Highlights predicament...

[Pinkster8]

Hello everyone!

I've been dyeing my hair a coffee brown color with honey highlights for a while now and recently I decided I wanted to return to my natural color as soon as possible. I'm going in for a decent trim on Wednesday and I think I will have my stylist do a swimmer's-hair treatment to try to lift up the dark color, but is there a way to be rid of these highlights without dyeing them?

My stylist uses semi-permanent dye on my hair, but I would really like to avoid adding any more damage to my hair, although the length of my hair is actually pretty decent, despite the chemical processing.

My stylist has mentioned color "glazes" as well- not sure if that would be damaging? I'm just sick of seeing these highlights and am concerned with how unflattering it will look when I get more roots showing.

Sorry for the long post, advice is much appreciated!!

[blondie9912]

DON'T get a colour glaze from your stylist!! I was tempted at first, too, the word 'glaze' makes me think of ridiculous amounts of shine and a touch of colour. Unfortunately, I don't remember what it was exactly, but a member on here recently exposed what was actually contained in a glaze, and let me tell you, it's not pretty. I believe it was something like the same amount of ammonia as in hair dye but without the colour developer? Anyway, nasty stuff. I would recommend using a demi or semi (semi permanent is completely damage free, so no need to worry about that) permanent dye on your hair. I remember Clairol Natural Instincts did a wonderful job of covering up my highlights last year, but they changed their formula, and I must say its awful now! If you find a good semi or demi perm dye, that would be a good option. Otherwise, you can buy a permanent one and dilute it halfway with conditioner, then apply to your hair. This will have the same colouring results as a glaze.

Alternatively, you can just let the highlights grow out. The ombré look is in right now, so I suppose it's up to your personal opinion Good luck!

[blondie9912]

Also, I forgot to mention, but you can try using honey lightening treatments to fade your darker hair colour. It worked very well for me

[FrozenBritannia]

Would it be posible for her to just colour the highlights you want changed? If you have them all over they could just do the ones around your face and along your part. That will help with the growing out process. I know many colourists are quite adept at picking which hairs they are colouring so they really shouldn't have any issues with it.

[Pinkster8]

Thank you for the input, you two! I might consider just having her go over them with semi-permanent dye... Is there anything I could do before or after to minimize the damage from it?

[GoldberryHair]

A good deep condition treatment before and after is key. Also, go as long as you can (at LEAST 3-4 days) without washing afterwards...idk how often you wash normally, but the long you go when you initially dye it, the longer it'll stay in your hair, and the better condition your hair will be.

[Pinkster8]

Ok, sorry it took me so long to reply! Thank you for the advice. I may, however, wait until enough new growth is showing for it to be really noticeable. As for once I'm back to natural color, does honey lightening cause damage?