dark blonde shade, too.

[RavenBaby]

From this link: http://www.creativeimagesystems.com/adore/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=60 Yeah it really does look like a very light brown/dark blonde with significant red/orange tones which would be needed. it's definitely the lightest brown available out of all the adore options. is amber generally a ginger colour though? or does it mean like brown/ginger in general? I'm afraid the result would be too orange/red, what do you guys think?

[Maverick494]

From this link: http://www.creativeimagesystems.com/adore/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=60 Yeah it really does look like a very light brown/dark blonde with significant red/orange tones which would be needed. it's definitely the lightest brown available out of all the adore options. is amber generally a ginger colour though? or does it mean like brown/ginger in general? I'm afraid the result would be too orange/red, what do you guys think?

Personally I think it would turn out too red. And once you've got that, it's almost impossible to get out. Took me two years.

If what you want is to gradually get back to your natural color without the roots, I'd get Elumen (http://elumen.goldwell.com/en-EN/assortment_diversity_creative_color_mixing.aspx). It's a demi permanent and it can be mixed to match almost any haircolor, even ashy ones. It's how I got my reddish length (yup from my attempt to go natural) to match my roots again. If you can get the hairdresser to put it in your hair for you, you'd be all set. In the first few days it tends to look a bit dark, but this fades very quickly to your natural hair. I've never been stuck with too dark hair, nor is it noticeable growing out. It does help match the dyed hair to the roots though. My hair is waist length and my virgin hair is at my ears right now. Thanks to Elumen, no-one can tell the difference between the roots and the length.

[RavenBaby]

doesn't demi permanent have peroxide in it? I'm trying to avoid that :P

[MonaMayfair]

doesn't demi permanent have peroxide in it? I'm trying to avoid that :P

It usually does, but apparently Elumen works without peroxide. I've never used it, but I've heard of it often on here. Google it and you'll probably find useful info.
What I meant to say to you before, was I think you might be better asking for advice on that other site I gave you the link to, because it's all about hair dye (mostly not permanent dyes either) whereas lots of people on here don't dye their hair.
You would probably get lots of help there.
Though, since you're worried about what to use, maybe going to a hairdresser for the first time might be better? Maybe you could decide exactly what you want them to do by reading it up, then make sure they are going to do exactly what you want.

[10000days]

Did the garnier dye darken by much? did it damage your hair much? have you considered dying the bleached parts again only with a warm brown dye?

Yes the Garnier dye darkened my hair slightly. I'd say the colour guide on the box is a true representation! Did it cause damage? All peroxide/ammonia products do some damage but if I wanted to fix the colour of my hair again, I wouldn't hesitate to use this one again. I wouldn't use a warm brown dye because I still want blonde hair (just not so damn platinum).

[Rosetta]

I need honest opinions, like harsh ones. Is it totally completely stupid and ugly if I just let my medium ash-y brown roots grow and keep the rest light blonde? Note that at the moment I have just over an inch of root so no ombre excuses at all! haha. I might post pics.. but do you guys think it would just be so ugly and bad to have two tone hair like that? (focusing mostly on root being above ear length which should be until summer or something). opinions?
The "Giving up dye/bleach and growing out natural" thread (here on Mane forum) is full of people having hair like that (or even bigger contrasts), have you checked out that thread? I recommend it if you haven't yet :)

[missketi]

The "Giving up dye/bleach and growing out natural" thread (here on Mane forum) is full of people having hair like that (or even bigger contrasts), have you checked out that thread? I recommend it if you haven't yet :)

Yes, I am there too. I have been growing out my medium brown hair with my bleached hair. I'm not going to lie to you, the first months were horrible. My hair looked so much darker. Now, it's been 8 months or something like that and it looks better. Especially when it's up and I can only see brown hair in the mirror. It is better in the winter because there is no sun so the difference is not that noticable. Surprisingly, nobody commented on the difference. Now I'm a little bit happier because I've been to the hairdresser's and she did blow fried my hair but it looks a lot better. For me, the key is-- I don't want to lose lenght(don't have much anyway) but when I see that my ends are too light or can't stand them anymore, I go and get a trim and my hair looks darker because the lightest and most damaged ends are removed.

I sometimes buy 6-8 wash brown dye if I get a very stronge urge to dye or have to go somewhere important. It washes out(for me in 1 or 2 washes,lol) and my whole hair is brown for a little while.
I don't know if you already decided or not but I suggest you do what's most comfortable with you. I've decided to just go through it.
My hair is mostly brown under so I try and put a claw clip. If you have long hair, you can do some updo's and the difference can be a major plus. Or braids. Braids are the best.