From black to red, tips anyone?

[pink.sara]

So I've debated for a few weeks but my yearly itch for a lighter summer colour has won.

I just bought 2 boxes of colors B4 to strip my black dye and hopefully tone down my purple and I'm aiming for a very bright red... Think Bellebot :)

I'm wondering if anyone has done this and has any tips or favourite colours to use?

Also I'm not sure what to do with my purple streak? It's at the front from centre to temple and about 3 inches back.... Do I dye it an even brighter red? Make it the same colour as the rest? dye it with a temporary contrast colour like black or something?

Ahhhh, I can't decide! Suggestions please? :flower:

[millyaulait]

Hi!

I've gone from black to a BRIGHT red before, but it took a *lot* of work to get it even.

I would recommend doing one box of B4 (is this bleach?), deep conditioning for as long as possible, then doing the second box of B4. BUT in case of unevenness (which is almost inevitable) make sure to buy a 3rd box for any darker patches that you might have left after those treatments, unless you don't mind it of course, I think it can look pretty if you have bright red & dark red, sort of like highlights, I guess. :)

If you put the red over the purple streak it could look really pretty, it might turn out a nice berry colour. Might be nice, and easier! :p

I used a mix of Manic Panic's Pillarbox Red & Wildfire so it was briiiiiiiight!

I went from Black to Orange (Day 1 - 1 box of bleach, deep treatment)
to Yellow/Orange (Day 2 - 2nd box of Bleach, DT)
to Yellow/White (Day 3 - 3rd box of bleach only on uneven/dark pieces, DT)
to AMAAAAZING RED :D (Day 4 - Manic Panic mix)

I *was* only 16 when I did this & I didn't care about my hair much at that point, but darn did I love that colour, I was so proud of myself for managing to do it! Just talking about it has made me miss it a lot.... :)

Hope it works out for you!

[MagicalMystery]

What kind of red are you going for? My favorites are Punky Color in Fire, Poppy Red, and Special Effects in Hot Lava.

[BelleBot]

When I went from almost black to red I used schwarzkopf live in their lightest blonde colour (40% vol bleach essentially). This was before I discovered LHC so I didn't protect it with coconut oil first, whoops.
If I were you I use the colour B4 and see how that goes, you need to get to a dark blondish colour for the red to really take effect. If you don't get light enough by using colour B4 then it might be worth looking into using bleach, make sure you protect your hair with coconut oil before bleaching and leave as long as you can stand between the colour B4 and the bleach, ideally 2 weeks.

I use Directions in Poppy Red to get my current colour, leave it on for several hours to get a good stain.

Good luck with your colour :) As for your purple streak, I'd keep it, or perhaps dye it pink or orange for an interesting but subtle contrast.

[metricfuture]

For the streak, you could always split it in two and do half orange, half yellow. Depending on how warm the red is, of course. If you're going for a cooler red, pink and purple would look nice (and if the color bleeds with either combination, meh, they all work together, anyway).

[lundmir]

I was impatient and didn't research if I could get any color removal products, so I used 30 vol bleach on my hair. That is the reason I had to get a pixie, my hair was pretty much destroyed after a long period of abuse.

As for the color itself, I'd recommend Pravana Chromasilk Vivids, those last a lot longer than any other brand I've tried, and have gorgeous shades. You can only get them through professional stylists, or some online shops, but they are worth it on my opinion.

[sarelis]

I went from 10 years of permanent black to bright cool red, I used Colour B4 3 times, left it on for an hour each time with heat (treatments were a week apart). I then had some highlights put in as there were some resistant dark areas, then I hennaed. The henna was far too warm toned for me but really helped the condition, now I use Directions in dark tulip :)

[Bijoux00]

I am currently going through this. I don't have any advice but will be watching this thread for info.

I had very healthy hair that had been dyed very dark brown, almost black for years. I put a jar of manic panic amplified on my hair, wrapped it up for a couple of hours and added heat.

It didn't do much at all (that was visible) but when I went to hairdresser to lighten my hair it all came through and some of it was quite purple in colour.

Instead of going for a vibrant red straight away I went for a dark auburn. My roots bleached out heaps more than my ends and even though my hairdresser touched them up the next day, I still have red roots and auburn length.

Also, I have never had to deal with hair as dry and damaged as it is now, even though we only lightened my hair 2 steps. I'm a bit scared to bleach more now, but will have to for the red that I want.

Not sure what to do :confused: