My Colorfix experience - so excited!

[NancyDVM]

Hi everyone! I'm new here (long time lurker, first time poster :D) and got the courage to try Colorfix from reading this forum. I've been battling too dark, uneven color for some time (thanks to the salon - apparently they didn't mix my color the same way every time, so I had about a 3" wide darker band of color in my hair, about 2-3" from the roots at this point). I tried honey lightening just that part, and it did help, but it was still very visible (probably only to me, I know, but it was driving me nuts!) My hair had overall gotten too dark, as well. I had box color, salon color and henna over it all. My natural color is dishwater light-medium brown.
Old color:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2485049260066921737DcniXD
So yesterday I Colorfixed my hair. I used all of it :o but was amazed at how much it lifted the color. My hair feels a little dry, but otherwise seems OK. I'm going to henna or henna/cassia over it today (depends on the results of my strand test!) and hopefully I'll get what I want. I've been wanting to go back to red for quite a while but my hair was so dark that there was really no other way to do it.
After Colorfix (please excuse the lack of focus and the fact I'm still in my robe and my hair is a mess :)):
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2280987690066921737LznoXh
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2872438510066921737qxIpwr

Thank you, LHC for giving me the tools and the courage to do this myself...hopefully it turns out the way I want it to!

[Firefox7275]

Welcome; wow that is a massive change, thanks for sharing! :) Makes me hopeful I will be able to strip out my red that has built up to be too dark on the lower half. Apparently coconut oil is best for colour damaged hair. If you are willing to wait a week you could collect hair from your brush and plughole for henna strand tests?

[jojo]

Welcome to LHC! henna will even things up beautifully but please be aware it is very permanent, it can be lightened with honey but will never fully go. A henna gloss (1 tablespoon of henna in conditioner mixed and left for an hour or 2 on your hair) will give a nice red hint and is very conditioning.

You have done a brilliant job lightening your hair. My daughter used the UK version called colour B4 on permanent black dye and got the same colour as you, she is going to do a henna gloss this week. Her hair was slightly dry after doing it but coconut oil has really helped.

[vanity_acefake]

Good job.
That really worked.
:)

[Lianna]

Very nice results. Where I live, color stripping products are very very expensive, so I have to settle for bleach.

[spidermom]

So far so good; I hope you end up with a color that you love.

[NancyDVM]

Thanks everyone! I was very surprised when I washed it out and found that my roots were almost blonde! I've been red for most of my life and my hair has sort of been in a downward spiral the past couple of years, starting with a Feria color disaster (need I say more? Decided to try a new brand - what a mistake!) I had to have it stripped and re-colored and since then I just haven't been happy with it - keeps getting darker and then the aforementioned color mixing mistake occurred. I've been wanting to go back red for a long time...maybe now I finally can!

My 50/50 henna/cassia is dye releasing right now...I hope it turns out OK. I did a strand test with straight henna, and it was a little darker than I wanted, so I decided to do 50/50 instead. I prefer a little more coppery/orangish red rather than burgundy, so fingers are crossed! I'm planning to apply neutral protein filler beforehand - my hair has become so porous with many, many chemical dye jobs and now the Colorfix that I'm afraid it won't color evenly otherwise. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out!

[ange1ito]

Wow that really did the job, i used a product sold at Boots in the UK, Colour B4, one year on my ends are dry and split alot. I think these products are great to remove colour bu if you are planning on growing it out long it will be difficult. Hope you have better luck with yours. Would you mind keeping us posted regarding the condition as it grows. Would be interesting to see whether what you used is a beter option. Thanks in advance.

[Raqdoll]

Out of curiosity, did you use the 3rd step or skip it?

[NancyDVM]

After doing a lot of reading about Colorfix on these forums, I did not use the 3rd step. :)

[NancyDVM]

Well, henna is done! So far so good - I'm pretty happy with the color I got, although I'm not sure how well the roots and the length match. :( It's still damp, so I can't really evaluate that yet - but I'll give it a few days to oxidize, and if it's still WAY off I'll do a full-strength henna on the roots, probably. I should probably think about going to bed, but I'll try to get pics tomorrow :)

[christine1989]

Your beginning color was so shiny and beautiful! (I'm a bit biased because that is pretty close to my color) The colorfix worked wonders for getting out such a dark color though. I hope when the henna oxidizes it gives you the color you want with all the shine you had with your dark hair :). Excited to see pics!

[IcarusBride]

I'd really like to see a photo of your current (post 50/50) color!

[NancyDVM]

Weellll...I didn't quite get what I wanted. :( I think there must have been some dye left in my hair after the Colorfix that re-oxidized with the henna, because after henna-ing, it's pretty dark again...and I can see that stupid dark stripe. The roots were still much lighter than the ends, so I did a full strength henna on the roots only today, and they are pretty bright compared to the rest of my hair, especially in certain lighting. I'm hoping when they oxidize they'll match a little better.

Pics from today (still slightly damp):
Natural light, indoors:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2854642850066921737bIyExw
With flash:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2438179700066921737xXsPlO

I'm so frustrated with all of it. I'm not sure if I should try the colorfix again and see what happens...if the henna doesn't come out but the box dye does, I should be happier with the color, but I'm not crazy about the damage. Part of me wants to chop it all off short and start over...I'm getting really tired of coloring my hair every 6-8 weeks and having the new color not match the old. I was hoping for a nice bright red all over, but at this point I'd settle for having hair that was more or less all one color...

:headache: :brickwall:

[Joliebaby]

I don't suggest another Colorfix.. I don't know how well it would work with henna and I think it would be damaging. I was very pleased with my Colorfix color removal last summer (I did two rounds back to back) and my hair only felt slightly dry, which I thought would be temporary. Of course I did have highlights put in after that... But fast forward to today. My hair is nearly waist, but the ends are dry and tangly and I have some breakage and splits. I just trimmed all the ends and the splits were back right away :/ It took a few months for the damage to appear, and there was the winter weather.. but now I would say that it was as damaging to my hair as a perm.
My hair generally is very resilient and just coloring doesn't damage it, but bleach and perm do, and I think colorfix was just as damaging, but the breakage and splits just took a few months to start appearing. It still looks healthy but it still bothers me.. Ick. Then there is the natural roots growing out, since last summer... Lately I feel the urge to cut and start fresh again too LOL!