Used traditional dyes to go from Very Blonde to Dark Brown. Miss my Blonde, Help?

[spidermom]

The absolute safest way would be to grow out the blonde while trimming/cutting away the brown. Several people around here have gone back to natural color exactly that way. That's the way I did it in the past.

[alys]

I like Riot Crrl's ideas and suggestions, and can agree with some. But if I may add, having been there myself a time or two in the past, you can try a stylist rather than doing it at home. Its your choice. At home will save you money. However looks like you already tried the Colorfix 2 times at home and not a lot of sucsess. A SKILLED colorist can work wonders if you find the right one. You spend more, however your own unskilled human error would be removed from the equation were you to visit a colorist. I say colorist becuase not all stylists can color hair. In fact in my experience maybe one in every salon is worth a damn, and they are always booked!
If you are considering a colorist, may I suggest -an Aveda colorist. I know from a friend of mine that the training and continuing education that Aveda provides to it's colorists it phenominal. Probably some of the best out there, and she would know. She's a trainer for the company and gets to travel all around training and re-training. I'm sure there are some other great color salons out there, but I have no experience with any but Aveda.
Hair color really is a sceince that I think is best left to a trained professional. But thats just me
(not meaning to generalize that last statement, however after going from blonde to dark and then back again this situation goes beyond simple at-home henna or dye job)

[chloeishere]

I've used colorfix in the past with pretty good success (the last 4-6 inches of my hair right now is color-treated, then colorfixed)... however, I only went one shade darker (from dark blonde to light blonde), and I only dyed my hair twice total. If you have any left (I still have half a package sitting around here somewhere), I would definitely try it again, and leave it on for a while. I think I left it on 2 hours or so-- check makeupalley.com in the reviews section for more experiences. And yes, you should definitely use a strong shampoo to clean it out, and hopefully remove the dye molecules.
You could also try the color zap.
However, in my experience, unless you totally want to destroy your hair with bleach, you will almost certainly have red tones left afterwards. My hair was a gross orange color after colorfix-- it gradually darkened (over a few months) to a shade close to my natural hair color. I did a few honey treatments, and now I think my dyed ends are a bit lighter than my virgin hair!

The honey and/or cinnamon treatments may work well, but it will be a very gradual process. It does not damage hair AT ALL, though. So it's also worth a try, if the condition of your hair is important to you-- which it does appear to be.

Trimming away the dye gradually is also a good suggestion-- it will stop your hair from getting any more damage from trying to change the color, but it will also take forever, and you'll have to deal with two tone hair.

Here's some pictures from my LHC album, which demonstrate my dying and colorfixing experience:
Natural color:

After dying:

After colorfix:

A few months after colorfix:

After second honey treatment:


Hope that's helpful. The honey did have a big effect for me-- I posted about my recipe in the archived honey thread, before cinnamon was known as a lightening agent.

[Curlsgirl]

What kind of dye did you use? I ask that because when I went from my really light blond to brown, I used a semi-perm and it actually sticks really well to very light blond porous hair, especially if you used it several times. One other suggestion is to get highlighted/lowlighted as it grows out. That way it wouldn't be as hard on your hair as a total bleaching and it would blend in eventually. Of course this would cost more than doing it yourself but if you do it yourself you could easily ruin your hair too. Just my 2 cents

[justgreen]

My advice comes from the professional standpoint. I colored my blonde (highlighted for years) with a medium dark brown about 3.5 years ago, to give my hair a rest. I kept it that way for almost a year, then went to my hairdressor and had her give me highlights all over, with the exception of my underneath panel. Haven't looked back since. Didn't cost that much either, as my hair was only a little longer than bra strap. Here's the final outcome, my first LHC picture.



Here's what it looked like close up, with the dark panel underneath.



You can see my siggy pic for what it looks like now, 3.5 years later, getting roots done every 4-6 weeks.

Let a professional do it. A good colorist is worth her/his weight in gold.

[KajiKodomo]

I used color removers to try to get the black out of my hair (I believe I tried both brands mentioned here). I think I used 3 boxes total, and my hair turned out to be a fried, multicolored mess! I had chunks falling off, mushy spots, and it wouldn't take any dye. That's when I buzzcut mine all off.

I'm going to agree with everyone else about going to a professional (just make sure it's at a nice salon, because sometimes you get what you pay for!).