From black to light brown? Dyeing question

[Amber_Maiden]

Hi everyone!

I'm planning on growing out my natural hair colour... or at least try to.

Right now I have both permanent black hair dye on the length of my hair (soon to be cut from hip to above the shoulder to take most of it off), as well as demi-dye on three inches of roots.

My natural colour is ash blonde/light brown. I've nixed the idea of using a semi dye on my roots while growing out the permanent and demi coloured hair.

I'm condering going to a salon to correct my black hair to a light brown. Is this even possible? What would go into doing this? I know it will damage my hair, but it's the only option I have, I think, in growing out my hair and getting my natural colour back. The colour difference between ash blonde and black is too severe to grow out that way.

Thank you in advance!

[lapushka]

My natural colour is ash blonde/light brown. I've nixed the idea of using a semi dye on my roots while growing out the permanent and demi coloured hair.

I'm condering going to a salon to correct my black hair to a light brown. Is this even possible? What would go into doing this? I know it will damage my hair, but it's the only option I have, I think, in growing out my hair and getting my natural colour back. The colour difference between ash blonde and black is too severe to grow out that way.

May I ask why the semi/demi route is no longer an option. It's a good and easy way to grow out dye (IMMHO). Better than bleaching the entirety of your hair to a lighter color.

[rhosyn_du]

Unfortunately, no, there is no way to lift permanent black dye to your natural color, and if the demi dye is black or very dark brown, you're not likely to be able to lift that, either. I'd be wary about even trying, since when I was in a similar position, my stylist told me it was impossible to do without dissolving my hair, and when my friend tried to remove black demi-permanent black dye from her dark ash blonde hair, she ended up with hair that looked like a tortoiseshell cat. It was kind of a cool effect, and thankfully my friend liked it, but if that doesn't sound like something you'd be okay with, I wouldn't risk it.

I've grown out my natural light ash brown color from black twice, now. I was never able to get semi-permanent vegetable dyes to stick on my roots for more than one or two washes, so that wasn't an option for me, but if they work for you, that's probably your best bet.

The first time I grew out from black, I used demi-permanent dyes to color my roots progressively lighter shades, starting with brown-black and changing it up every couple months to the next lighter shade until it more or less matched my natural color, and then I just kept it short until all of the dark dyes were trimmed off. This gave me a nice ombre effect (although this was way before ombre was even a thing) and looked pretty nice the whole way through. If you want a natural look and can't get semis to work for you, this might be a good option.

The second time, I decided I might as well just go with having funny looking hair, so I bleached all of my new growth and dyed it various shades of red, pink, and purple with vegetable dyes while the black ends grew out. When the black was finally gone, I let the vegetable dye wash out, then dyed the bleached bits to match my natural color. It was way too much trouble to maintain long-term, but it actually looked pretty fabulous and is probably my favorite short style that I've had.

[Amber_Maiden]

May I ask why the semi/demi route is no longer an option. It's a good and easy way to grow out dye (IMMHO). Better than bleaching the entirety of your hair to a lighter color.

Mainly because I'm worried it will stain my hair permanently... But I may just have to do it regardless...

[lapushka]

Mainly because I'm worried it will stain my hair permanently... But I may just have to do it regardless...

With a good semi (hair salon brand stuff) it will not stain. I used an Indola dye (in dark ash blonde) to tone my length to my roots and it faded out completely. No residue on the length or roots.

[Amber_Maiden]

Good to know!! Thank you! That puts my mind at ease considerably.

[lapushka]

I think as long as you let it fade completely before re-dyeing, you're pretty safe with products like these. Wouldn't use a demi, but a semi seems safe enough. There are good brands out there like Wella or Paul Mitchell, or ... whathaveyou ...

[spidermom]

Is there any reason you have to look professional while you grow out the natural? Because of the ombre fad, I see a lot of two-toned and more-toned hair. From what I remember, your hair grows pretty fast, so you would have your natural down to shoulders in about a year.

[Rhoward]

you could try a colour remover like colour oops or JoBaz colour remover would remove some of the colour and the line wouldn't look so harsh when your natural colour grows in?

[radiofreejenn]

I was going to suggest Color Oops as well. It will most likely turn your hair a reddish color but it makes it ready to re-dye immediately. My only suggestion if you do take that route is to pick a color lighter then you want because the color you apply afterwards will darken some.

[pastina]

ok, if you plan to try color oops, id suggest waiting an extra wash (or two) if you're going to use anything other than a semipermanent/veggie dye. the peroxide in demi-permanent colors will cause whatever color molecules are lingering in your hair to re-oxidize and your dark color you just removed will suddenly reappear in patches.


eta-- that said, i think color oops (or colorb4, decolour, whichever) is your best bet as a first step for sure.

[oOoAMANDAoOo]

DON'T ATTEMPT TO DO THIS AT HOME!!!!!! This is coming from personal experience. I had been dying my hair black with boxed color by myself at home for years. When I wanted to lighten it to more of a dark brown (closer to my natural shade), I tried and tried and tried to do it myself. I used every product, color remover and remedy I could find. All I did was wreck my hair, make my hair color splotchy and uneven throughout, and made the situation even MORE difficult for a hairdresser to work with.

So, I would highly suggest doing yourself and your hair a favor and shell out the extra dough to get a top-notch hairdresser that specializes in color & color correction to get the job done. Be aware that it may take more than one visit to get the job done completely.

Good luck!!

[radiofreejenn]

DON'T ATTEMPT TO DO THIS AT HOME!!!!!! This is coming from personal experience. I had been dying my hair black with boxed color by myself at home for years. When I wanted to lighten it to more of a dark brown (closer to my natural shade), I tried and tried and tried to do it myself. I used every product, color remover and remedy I could find. All I did was wreck my hair, make my hair color splotchy and uneven throughout, and made the situation even MORE difficult for a hairdresser to work with.

So, I would highly suggest doing yourself and your hair a favor and shell out the extra dough to get a top-notch hairdresser that specializes in color & color correction to get the job done. Be aware that it may take more than one visit to get the job done completely.

Good luck!!

Color Oops literally took a year and a half of black out of my hair without any issues or damage. If she doesn't want to shell out a ton of money then I think the suggestions most of us have made are her best route.

[Rosetta]

Color Oops literally took a year and a half of black out of my hair without any issues or damage. If she doesn't want to shell out a ton of money then I think the suggestions most of us have made are her best route.
Totally second this - I have only good experience of color removers (the ColourB4/Color Oops type)! It's amazing how many people recommend going to hairdresser's as some kind miracle solution, when this forum is full of stories how hairdressers have totally botched things...! :eek:

[pastina]

^yeah, i mean, i'm very surprised at the things some salons are willing to put their customers' hair through-- like multiple processes and super high volume peroxide-- to make sure it looks nice when they walk out. that's not *everywhere*, but there are a lot of horror stories floating around.

[Rosetta]

^ Yeah, and not only that, sometimes the customer may end up with a totally wrong colour, like in SapphiraSilver's recent thread about how going to salon was a mistake... :?

[Adiro]

Well, I did it.
I don't have the photos on the iPad to proove, but I had a near black ( no 2color on all my length about 2.5 years ago. I am where I am now, with a current light brown color, but it took a while.
I didn't know about " lifting the color" or color oops so I just kept colouring over the black with a light ash blonde ( which contains peroxide) the first time I did it, the difference was minimal, about two or three weeks later I tried again, got a bit. Lighter, then again, about two months later, then I started doing my rots in a medium ask blonde, which I am still doing, and at the end of twenty minutes with the dye on, I. Would wet the hair a bit and smear the color from the roots to the length, and wait a bit more. People who know my hair ( I have tons on pictures in the WEO thread, can see my hair colors. I do have some damage, my hair is not as good as virgin, but it's acceptable I believe and I didn't loose the length ( aside from tip trimming, here and there)

color oops, or crushed vitamin C discover in water, both should give you a good start, and a lighter shade, it's super super important to rinse for as long as possible, maybe stay with hair sub,edged in water in the bathtub, for as long as possible, if you decide to go that route, color oops opens the cuticle to dislodge the molecules of pigment a don then they need to be rinsed out really well.

[oOoAMANDAoOo]

Color Oops literally took a year and a half of black out of my hair without any issues or damage. If she doesn't want to shell out a ton of money then I think the suggestions most of us have made are her best route.

I am going based on my experiences alone. Color Oops did not work for me... nor did anything else. In the end, what did work for me was going to a really good master color professional. They remedied the situation in a few visits and didn't wreck my hair any more than I already had.

If I had to do it again, I would have saved myself the time & trouble from the beginning.

Again, just my experience.

[spidermom]

So AM, did you get that haircut yet?