Getting rid of red undertones

[ShilvaA]

Silly question!

I am trying to get my hair from gliwing orangey-red in the sunlight, I recently put a dark ashe brown on it but the red started shining through within a month.

I refuse to use bleach again but I do want a permanent solution. If I chuck enough ashe browns on it will it eventually have permanently counteracted the red tones? Or will I be stuc’ in a dye-fade-rinse-repeat situation?

many thanks!

[Anje]

Maybe an ash toner or blue shampoo would help? I'm sure how much you have to re-dye depends on the permanence of what you apply, which depends on the product and how your hair behaves...

Is the red-orange glow something that your natural hair does, or did you put something like henna in it that started it?

[ShilvaA]

I stupidly put a permanent deeo red over it, like an oil based dye ‘olia’ or something like that, it faded so quickly... except for a long lasting orangey-red hue that goes really bright in sunlight. My natural hair is just dark brown. Hindsight is everything!

Do you think if I chuck a permanent ashey colour on it a few more times (spaced out of course!) that it will stop the red from coming through after a few washes? The last colour was done at the salon and faded really quickly even though it was permanent, I am wondering if I just have to layer it up so to speak?

[Anje]

I'm thinking (and realize that I do NOT consider myself very knowledgeable on conventional dyes) that ashy brown is going to have some red tones in it to keep it brown instead of getting into the green territory, whereas a toner won't have those. Naturally, the tricky thing is that when you account for the fact that things fade a bit, you'll likely have to start off a little on the green or blue side to get it to fade to where you want it, and most people don't want hair that could ever be vaguely green. I'm sure the salon knows this well, and errs on the side of not too ashy, because most customers would march out without paying if their hair came out with even a hint of green.

Maybe consult with the colorist? If they know what you want and you can work together on initial and final color expectations, you might get a better result.

[Laurenhope29]

If you don't want to damage your hair I recommend using a purple/blue shampoo. I use shimmer lights occasionally to keep the brassiness out of my blonde hair. I don't see why it wouldn't work with brown hair as well.
Red is SO hard to get out... good luck!!

[lapushka]

If that ash shade is about or less dark than the original color, no it's not going to take; you can't chuck dye onto dye, at least not a lighter color than the original one. Darker? No issue. But lighter or about the same, you'd have to bleach the first one out.

I'd just avoid the sun (hey it's winter anyhow), and grow it out if it's about your natural color.

[Jo Ann]

I would go over to Sally's Beauty Supply--explain what happened. See what they would recommend as a "drabber" to help you get rid of your orange-red tones. You'll probably be steered into something in the green/purple range You shouldn't have to re-bleach, but I'm not sure about the re-dye.

ETA: I know purple shampoo seems to have gotten rid of many of my reddish highlights (but my haircolor's virgin)--it's not as "warm" as it was before I started to use it.