Need advice about fixing uneven color.

[Jayke]

Hello everyone,

I'm a guy, and I'm not sure if there are many men on this forum. Either way, here's the story:

My natural hair color is medium brown. I wanted a light coppery red, so I bought some dye in a box and dyed my hair. The result was an uneven, patchy mess, with extremely light roots. Some parts were alright, others were somewhat darker, and yet others seemed completely unaffected.

I'm not sure why it turned out that way, but it might have something to do with the fact that about 80% of reviews of this product say the result is an uneven color. Not sure if it's allowed per forum rules to comment negatively about a specific product, so I won't mention what it was, until someone tells me it's allowed. The problem also might have something to do with me dying my hair myself and maybe missing several spots.. although I'm pretty sure I covered all of my hair. Perhaps it was combination of these two factors, who knows.

Two days later, I decided to try and "fix" this uneven mess. I went to the beauty store and bought a tube of very similar color (a bit lighter), and 30-volume developer. I carefully applied the color to everything but the roots, and then after waiting 20 minutes I applied color to the roots, and waited another 10 minutes. (Total waiting time: 30 minutes)

The result: Much better, but not what I was hoping for. The dark parts are definitely lighter, the the roots don't look as orange as before. It is much more even than before, but the roots are still much more intense than the rest. I'm not sure why the darker parts didn't lighten more, seeing how it's 30-volume developer, and I left it on for thirty minutes.

a) Maybe the dye underneath caused the problem?

b) Maybe my hair is just very resistant, and I should've left the color on for 45 minutes, or I should've used 40-volume developer instead?

Thoughts?

Now I don't have any "before" pictures, but I have three pictures of how it looks right now:

http://oi59.tinypic.com/33l2dts.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/2yzfv9t.jpg

http://i57.tinypic.com/nfs4ex.jpg


I'm not sure if I should try a third attempt at correcting this. It really doesn't need much. The darker parts just need to be a shade lighter, and that's it. That way they would blend in perfectly with the roots. I'm not sure if I should try it, and if yes, what the best way would be. Applying pure developer? Bleach? Try honey lightening?

My hair is very healthy, and now that I've colored it twice within a few days it doesn't seem to have damaged it at all.

Any insight is much appreciated. :)

Regards,
Jayke

[Jayke]

I was hoping someone could tell me how to lighten the darker parts of my hair. It seems I made a mistake in assuming that the salon dye would significantly lift the box dye.

What options do I have now?

[pastina]

It's hard to tell from these photos. It honestly doesn't look too uneven, except that you have hot roots. If that's where your concern lies, I think the problem is that the heat from your scalp is making the dye work faster at your roots.

I wouldn't keep trying to fix it with permanent dye... You're processing multiple times in a short amount of time and that typically equals damage. Your hair might seem ok now, but it can sometimes take up to a month for peroxide damage to show. I'd suggest picking up a protein conditioner, like joico kpak.

It might help to tone your roots a bit by using a blue shampoo and/or conditioner.

[pastina]

Also, 40 volume developer is never the answer. Unless the question is, what's the best way to get chemical burns? Lol!

[Ingrid]

It's hard to tell from these photos. It honestly doesn't look too uneven, except that you have hot roots. If that's where your concern lies, I think the problem is that the heat from your scalp is making the dye work faster at your roots.

I wouldn't keep trying to fix it with permanent dye... You're processing multiple times in a short amount of time and that typically equals damage. Your hair might seem ok now, but it can sometimes take up to a month for peroxide damage to show. I'd suggest picking up a protein conditioner, like joico kpak.

It might help to tone your roots a bit by using a blue shampoo and/or conditioner.

I agree with this, from experience... It takes around two-three months for the damage to really start showing, and it's pretty bad!

[Jayke]

It's hard to tell from these photos. It honestly doesn't look too uneven, except that you have hot roots. If that's where your concern lies, I think the problem is that the heat from your scalp is making the dye work faster at your roots.

I wouldn't keep trying to fix it with permanent dye... You're processing multiple times in a short amount of time and that typically equals damage. Your hair might seem ok now, but it can sometimes take up to a month for peroxide damage to show. I'd suggest picking up a protein conditioner, like joico kpak.

It might help to tone your roots a bit by using a blue shampoo and/or conditioner.

Thank you for your insights. Now, I want to make sure I learned something from this whole experience. Please correct me if I'm wrong in any of the following conclusions I've drawn:

1.) With my natural, virgin hair color being medium brown, I should have lightened it prior to applying the box dye, since the color I want is noticably lighter than my natural color. Either that, or I should've gone right to the beauty shop and bought a 30-volume developer plus hair dye.

2.) If I had applied the salon dye (with 30 vol. developer) to my natural medium brown hair, it would've come out much better, if not perfect.

3.) The only reason the salon dye didn't lighten the dark hairs much is because it was practically coloring over the box dye instead of coloring over the natural medium brown hair.

I assume I'm correct on these three points. If not, please tell me where I'm going wrong.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is why the box dye had such an intense effect on my roots. I'm aware that the heat near the scalp accelerates the process, but the color was somehow way too strong on my roots. One thing I forgot to mention is, when I applied the box dye, I used a hair dryer to add a little heat, perhaps three or four minutes. Could this have been a major factor why the roots came out the way they did?

[swearnsue]

I used box dye for many years to lighten my medium brown hair to a medium ash blonde. I used Loreal Preference and never had any problems with patchy color. Maybe next time in about a month, when you have roots to color, you could try the Loreal?

[Jayke]

I used box dye for many years to lighten my medium brown hair to a medium ash blonde. I used Loreal Preference and never had any problems with patchy color. Maybe next time in about a month, when you have roots to color, you could try the Loreal?
Unfortunately it's hard for me to find the red color I want with box dye. I'll either get salon dye right away next time, or I'll just use Henna.

Because Henna doesn't lighten, I'll have to lighten the roots at least two shades before applying the Henna.

Now I would really be thankful if someone could comment on the three blue points I made in my previous post. :)

I really wish to learn from this experience in order to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.

Regards,
Jayke

[Lavendersugar]

Hi!

Responded in your other post. HTH and Good Luck!


oh and about the 3 points above. Dye will not lift dye. If you have dye already on your hair and want to lighter you would have to bleach then re color keeping in mind now that the hair more porous. It may soak up color faster and go darker. Or it could resist color. When bleaching and re coloring it is best to use a protein filler. Neutral protein is a good one. Also when bleaching to remove color you will want to start at the ends first and roots last. The heat from your head will make the bleach process faster on the roots.