Calling all colorists, stylists, & hair dressers

[Lostsoule77]

I have a bit of a quandry that I need help with. In early Nov. '09 I dyed by hair using Natural Instincts #36 midnight black. It claims that it washes out in 28 washes and that it is a semi-permanent dye. I've been following this thread http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64155 and realize now that it is actually a demi-permanent dye. I had been looking for a true semi-permanent when I dyed it (for halloween), but everyone was out of the color. I have used NI about once every two years (a red color) and have never had a problem with it washing out so I didn't think this would be a big deal.
Fast forward to now and it is still in parts of my hair and I have a demarcation line. I called Clairol around Sept. or Oct '10 about it and their answer was since it was more than 2 shades darker than my natural color I would have to give it more time or have it stripped in order to get it out. Normally I wouldn't really care, but I'm getting married in Sept and would prefer not to have a demarcation line for that. ;)

I went into the best salon around(it's only one guy, but he is awesome) to ask him how much he would charge to strip it out. I'm trying to take care of it now so I have months to kinda repair any damage before Sept. He told me to just get some 20 vol peroxide from Sally's and mix it in with Dawn dt and leave it in for about 5 minutes (he did tell me the proper ratio that I can't recall.) He said that is basically all he would do anyway. I didn't want to do this myself because I don't want to mess up my hair. I asked my friend (who is a hairdresser, but lives in KY.) She said she would do that, but add a highlight powder to the mix and then a toner after. She said she wouldn't recommend doing this myself. She also suggested I try some laundry detergent followed by a DT before I got it stripped. While the detergent took some of the lighter spots out, it didn't help at all with the darker spots or the demarcation line. I've also tried washing more often and using a clarifying shampoo every couple weeks. Still no go.
After all this I think I am ready to try the stripping. My sister said the hair dresser probably told me to do it myself because he thought it would be easy and not a big deal and that she would try it.
So my question is do you think 20 vol. peroxide with some Dawn might work? How damaging would it be? Or would you think I should just go back to the salon and let him handle it? If I can do it what ratio do you think is proper and how long should I leave it in? I'm not trying to totally remove the dye. I just want to soften the demarcation line and lift some of the darker color. I don't plan on dying my hair again to get it to my original color which is why I haven't really considered color oops or any of those (along with the bad reviews they all have.)
TYIA for any help or suggestions. Sorry for the super long post, just wanted to try and get it all in. :) I put pics in an album so this isn't even longer. It is here http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/album.php?albumid=7273.

:D

[Lucia2]

Hairdresser here - Go to a stylist and get them to do it PLEASE don't do it yourself. Your friend is right in that a toner may be required. The problem with putting plain peroxide on your hair is it is damaging and it may lift colour unevenly. Hair colour lifts in stages so if you get the timing wrong you could end up wih an 'interesting' shade. Either way you may need something on afterwards to blend it all and to balance any residual colour deposit.

I cannot believe a professional suggested trying to do this yourself! BAD idea.
Colour stripping is a job for a professional honestly. In the meantime treat your air gently and get it in as good condition as you can as any colour treatment will do some damage and treatments that lift colour tend to be harsher than those that deposit colour.
Hope that helps.

[Lostsoule77]

Thank you. That is what I thought. I'm not sure why he suggested this. It was something small like 1:3 or 1:5 peroxide to dawn for about 5 minutes, but I can't quite recall. I'm just not sure where to go. There are tons of salons around, but as far as I know he is the best and noone else even comes close. I don't want to go to a hack and mess up my hair. :( Any tips on how to find a good salon for this? Most of my family don't color their hair so I can't ask them for suggestions of local ones.
I don't have to worry so much about getting my hair in good condition 'cause it pretty much has been my whole life. My mother was a nurse and very natural and I just picked it up from her. I've gone into a salon prob. 3 times in my life for a cut and they never can believe it was over 1.5 yrs since my last cut/trim. They always ask what I do to my hair and when explain what I do (and all that I don't do that most modern women do) they get it. :)
Then again since I don't go into salons I don't know how to choose a good one. The one which is 2nd around here is where my sister goes for cuts. My brother went there for highlights though and they totally screwed them up and when he went back for them to fix it they didn't do such a good job at that either. Because of this I don't want to go there to deal with this. The fact that the best guy told me to do it myself makes me wonder why he wouldn't just do it and take my money? I'm just unsure where to turn next.:hmm:

[morecowbell]

I've used 20 volume developer on my hair a few times in the past year (was trying to remove old henna) and it does do a little bit of damage. It's not too bad, and it definitely did lift some color (about a shade and a half). I would say if you are trying to save some money, go ahead and try JUST the developer. :) The Dawn would be much too harsh alongside developer IMO.

Here's hoping you find a solution before your big day! :)

[Jen123]

I don't see anything wrong with your hair. I also don't really know anything about dye, but couldn't you just dye all of your hair back to your original color.

[UltraBella]

The combination of dishwashing detergent and peroxide can be terribly damaging. In my salon we would never recommend this, ever. At the very least it is incredibly drying, at the worst it is a disaster.
I looked at your picture and while I can see your demarcation line, it is not too bad. If you were to come into my salon I would offer you an alternative to treating your entire head. I would suggest foiling in thin highlights or lowlights, whichever you prefer, through the top canopy and breaking up the demarcation line. They could match your natural color perfectly, it would blend the two colors you have and leave little damage in comparison to a full head stripping. It would be quite beautiful !
I am really surprised at the advice you received from the stylist. I literally cringed.
I would look for someone locally who is quite experienced and ask for a consultation first. If you don't feel comfortable, move on to the next stylist.

[Lostsoule77]

Thank you both. I love that I can come here and get advice when before I had nowhere to turn. :)

Jen123, I don't think that would work. For one the dye is black so to get it to my med. brown it would still have to be bleached or something similar. You can't dye to a lighter color without doing so. Plus I've never used permanent dye in my life and don't want to start now. It would prob. just compound my issue. Thank you for the suggestion though. :)

BTW, I know that doing any sort of stripping is going to be permanent. I just don't want the double whammy of damage of lightening and dying.

[Lostsoule77]

UltraBella thank you so much! I was hoping you would chime in because you always seem to give such great advice. He did say to use it only from the demarcation line down (well he said only where the black is, but that'd be hard to tell.) When my hair is wet you can't see the difference and you also can't tell when my hair is up. It's mostly when it's down and pictures tend to exaggerate it sometimes (like the full length shot.) I'm not sure how I'm doing my hair for the wedding, but not screwing those pics up is my main concern (how I look the whole day too.)
I had been thinking of putting some thin highlights, but wanted to get this fixed first. I would never have thought of doing it to fix the problem. :) I have some natural highlights that are a shade or two lighter indoors and red in the sun (especially in the summer.) Do you think it would look bad to put in both my natural color and my natural highlights (the lighter brown)? Then the black would kinda be like the low lights? Right? I've only had highlights once and they were horrible so please forgive my ignorance. :)
There are a bunch of salons around (at least 6 in my 1.5 mile town), but we have a lot of seniors and most of these cater to them. The guy I went to was the best around and the second best (salon) screwed up my brothers hair. I think maybe I'll go into the 2nd salon and ask for their most experienced colorist to give me a consultation. Perhaps my brother got a newbie.
Thank you again. That seems like my best plan of action so far. :)

[UltraBella]

I think the two colors would be great and would fix your demarcation issue easily :)
You need to find someone skilled at foiling and hopefully that will not be a challenge where you live !

[Lostsoule77]

Thank you so much! I don't think it'll be too hard (I live in central Jersey, the most densely populated state, in the most densely populated county), just arduous. Especially since I don't have much salon experience. Wonder if it'd be worth it to try the GM salon in NYC? I hadn't heard of them before here, but from what I've read they are good. It's a 40 min train ride into the city. Does this sound like a good idea or do I not need to go that far? I don't want to trust my hair to just anyone. :( I wish my friend was here, or you. LOL

[UltraBella]

Hmmm, difficult decision ! I would think nothing of a 40 min train ride if it meant getting the hair I wanted. However, you may be able to get the service you want locally. Take your time deciding and make sure you feel confident of your choice.