PDA

View Full Version : My hair looks terrible after colour stripping + dyeing gone wrong.. Please help!



hiighpriestess
March 20th, 2012, 11:09 AM
Hi all,

I made a big mistake yesterday. Let me give you a little of my hair dyeing history.

November: Chemically dyed my hair red (previously chemically brown)
This faded to a disgusting shade of brown-orange after 2 weeks. I desperately wanted red hair that would STAY red, so..

January: Hennaed my hair twice (left on for 8 hours both times)
I achieved a orange-red-burgundy shade, depending on the lighting. It wasn't RED enough, so..

February: Manic Panic with Vampire Red (5 hours)
This made my hair go too purpley, and it faded out after 3 weeks, so..

March: Special Effects with half Blood Red, half Nuclear Red (3 hours)
I was expecting a truer red since I mixed a warm red with a cool red, but unfortunately, it turned my hair VERY purple-y red.

By this time, I was sick of red hair, especially purpley-red hair, so I decided that.. I wanted to go back to having brown hair with caramel highlights.

I went to the hairdresser, and told her my dyeing "history" as above. She took a look at my hair, and exclaimed that there was "way too much red" in it- even though the MP and SFX were semi-permanent, they still were IN my hair, not just outside it. And the fact that I'd henna'd my hair certainly didn't help.

She told me that there was no way I would be able to get a brown-brown- the best she could do was a warm brown that would still have tints of red in it. That was fine by me, as I look good in warmer shades of brown.

She said that she would strip as much of the red from my hair as possible in order to be able to achieve brown, rather than just.. Slightly brown red. (Does that make sense?)

So she put on a chemical wash, which is something like a weaker version of bleach, and every now and then, she'd come by to check on my hair, then cluck in dismay and tell me how much red there was in my hair, and how it wasn't coming out. She applied to the length first, as she said that the most red was in the length- only towards the end did she apply it to the top of my head and roots.

After TWO HOURS of leaving the chemical wash in my hair (she told me any longer and my hair would be in bad condition), she washed it out..

My roots were an albino pale orange, and right below the roots, it was a strong reddish orange. The length was a faintly-reddish orange. I hope that made sense. So it was sort of like this (imagine this is my hair length):

Albino orange
Strong red orange
Strong red orange
Pale red orange
Pale red orange
Pale red orange
Pale red orange
Pale red orange

She then applied the brown dye, and washed it out etc..

I just looked at my hair under the sunlight/bright lights, and got a shock when I saw how UNEVEN my hair colour was!

While the length is a COOL brown, the very roots are a pale orange, and right below my roots, it was a muddy, but obvious red. So the length CLASHES with the top since it's cool below and warm on top- not to mention the terrible unevenness in colour!! Something like this:

Orange
Reddish brown
Reddish brown
Cool brown
Cool brown
Cool brown
Cool brown
Cool brown

I am SO unhappy- I just wanted a uniform shade of brown, and now it looks like I had an incredibly bad DIY dye job! Not to mention the fact that I paid over $180!!!!!!

I called her today, and she told me that it was expected that the chemical wash would leave my hair uneven, and it could only be corrected after completely dyeing my hair several more times.

What should I do?!?!??! It looks TERRIBLE!! I would rather have kept my eggplant-coloured hair than this!!!

Should I just re-dye my hair? How soon can I do it??
I was thinking of dyeing over my entire head with a warm brown. Would this be a good idea? Could I redye my hair TOMORROW? I know it's going to dry my hair out like crazy, but I'm planning on doing hair treatments EVERYDAY after that. Would this work?

And would it still be possible to get highlights done?
The hairdresser basically told me that my hair cannot be lightened past red, so any highlights I get won't show up- but what if the highlights were a lighter shade of warm brown? I hate having one-dimensional hair colour, which is the reason I wanted to dye it back to brown in the first place..

I'm so sorry for the long post and so many questions, but I desperately need help.. Advice please?!?!?

Hollyfire3
March 20th, 2012, 11:12 AM
I would try a moisture treatment or an SMT? I would NOT dye it for a while and baby your hair, it has been through alot, good luck!:)

PinkyCat
March 20th, 2012, 11:16 AM
Oh my word. I'm sorry that happened to you.
What condition is your hair in now? Will it actually stand another color treatment?

spidermom
March 20th, 2012, 11:17 AM
Yes - please - do some deep treatments (both protein and moisture) and try to live with the color as best you can for awhile. Your hair needs to recover. If anything, use a temporary or semi-permanent color to try to even things out, but I'd still wait at least a week before doing that.

sarelis
March 20th, 2012, 11:18 AM
Ok, first, take a deep breath & calm down. I have had similar multi coloured clashing hair from dying & stripping,I know it's awful at the time but try not to panic. Can you get hold of a non-permanent brown slightly darker than you wanted? You could put that over the lot to try to blend it, which is what I did. That would at least stop you freaking out every time you look in the mirror until you find a more permanent course of action, or you could try something along the lines of indigo & amla? I'm sure someone will be along with some more suggestions soon xx

novemberfoxtrot
March 20th, 2012, 11:19 AM
Oh dear. I'm worried for you to do any more chemical treatments! Isn't there a brown shade of henna? I'm not a henna expert, it probably has a different name.

hiighpriestess
March 20th, 2012, 11:24 AM
Pinkycat: Actually to be honest my hair doesn't feel like it's in TERRIBLE condition- I'd say from 1 to 10, 1 being so damaged it's breaking to pieces and 10 being super awesome, healthy condition, I'd give it a 5.

Sarelis: It's really hard to find semi-permanent colours here in Singapore- I purchased my SFX and Manic Panic online.

Novemberfoxtrot and Sarelis: I really don't want to go down the path of indigo or henna, as I really regret doing henna after finding out JUST how permanent it is, that even after stripping my hair of colour, the red still remains.. So I don't want anything *that* permanent every again :(

Thanks all for the suggestions of treatments for my hair- I'm doing that right now, but the colour.. It looks so bad that when I look into the mirror I want to cry :wail:

My hair is one of my best features, so having that ruined is just really, really upsetting.. Argh!

lapushka
March 20th, 2012, 11:24 AM
What should I do?!?!??! It looks TERRIBLE!! I would rather have kept my eggplant-coloured hair than this!!!

Should I just re-dye my hair? How soon can I do it??
I was thinking of dyeing over my entire head with a warm brown. Would this be a good idea? Could I redye my hair TOMORROW? I know it's going to dry my hair out like crazy, but I'm planning on doing hair treatments EVERYDAY after that. Would this work?

And would it still be possible to get highlights done?
The hairdresser basically told me that my hair cannot be lightened past red, so any highlights I get won't show up- but what if the highlights were a lighter shade of warm brown? I hate having one-dimensional hair colour, which is the reason I wanted to dye it back to brown in the first place..

I'm so sorry for the long post and so many questions, but I desperately need help.. Advice please?!?!?

I agree with the others. Calm down, please and give your hair a (welcome) break. It's not going to get better if you dye it *right* *now*. The hairdresser, I think, did the best she could under the circumstances (honestly, how much had you dyed your hair already?) - so give your hair a break from it all. Try and live with the color for a while, then maybe go back to the hairdresser and let her fix it for you. Just don't mess with it some more in the meantime.

hiighpriestess
March 20th, 2012, 11:27 AM
And just in case you guys don't know, all the dyeing prior to this one (the henna, SFX, and Manic Panic) were herbal/vegetable dyes, so while it seems like I went crazy dyeing my hair every few weeks, they in fact made my hair healthier.

sarelis
March 20th, 2012, 11:31 AM
Awww don't cry hun (hugs), can you experiment with some updo's that will hide the colour closest to your scalp? Also I don't think that indigo & amla are permanent like henna, I have never used either myself (only henna) but maybe you could ask someone a bit more knowledgeable? My understanding is that indigo gives a blue colour & amla also helps to cool down red tones (could be wrong tho...) OR this could be a good time to find a fun wig to play with while your hair recovers?

xoxophelia
March 20th, 2012, 11:32 AM
Do you have photos? Might help a bit.. But from the sounds of it, for awhile now you may want to wear a head scarf. You could tie it as a headband and then wear your hair in a ponytail, bun, or braid.

I would actually suggest that you don't wash your hair or do any treatments for at least 2 days so the brown can stick to your hair as much as possible. Then do the treatments and perhaps wear a few drops of coconut oil daily in your hair. You may also want to consider only doing CO washing if you aren't already. This will keep as much of the brown in your hair as possible.

After 2-3 weeks you could look into doing a brown semi permanent (natural instincts works pretty well) but definitely need to test it out on a small strip of hair to see how the gradient will work out.

katsrevenge
March 20th, 2012, 11:37 AM
Henna doesn't come out for most people.. and it sounds like this is what happened to you. You probably won't be able to do highlights because of this.

If this were me...
First, I'd wait a week or so and deep treat/protein treat the crap out of my hair. Hair and scalp need time to rest/recover after all that.

Then.. I'd get some darker dye (chemical or natural) and do low lights. I'd take bits of hair that I wanted to keep light, wrap them up nice and tight in saran wrap and rubber bands.. and dye everything else a darker shade to blend in with the roots and ends and new growth (if that is important to you?).

Or I'd just cut it all off and start fresh.. if it was unsalable. (been there, done that more then once. Happy black hair dye removal times!)

Denebi
March 20th, 2012, 11:52 AM
oh dear, that really sounds terrible... :grouphug:

Please give yourself and your hair a break from all this. Relax, calm down, do something completely different, non-hair-related, and then consider your options.

After all this dyeing, color-stripping and dyeing again, the color may still change after some washes and other treatment. I'd wait for at least two weeks and see how color and condition of the hair is going. If you start anything right now it could come out even worse.

lapushka
March 20th, 2012, 12:20 PM
And just in case you guys don't know, all the dyeing prior to this one (the henna, SFX, and Manic Panic) were herbal/vegetable dyes, so while it seems like I went crazy dyeing my hair every few weeks, they in fact made my hair healthier.

Yeah but still... Veggie dyes or not.... :) You're stuck with what is a disaster to you, so it didn't make matters any easier. Also, however healthy, henna is really hard to remove from the hair.

Please stop dyeing for a while and take really good care of your hair. :flower:

Pinkster8
March 20th, 2012, 02:48 PM
I'm so sorry this happened to you! :( I think it would be best to deep condition, baby it like heck for maybe 2 weeks to let it recover somewhat and if the color still bothers you then, maybe try a semi-permanent color. But I think it definitely needs a break. Try to keep it in loose updos, with some oil on the dry parts to keep it protected. Just remember, your hair will get better, it will just take some time and babying to get there. Thinking happy thoughts for you and your hair! :)

Silverbrumby
March 20th, 2012, 03:10 PM
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I get why you want to go back in for a touch up on those roots. I also think it's a really bad idea from the POV of growing long hair. Sounds like it's iffy if she can fix this but she did fix the ends. It's a gamble. It all depends on how much this is bugging you. I love the 2 week rule about making major changes. It's saved my hair a few times now. Also you might want to patch test for allergies with the dye. They can spring up suddenly to chemical dyes and your hair/scalp has taken a beating.