Removing black dye.

[amaiaisabella]

Reading MandaMom2Three's thread reminded me of an issue my mom is facing. She has naturally black hair, but for the past 6 years or so, she has been coloring it to remove greys. Since I started coloring her hair a few years ago, I have convinced her not to color the length every time, and to do a root application only. I color the length every 3 months or so to reduce fading, but I don't put a full application of dye on. During the last 5 minutes of coloring, I will spread the color through from the roots, and add a tiny bit of leftover dye to cover the rest of the hair. This is done to "brighten" up the black, and since it only stays on for a few minutes, it doesn't get to the color of shoe polish, but more a lovely natural black. I do this step every 3 months, and roots every 6-8 weeks.

My mom, for months, has been talking about wanting a lighter color. Nothing drastic- more a dark brown. From experience, I know black dye is the most difficult to move, and I don't particularly want to bleach her whole head. If she had short hair, I would tell her to grow out the grey and cut off the dyed length, but her hair is just past shoulder length.

MandaMom2Three's thread reminded me of Color Oops. In the past, many posters have talked about success with this product. I was hoping to try this on her hair. My only question is, after dying brown, when her roots grow out (black, then grey) would I be able to put the brown dye over it to match the newly dyed length?

I could have sworn Color Oops was sold at Sallys, but I can't find it on their site. Walgreens has it for sale, but for some reason I could have sworn a Sallys product was better. Does anyone know the name for it?

Any advice would be great. If this works, I think I could convince my mom to join this site as well :)

[Nightshade]

The Sally's product is ColorFix.

You should be able to do pretty much what you described :) If possible, for her length, just to an add-in color? You should be able to get that at Sally's as well.

For many permanent dyes that cover gray, they do contain a bleaching agent, which her ends don't need. They just need a bit more color put back in :)

[wintersun99]

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[amaiaisabella]

Nightshade, I knew that name sounded familar. Thanks, it was nagging at me :) I'm not sure what kind of color I can use though.

wintersun99, that is the product I was looking at. Both seem like they would work and are about the same price. I am going to try to strip the black from her hair and use a dark brown dye on it.

Sallys might have demipermanent colors, as that is what I used on my hair to match my color to my roots when I was growing out my color. I'll have to look into it.

Thank you both for your help! :)

[wintersun99]

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[suicides_eve]

i made this page a while back when i was trying to remove about 3 years of black hair dye maybe it can give you some inspration..
http://www.colorzap.50megs.com/

[amaiaisabella]

Thanks! I'll be sure to post pictures once I do her hair :)

wintersun99, thanks for the tip- I would have colored straight after. I have a good deep conditioner so I'll baby her hair for a bit, then try the new dye.

[amaiaisabella]

Unfortunately, the experiment did not work out :(

I used two boxes of Color Oops on her hair, over the course of two days. I did see some lightening on certain strands, but the majority of her hair remained black. I did brown dye over it, and her greys turned brown, but the rest remained black. This would be pretty if she had grey strands all over her hair, but unfortunately the greys are concentrated on one patch at the back of her head, so it is not good.

My mom is very upset, as she has been sick of her black hair for years. I think because she's been coloring so long (and her hair was naturally black to begin with), that I should have known better. Neither of us want to try bleach, so I don't see any other way to lighten it up.

In short, there are two very sad ladies in this house :(

[iris]

Were the strands that did lighten up her previous grays, or were the strands that did lighten scattered randomly? I wonder if the majority just didn't lighten because it's still black naturally?

Also, what kind of black dye did you use originally? Color Oops doesn't work on all kinds of dyes, only on oxidative dyes. If you had to mix the dye with a developer, it was an oxidative dye.

[amaiaisabella]

The strands that lightened were random hairs around her head, as well as the greys that were already present, since she hadn't colored in two months. The only dyes she's ever used are oxidative dyes, such as L'Oreal Preference. I'm thinking maybe we didn't notice a difference since her hair is naturally black, but would it even color brown on virgin black hair?

I really hesitate to use bleach, having done it on my own head in the past (to disastrous results) but maybe if we bleach a few streaks it would look more even? As it is, she has a brown patch near her scalp, and the rest is black.

[Celebrian]

I'd say do lots of fine bleach streaks throughout to break up the black.

I have reservations aboing bleached post Color Oops, because it seemed to me that using a similar product once exacerbated the green streaks in my hair - which were the result of bleaching indigo (long story).

The moral? Strand test, strand test, strand test...

Oh, and I would let your moms hair 'rest' for a week or more before doing anything else to it. Just lots of lovely conditioner and TLC.

Then strand test, strand test, strand test - before all else. And yes, I do mean several strand tests - taking hair from different parts of her head.

I hope you can get this sorted for her. I appreciate that you're both upset.

HUGS to both of you.

[amaiaisabella]

Thanks for the advice :) I'm hoping I can coax her into the bleach streaks, but we'll see. I'll definitely post pictures, since I am quite curious what her hair would be typed as!

[jojo]

Have you tried a deep hot oil treatment like olive oil ? i know years ago I dyed my hair way too dark for me and this is what the dye company suggested to me. although it doesn't pull the dye out compleatly it did fade it somewhat.

[wintersun99]

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[amaiaisabella]

Have you tried a deep hot oil treatment like olive oil ? i know years ago I dyed my hair way too dark for me and this is what the dye company suggested to me. although it doesn't pull the dye out compleatly it did fade it somewhat.

The dye is old, so I'm not sure that would work. :confused: It's worth a try, though.

wintersun99, I'm going to do plenty of deep treatments and conditioners on her hair if I am to convince her to bleach a few strands :D The more, the better!

[gallows_gallery]

My advice from experience - stripping out 5 years of permanent black from tailbone length hair - is not good.

The top laters of her hair (because they have less dye) will lift easier, so it is likely she will end up with a rainbow-style gradient of medium brown to black (scalp-->ends). Regrowth poses further problems for evening out the colour.

I made the big change to brown from black in August and I am STILL trying to even out my colour, it looks pretty bad. On top of that the quality of my hair is noticeably worse.

If she must do it I would go to a hairdresser (who can use stripper, not bleach alone) and get a whole head of foils - they way you can see how well they work.

[Celticfreefall]

I had black hair dye stripped out of my hair once by a hairdresser, never again. In fact, no dying ever again due to that. It nearly ruined my hair completely, and the color came out in patches. But I think I just got a lousy hairdresser. This is the same chick who took my hair from APL to chin length when I asked for a centimeter trim because she made a mistake layering. You have no idea my rage.

[amaiaisabella]

I used a home bleach and that failed to strip the black out of her hair. She swears her hair is deliberately being stubborn :p. I ended up putting some black dye on her roots just to match her ends. She is not willing to grow out her grey enough to cut off the dyed ends, so that is it, I suppose.

We bought this really pretty reddish brown dye to put on the streaks that we didn't use. It is calling to me, but if it still appeals to me in a few months I will use it ;)