Hair color help

[tigress86]

Lately I've been frustrated with my hair color. I tried to grow out my natural color, but failed at three months and dyed my hair with demi-permanent about a month ago. The dye has faded a bit by now and I have kind of a three-tone thing going on that I don't like.

The roots are my natural color covered with a demi that has faded quite a bit, so it's quite similar to my natural color, only a bit darker.

Then comes the part that has been previously dyed with permanent + demi, that for some reason has faded to a much warmer shade, it is brassy in some lights, although it doesn't show in this picture, but it does flare orange in most lights and I hate that!

The ends have been bleached in the past and that's why the ends are darkest, they are very porous and have absorbed all the dye.

I would like my hair to be all one tone, if not the same lightness, without going darker. I would like to go lighter and cooler, towards my natural color, amd eventually grow ot out. The brassiness in the middle of those lengths is what annoys me the most. I tried vitamin C paste and it made the lenghts and ends slightly lighter, but even more brassier. I have tried purple shampoo, which didn't really help at all, and a deposit only cool brown color, which washed out so fast, it would be expensive and time-consuming to keep up with that.

My ends are damaged and I do not want any colorant on them that has peroxide. Even the vitamin C paste made my ends feel awful for a while so I'm guessing anything that opens a cuticle is a no-no. I have two options in mind: to buy a dark blue toner and somehow get it only on that brassy part on the lengths. That would require upkeep and if anything goes wrong, I might end up with blue hair. The second options is to get a permanent ash dye and try very carefully to only apply it to my roots and lengths, avoiding the formerly bleached, damaged ends. Which option sounds better to you guys? Any other suggestions?

http://i62.tinypic.com/9kase8.jpg

[pastina]

both demis and permanent dyes have peroxide in them. when you apply peroxide, the hair will go from black to brown, to red, to orange, to yellow, and then through various blondes. so, the brassiness you see is your slightly lightened base color. it's as if you applied bleach and rinsed off in the very early lightening stages. ...unfortunately, the brassiness isn't something that can be undone-- just covered or color corrected, like you're suggesting you might do with a blue semi-permanent color or violet shampoo.

a color remover, such as colourb4 or decolour or color oops could possibly take the DYES out of the equation, but you wouldn't be left with your natural color. like i said, your natural color has been lifted with each permanent dye or demi-permanent dye you've applied. i'd guess your ends would be the lightest near the ends if it's not permanently stained, and then the mid-sections where you see brassiness would be a bit darker but still brassy, and your roots would remain unchanged if they are virgin.

if you use a permanent toner you'll be creating a fourth ring of color when it fades, because it will lift the color that is at your roots now, and there will be a demarcation when your hair grows longer. the same will happen if you use a permanent ash color. also, like i've mentioned, demi- and permanent dyes both contain peroxide, which you've said you want to avoid.

my best advice for you is to keep trying to combat the brassiness with semipermanent solutions. either give that purple shampoo another go (my best results with it happen when i slather the shampoo on barely-wet hair and just let it sit a while without lathering), or, get yourself a blue semi-permanent dye and mix a bit into your conditioner to use with each wash. you could even get yourself a semi-permanent dye in a natural ash shade-- adore has a pretty extensive line.

...none of these methods will be perfect, and all will require upkeep. but, to be honest, even if you were willing to say to hell with it! and dye it all dark, or black! ...you'd eventually have a fade in four distinct colors. :( trust me, i know!

[pastina]

hate to double post, i just thought i'd add...

have you ever visited hairdyeforum.com ? the ladies and gents there are primarily into alternative color, but even if you want to remain a natural shade, MAN are they helpful. i've learned massive amounts of stuff from them over the years. maybe they can offer you advice that i haven't thought of.

best of luck to you. <3

[FallingDarkness]

If your ends are damaged, I'd suggest a trim. I'd recommend dyeing it all back to its original color. If you are truly unhappy with the multicolor you've got going on, semi permanent aren't going to fix your mood about your hair, and what it comes down to is how YOU feel about your hair.