I look. Like a ****ing CANDY CANE!!!

[Thumper]

I've been going to the same hairdresser for years. Yesterady I said I wanted a change with my color so she said she would do two tones of foils; one as close to my natural color as possible (ash) and the other I wanted a very high cool white. Well the ash caused my hair to go red, and against the white it looks pink under some light. I was NOT impressed. After she washed it all out she looked at me and said 'you have red undertones"....really? Ya think? After all these years of coloring my friggen hair, you're just learning this NOW? I told her to do something and she put in a toner but it's not done anything. I'm so discouraged now, and to go back and start over again, quite honestly I don't know which way to go to correct this, plus all the processing that went on yesterday, I'm not that thrilled about putting my hair through that again. It's very thin and weak.

*sigh*

I don't know what to do now. :(

I took a photo of it but have to remember how to post photos, it's been awhile.

[bunzfan]

I'm really sorry that happened to you when i tried going blonde years ago not knowing i now had red undertones i went orange!! went to a hairdresser who put a toner and something else on it to take the brassiness out you could try loads of toner head and shoulders also draws out hair color..i would also recommend lots of oil treatments left on over night i think your hair will thank you. I would also go back to that stylist and demand they fix their mistake its one thing when you do it yourself but when they do it you shouldn't have to suffer :grouphug:

[Thumper]

Ok I got the image posting figured out...the lighting is not really showing the detail I see in normal daylight...but the color that is darker is actually red and the high white is more silver.


http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag67/Thumper0101/ATT7315612_zps7b285a05.jpg (http://s1299.photobucket.com/user/Thumper0101/media/ATT7315612_zps7b285a05.jpg.html)

[Lunadriael]

I'm so sorry. :( Don't despair. I'm not an expert, but you could also try and get some purple shampoo to try and neutralise some of the red tones if it is light enough? Hopefully a hair dresser or someone will respond to you with better advice. I hope you didn't pay the salon when you're this unhappy. Or at least get them to 'fix' it. :grouphug:

ETA: I just saw your picture and I don't think it looks bad even if it's not what you wanted. It's more a kind of light strawberry colour than a red.

[Thumper]

I'm so sorry. :( Don't despair. I'm not an expert, but you could also try and get some purple shampoo to try and neutralise some of the red tones if it is light enough? Hopefully a hair dresser or someone will respond to you with better advice. I hope you didn't pay the salon when you're this unhappy. Or at least get them to 'fix' it. :grouphug:

ETA: I just saw your picture and I don't think it looks bad even if it's not what you wanted. It's more a kind of light strawberry colour than a red.

Thanks - part of the problem is that my skin tone has yellow undertones so this 'pink' does not flatter it. My original instinct was to go to a more dark ash color, almost chocolate and then add the white highlights. I did pay her, she also happens to be a friend of mine so this is making the situation awkward. I did order the purple shampoo as well so I will get that in next week.

ETA: I contacted another girlfriend who owns her own spa. She told me to be very careful doing anything else (like adding more color) because she said it might not fix the problem but make it worse.

[marykatz]

In the picture it looks quite nice. Have you asked someone else for their opinion in person because maybe you are examining it too closely and being too critical of yourself. Often the case right?

[Lunadriael]

Accidents happen. I'm sure if she's your friend then she feels equally bad about it. Hopefully the shampoo will help to lift it a bit. I don't know if honey would help in this situation? It's probably better to ask someone else about that because I've never used it and I'm not sure whether it would help get rid of the red or not.

Orange doesn't look good with my skin-tone either, one of the reasons I'm never sure if I like henna or not, because it always goes so orangey around my face even if it looks great on the rest of my hair. True red on the other hand suits me much better.

Most people aren't too observant though, so I'd try and be patient in fixing it even though it's hard, rather than risk ruining your hair. I kind of agree I wouldn't add anymore dye unless I was a professional and knew exactly what I was doing. On the plus side, when I was blonde years ago and had no idea about hair care, a hairdresser 'toned it down' to a more 'natural' shade, but it ended up kind of yellow and it looked absolutely horrible. Trust me when I say your hair looks a whole lot better than mine did then even if it is a bit off for your colouring. :)

[jacqueline101]

I feel your pain but in the mean time I'd embrace it.

[UltraBella]

How light is your natural color, Thumper ? Be cautious with the purple shampoo, it may tint your white/silver areas. If I saw a pic in daylight I might have some suggestions for you. Color correction isn't always as difficult as people make it out to be, sometimes there's a fairly simple solution.

[oktobergoud]

First of all, I don't think it looks bad or pink at all!

Second: I would advise AGAINST using a purple shampoo. Purple shampoo will take out yellow tones, not red. It will not do anything with the red, since only green cancels out red. However, it will affect your white highlights and the shampoo can make it either grey or purple! It might make it even 'worse'! You can use it if you want to keep your highlights silver, of course, but just be careful because it could turn out purple/lilac. I speak from experience! :P

And if she is your friend, I'm sure you can work something out? I wouldn't try anything myself if I were you and I honestly have no advice either, but I hope you work something out :flower:

[lapushka]

TBH the picture doesn't look that bad to me. :shrug: I can't see what you're so upset about, besides the highlights / lowlights being a little too big (wide) maybe?

[Lunadriael]

Sorry if the purple shampoo was a bad idea. It didn't look that dark to me so I thought it might help if it was a brassy kind of yellow, but I'd probably listen to everyone else if they think it will make it worse. I don't want to suggest things that will cause more problems for you Thumper. It's not like I'm a hair dresser. Blue is opposite orange on the colour wheel and it looks more orange than red though?? I guess if you put too much toner on your whites it might not help you. I do hope you manage to get it fixed soon though.

[Seeshami]

Maybe tone it with some virgin snow manic pannic?

[MaryO]

Awww, I really don't think it looks so bad? I understand you don't like it though, so no one else's opinion is going to fix it. Unfortunately I don't have any advice, sorry! Good luck though...

[Springlets]

I might see a slight pinkish tone, but maybe it's more darker in real life. I also second the green canceling out red idea. You could get a manic panic dye in green, mix some of it (probably like 1 tsp size) with conditioner or yogurt or what-have-you, and put it on your hair for 30 min to an hour. This is what I do for occasional purple sessions; they didn't have manic panic virgin snow, so I just got dark purple and mix it in with yogurt till it's a light lilac color.

General question: how can you tell if you have red undertones? When my sister and I highlighted with bleach in our teens, we always got brassy roots and my mom said it was because we had red in our hair. But I didn't think that could be true for me since I have ash-toned hair...